Article in the Fayetteville Observer about the WGC Think Tank on Homelessness in the Cumberland County Community:
Published: 12:00 AM, Sun Oct 24, 2010
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/10/24/1042024?sac=Opin
For too many Cumberland County residents, this is anything but home, sweet home. It's no home at all.
We have a big problem with homelessness. There are about twice as many homeless people in Cumberland as in Forsyth, another urban county with about the same population. We have nearly as many homeless as far-larger Wake County.
The good news is that overall numbers of our unsheltered residents are declining. The official tally shows homeless have dropped from 1,074 in 2008 to 965 last year. That's a decline of about 10 percent.
But there's a dark side: The numbers of homeless women and children grew in that same period, from 560 to 655, up 17 percent. That includes nearly 400 homeless children.
Many people who work with homeless residents say those numbers are low, that many more haven't been counted - especially children.
There is one other piece of good news in this sad saga: a fast-growing, remarkably effective new philanthropy has targeted homelessness as a problem needing a solution. The Women's Giving Circle of Fayetteville, which gives sizable grants to programs that improve the lives of women and children, has launched a project to study and find effective solutions to homelessness in this county.
The group especially wants to put roofs over the heads of unsheltered women and children. That is a noble and achievable goal. We're not talking about people who live under bridges or out in the woods by choice - people whose plight is not easily altered. Instead, these are people who have lost their homes largely because of economic or domestic problems.
There are solutions everywhere. At a "think tank" breakfast earlier this month, the Giving Circle handed out a letter-sized sheet covered on both sides with a directory of services for the homeless. They include shelters, "transitional" housing, meals, help with utilities, food assistance, medical care, mental health services and help for victims of domestic violence.
Two things were notably absent: overall coordination and permanent housing.
A lot of organizations are doing good things for the homeless - feeding them, clothing them, providing a place to sleep, and more. But there's not a lot of coordination evident.
Communities with successful programs for the homeless have one agency working to coordinate efforts and also have programs that put the homeless back in permanent housing as quickly as possible. This is especially effective for families.
We hope the Giving Circle will take a close look at both of those issues. And we thank members for tackling the problem. We're confident they'll make a difference.
Published: 12:00 AM, Sun Oct 24, 2010
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/10/24/1042024?sac=Opin
For too many Cumberland County residents, this is anything but home, sweet home. It's no home at all.
We have a big problem with homelessness. There are about twice as many homeless people in Cumberland as in Forsyth, another urban county with about the same population. We have nearly as many homeless as far-larger Wake County.
The good news is that overall numbers of our unsheltered residents are declining. The official tally shows homeless have dropped from 1,074 in 2008 to 965 last year. That's a decline of about 10 percent.
But there's a dark side: The numbers of homeless women and children grew in that same period, from 560 to 655, up 17 percent. That includes nearly 400 homeless children.
Many people who work with homeless residents say those numbers are low, that many more haven't been counted - especially children.
There is one other piece of good news in this sad saga: a fast-growing, remarkably effective new philanthropy has targeted homelessness as a problem needing a solution. The Women's Giving Circle of Fayetteville, which gives sizable grants to programs that improve the lives of women and children, has launched a project to study and find effective solutions to homelessness in this county.
The group especially wants to put roofs over the heads of unsheltered women and children. That is a noble and achievable goal. We're not talking about people who live under bridges or out in the woods by choice - people whose plight is not easily altered. Instead, these are people who have lost their homes largely because of economic or domestic problems.
There are solutions everywhere. At a "think tank" breakfast earlier this month, the Giving Circle handed out a letter-sized sheet covered on both sides with a directory of services for the homeless. They include shelters, "transitional" housing, meals, help with utilities, food assistance, medical care, mental health services and help for victims of domestic violence.
Two things were notably absent: overall coordination and permanent housing.
A lot of organizations are doing good things for the homeless - feeding them, clothing them, providing a place to sleep, and more. But there's not a lot of coordination evident.
Communities with successful programs for the homeless have one agency working to coordinate efforts and also have programs that put the homeless back in permanent housing as quickly as possible. This is especially effective for families.
We hope the Giving Circle will take a close look at both of those issues. And we thank members for tackling the problem. We're confident they'll make a difference.
