Human service agencies in Schuylkill County will once again team up to count the homeless in January with the goal of improving assistance programs.
The annual "point-in-time" count is a one-day survey of the sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in the county. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides various funding for homeless assistance services to counties who participate in the semi-annual counts.
"We put a great deal of effort into it last year," Keith Semerod, deputy assistant for county Mental Health and Developmental Services, said.
Semerod was one of the key organizers behind the count last year. It was the first time Schuylkill County participated in a point-in-time count.
About 20 were counted last year, but the actual number of homeless in Schuylkill County is probably much higher.
"We had terrible weather that day with rain and fog," Semerod said. "It was really tough."
Schuylkill County does not have a homeless shelter.
"We have been struggling for a long time to get something in place that would function as a shelter," Semerod said. "Locally, in the last few years, we have been looking to add more programs and options, but it's still a struggle."
Meanwhile, the number of people seeking help with various homeless assistance programs in the county has gone up.
"We are seeing more than we have in the past few years," Semerod said. "I think it has to do with the economic times and the housing stock in the county."
Budget cuts have limited both the Pottsville and Schuylkill County housing authorities, Semerod said.
The Pottsville Housing Authority has 509 public housing units and 323 individuals on the waiting list. The Schuylkill County Housing Authority has 609 public housing units and 323 individuals on the waiting list.
Schuylkill Community Action has a bridge housing program offering transitional residency for county residents who are homeless or are at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Residency for the program is limited to three to 12 months and residents must follow rules, attend programs and participate in case management and goal planning.
"When they leave here, they do leave to a permanent address when they successfully complete our program," Jen Sliska, director of client services for the organization, said.
The bridge housing program has 12 available units in Laurel Terrace, which is owned by the Pottsville Housing Authority.
Last year, the program helped 32 individuals and 23 households that included nine children.
"From our perspective, we have a consistent waiting list of 30 plus individuals or families looking for assistance so we definitely see the need here," Sliska said.
Participants in the bridge housing program are included in the point-in-time count survey, she said.
"I don't think the average person is aware of the issue of homelessness," Gerald Achenbach, housing director at Service Access and Management Inc., said.
SAM is contracted through Schuylkill County to provide a variety of services, including mental health and developmental services and housing assistance. SAM provides assisted housing at Barefield Plaza Apartments and Northwestern Human Services Apartments in Pottsville. The programs are funded through the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, which acts as a federal grant program for states.
According to statistics from the 2011-12 program year, 84 homeless people in Schuylkill County were housed through PATH-funded assistance programs.
Of them, 43 were between the ages of 18 and 34; 30 were between 35 and 49; and 11 were between 50 and 64. That included 48 men and 36 women.
Before becoming involved in the program, five were living outdoors in the streets, abandoned or public buildings or automobiles; one was in a short-term shelter; 45 were in someone else's apartment or house; 11 were in hotels or boarding homes; 11 were in halfway houses or residential treatment programs; three were in institutions, psychiatric centers, hospitals or nursing homes; and eight in jails or correctional facilities.
"There is a need," Achenbach said. "The one issue we face in the county is having an accurate count of how many persons are actually homeless."
A comprehensive count will help service agencies determine where to effectively spend money, he said. But an accurate count isn't easy, he said.
"They have learned to be great providers for their own needs, so in Schuylkill County you aren't literally going to see people living on the street like in other counties, but there are sites where people know homeless people conglomerate," he said.
HUD changed the definition in January 2012 and extended the time periods considered temporary housing and added a new category for families who are "unstably housed."
"There are many definitions of homeless, the federal definition is a very strict definition," Achenbach said. "They are actually looking at someone who is literally living in a car or an abandoned building when we are looking at a broader issue than that."
Pastor Mark Brooks from the Bethesda Evangelical Congregation Church in Reedsville has been trying over the last three years to start a church-led homeless assistance program in the county. Brooks wanted to start a local chapter of "Family Promise," a national faith-based organization with more than 150,000 volunteers.
As participants in the program, churches host a family for one week every nine weeks, he said.
"Literally an unoccupied portion of your church would become their home for a week," Brooks said. "The church would also provide a dinner for the night."
Brooks said case workers would connect them with resources and help find them a job and permanent housing and the children would go to school or day care.
"I personally felt utilizing the church, which has dead space for most of the week anyway, would save the county agencies money. It would be such an awesome blessing for everyone to see that cooperative work between county agencies."
Over the last two years, Brooks said he had presentations for about 50 churches in the area and gave them the options of hosting families or helping with meals or financially.
He failed to reach his two benchmarks to proceed with the program. The first was to have 10 churches committed to the program and the second was to have a functioning board in place.
He said there were only about five or six churches committed to the program.
"Even though we asked many people in many different ways, we just never got the support," he said. "It's unfortunate because as a Christian, as a minister of the Gospel, the goal is to minister to people in your own community."
But he isn't giving up on the idea, just modifying it.
Brooks said he is looking to start a program similar to the Lebanon County Coalition to End Homelessness. The coalition is a partnership between local religious, social and government agencies that provide emergency shelter for the homeless on a rotating business.
"There is no shelter for an average person who is just down and out and needs a little help," Brooks said. "There is definitely a homeless problem and I feel many people ignore it or turn the other cheek."
While there are people living in tents or under tunnels in Schuylkill County, the majority of homeless people are "couch surfers" who stay with friends or family members until they wear out their welcome, Brooks said.
"Homelessness looks different in Schuylkill County," he said.
The point-in-time count in January is a way to raise awareness about the growing problem in Schuylkill County, Brooks said.
"I think it was a very revealing experience last year," Brooks said. "I think we have come a long way in the last three years just when it comes to the perception of homelessness in the county."
Brooks said if anyone has an interest in starting a ministry similar to Family Promise or the Lebanon County Coalition to End Homelessness, contact Brooks at the Bethesda Evangelical Congregation Church by calling 570-739-2241 or the Rev. Jeff Colarossi at the United Presbyterian Church in Pottsville at 570-622-1760.