IN- Homeless advocates ask for help with shelter

2-25-2009 Indiana:

A battered national economy hit home with the Shelby County Board of Commissioners Monday as the board was asked to help shelter a heavy new load of first-time homeless persons in the county.

Aid to the homeless in Shelby County is projected to cost Human Services Inc. $17,300 in 2009 - $12,500 for hotel rooms and $4,800 for homeless placement administration.

Sandra Hall and Debbie DeBord of Human Services approached the commissioners Monday and asked for $17,300 to aid homeless families and transients in 2009 with emergency lodging and other expenses.

Hall, county director of Human Services, said the need for a homeless shelter in Shelbyville has become acute because of several factors, including evictions, foreclosures and condemned homes.

She said there were 427 homeless people, including 208 children, seeking housing in Shelby County in 2008. That's up 82 percent from the 235 homeless people Human Services assisted in 2007. Local police also often call the agency about transients, Hall said.

"Most of the people I see are being evicted, or a lot of guys are going to jail, so you've got a lot of homeless women with children," Hall told the commissioners, "and lots of 18-year-olds being kicked out by their parents."

Shelbyville's Knights Inn offers Human Services a $25 per night discounted rate to house clients, and there's also a homeless shelter in Greenfield, where Shelby County's homeless are taken for temporary shelter, Hall said.

But Hall said a better option is to seek community support for a Shelbyville homeless shelter. She said she has asked about a dozen Shelby County business representatives and several social service agencies to help with a homeless shelter.

"With the needs that we've seen, it's an ever-increasing problem," Hall said. "We've had two people that lost everything at the (Indiana Live! Casino), and they're trying to make it home. More than anything else, I would just like to make a plea to the commissioners. There are a lot of people out there hurting."

Hall said a Shelbyville homeless shelter can be staffed by Shelby County Community Support and Human Services staff. Its purpose would be to provide a variety of training to the homeless and move them from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

The training would include educating the homeless on job training, budgeting, resume writing, parenting, anger management, maintaining employment, acquiring a General Education Development diploma, goal setting, renters' rights and car ownership.

"The benefits would be having a population that is more self-sufficient and moving away from public assistance," said Hall's written proposal to the commissioners. "The true key to doing this is education and community support and to serve as a bridge from poverty to self-sufficiency."

Hall said grant money could be utilized to purchase a building for a shelter and fix it up, but she said the month-to-month operational costs are the problem.

"What we're looking for is the commitment to move forward to make sure the funds are there to staff the facility with people who can conduct case management with the families in need," said DeBord, executive director of Human Services Inc. "We're not in business to give handouts ... but to get them back on track to lead productive lives themselves. The need continues to grow. We're seeing many more evictions and foreclosures, and we're working to try and take care of the immediate need of placement, as well as work with them to ensure that they have the knowledge and resources to help make their lives better."

Human Services, one of 24 community action agencies in Indiana, is a nonprofit that serves six central Indiana counties, including Shelby County, with an $11 million annual budget.

Shelby County Board of Commissioners President Tony Newton said the commissioners would check the county's poor relief fund and see if any of the money can be allocated to Human Services.

"I know we have a little money that we can help out a little bit," Newton said. "We will check into that and see about helping you out some and get back to you in a week or so." ..News Source.. by Jeff Tucker
Staff writer