Definition of Homelessness:

According to HUD, a person is considered homeless only if at the time of the count he/she resided in one of the places described below:

• An unsheltered homeless person resides in a place not meant for human habitation, such as a car, park, sidewalk, abandoned building (on the street).
• A sheltered homeless person resides in an emergency shelter, or transitional housing or supportive housing for homeless persons who originally came from the streets or emergency shelters.

The 2008 Triangle Point-In-Time Count revealed there are currently at least 1,929 homeless men, women and children in the Triangle living on the streets and in homeless shelters. The one-night count conducted by homeless service providers throughout Durham, Orange and Wake counties further revealed:

·        There were 291 children (15 percent of the total homeless count) lived in shelters the night of the Point-In-Time count.

·        127 (7 percent) of the total number of homeless people counted lived unsheltered under bridges, in abandoned houses, or in camps.

·        272 (14 percent) of the total number of homeless people counted were considered chronically homeless. Chronically homeless is defined as more than one year of homelessness or four periods of homelessness in the last three years, and a disability or substance abuse diagnosis.

·        218 (11 percent) of the total number of homeless people counted are veterans with histories of military service.

The total number of homeless people has increased in the Point-In-Time Count since 2006 when there were 1,720 homeless persons identified.

Limitations of a Point-in-Time Count

National research indicates that point-in-time counts generally underestimate the count of those who are homeless because:

·        There are those, particularly families with children and youth, who are doubled-up, living with other families. In some instances, if a landlord discovered two households residing at one residence, both families could be asked to leave.

·        A point-in-time is just a “snapshot” and may not capture all those who are cycling in and out of homelessness over the course of a specific time frame.

·        It is difficult to find where all the unsheltered people reside. It is impossible to know all the places where tents might be pitched or where the empty cars are located that might provide shelter for one night.

 Challenges for those who are homeless and mentally ill

Mental illness can create homelessness.

• It may be difficult to find and sustain employment or have a source of income that sustains housing.
• Even if you qualify for disability, you still may not be able to afford housing. The monthly income of someone receiving disability income is $564 while the average market rent of a one-bedroom apartment is $700.
• Some preventive services that would benefit those with mental illness are not reimbursable services and can result in clients becoming more at risk of greater illness.

Homelessness can complicate mental illness. It may be difficult for those who are homeless with mental illness to take medications regularly or to make scheduled appointments with mainstream mental health providers.

10-Year Plans to End Homelessness

The City and County of Durham and the Triangle United Way made an unprecedented commitment to end homelessness with the adoption of a 10-Year Results Plan to End Homelessness.  The Plan promises to end homelessness by 2016.  The move joins Durham with over 200 cities across the nation committed to ending homelessness in their community.   Achieving the 10-Year Results Plan outcomes will require ongoing involvement and participation of partner agencies for the entire 10 years.  Get involved with this plan so that every resident of Durham will have a place to call home.

10 Year Plan

Domestic violence, underemployment and unemployment, substance abuse and mental illness are all conditions that may lead to homelessness; but couple these factors with the lack of affordable housing and they create homelessness. “Data from the Census demonstrates that we need over 45,000 units of housing to help offset the gap created when you compare the number of people who need affordable rental units and the actual number of units available in the Triangle,” said Craig Chancellor, Triangle United Way
President and CEO.

Housing is expensive in the Triangle. According to the National Low Income
Housing Coalition’s report entitled Out of Reach for 2006, fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the Triangle is $721 per month. If your income is at 30 percent of the Area Median Income, you can only afford $488per month in rent. If you earn the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, you can only afford $268 per month in rent. If you receive Supplemental Security Income as a result of a disability, you can only afford $181 per month in rent.

While the number of homeless people across the Triangle seems to fluctuate
between a low of 1,720 individuals in 2006 to a high of 1,992 in 2004, there is one trend that seems to be moving in a positive direction. In 2003, there were 482 chronic homeless people in the region. In 2006, the number dropped to 399, and in January of this year, the number dropped to 245.

Chronically homeless individuals are disabled and have been homeless for an extended period of time, they are among the most difficult to serve. Housing eludes those who have either come to distrust the system as a result of a mental illness or been challenged by ongoing substance abuse. Chronically homeless individuals do not have access to the income necessary to sustain costly permanent housing. Through partnerships in Durham, Orange and Wake counties, 10-Year Plans to prevent and end homelessness are taking shape and communities are being mobilized for change to move from managing homelessness to ending homelessness. All three plans have strategies designed to increase the number of affordable housing units that are being built in the community and all three plans have strategies designed to work with the chronically homeless.

“It is too early to tell for sure that specific strategies have resulted in the decline in the number of chronically homeless people within the region,” according to Stan Holt, Triangle United Way’s Homeless Specialist. “It is clear that because this is a priority in each of the three Triangle Counties, service providers are helping the most vulnerable homeless people in the region. Creating a vision is a key first step in any successful plan and it is clear that the three Triangle Counties have embraced the vision of ending homelessness and are on their way to making that vision a reality.”

Please contact Stan Holt at sholt@unitedwaytriangle.org or 463-5023 for information on how you can get involved in your community.