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Discarded men, reeking of alcohol, huddled over grates, warmed only by steam, wearing malodorous overcoats on dead ends of forgotten city streets are the images most have of the homeless.
Yet, the homeless problem invades every corner of America including Sussex County. For the most part, the homeless in this area are invisible. They are not sleeping on park benches or in makeshift cardboard abodes in local parks.
The only time they become visible is when police issue news releases after a homeless person dies in a public area. Last week, police found a homeless woman dead in a makeshift tent in a wooded area near Price’s Corner in Wilmington. The wind chill was 9 degrees.
The homeless tend to drift from shelter to shelter, from program to program, and eventually end up finding abandoned houses or living with relatives or friends or moving out of the area. Finding a place to call home is always a problem.
Although human services workers are able to count about 500 homeless in southern Delaware shelters and accessing services at any given time, they know the number is much higher.
Officials are in the process of trying to count the “double-ups,” those who are down on their luck living in cars, camping out, or living with friends and neighbors, said Cara Robinson, executive director of the Delaware Homeless Planning Council. The number was to be revealed during a Feb. 23 seminar, “Ending Homelessness in Delaware” at Clayton Hall at the University of Delaware. “It’s turning out to be an incredible amount of people,” Robinson said.
There are nearly 1 million homeless people in the United States on any given day, with nearly 4 million classified as homeless during the year.
No place to call home
Although the problems contributing to homelessness are varied, including mental health issues, unemployment and underemployment, housing is always a major factor.
Robinson said one solution that would make a dent in the problem would be a state housing voucher system aimed at homeless people. Services would also be attached to housing. “The federal system is totally maxed out,” she said. She estimates that approximately 1,000 vouchers would be needed for periods of time ranging up to five years.
She said that people suffering from mental illness, including those who may be homeless, already have a state-funded care program in place, but housing is not part of the program.
Waiting lists for subsidized housing are long and show no preference to those who are homeless, Robinson said. The average wait for Section 8 vouchers across the country is more than two years and the wait for low-income housing in northern Delaware can be as long as four years, Robinson said. There are waiting lists for subsidized housing complexes throughout southern Delaware, and few allow anyone with substance abuse problems.
No affordable housing
As executive director of the Delaware Housing Coalition, Ken Smith is at ground zero of the affordable housing issue as it relates to homelessness.
Low-income people, for the most part, are priced out of the home market and are forced to either rent or search for low-income, subsidized housing.
With subsidized housing in the area at a premium, coupled with high rents and high housing costs on the open market, the stage is set for people to fall through the cracks and enter the world of homelessness.
Add in a spouse or partner being incarcerated or leaving, the loss of a job or a medical emergency, and the problems are compounded.
The median price for a house in Sussex County in 2006 was $246,000, the highest in the state. Smith said a person in the low- to moderate-income level could afford a house costing $124,000, or half of the median price in the county.
The established wage needed to afford rent for a two-bedroom housing unit in Sussex County is about $13 an hour, or about $26,000 annually. A person making minimum wage would have to work two full-time jobs to make enough just to afford housing. Delaware is ranked among the worst 10 states for finding affordable housing in non-metro areas, according to the Delaware Housing Coalition.
“There is a need for the county, as it looks at its comprehensive plan, to build affordable housing into the process of development,” he said.
“This must be done so people can live in all parts of the county, and so they can live where they work.”
Smith said he is concerned about the decreasing amount of federal funding available for housing for those in the low- and very low-income brackets – those just a step away from homelessness.
“If the trends continue, there will be more double-ups, more substandard housing and more people living in woods,” he said.
He said the needs are compounded by the demands on the available funds for renovations and refinancing for current rental, low-income rental complexes throughout the area.
The money all comes from the same budget, he said.
There is also a decline in the number of rental units for low-income people, he said, which is a national trend.
In addition, pressure on owners of manufactured home communities to raise rents because of increasing land value is a factor and another national trend. “More and more people are leaving looking for elderly housing, which puts more pressure on the rental community,” he said.
Smith said the mission of the housing coalition, which has remained consistent for nearly 25 years, is to bring organizations together to advocate for affordable housing and keep people off the streets.
“Everything interacts and interlocks in a ripple effect,” he said. “The problems with manufactured housing, lack of federal funding and failure to create affordable rental units affect everyone else.
“An injury to one is an injury to all,” he said.
Demographics
Most are homeless for just a few weeks with only about 10 percent classified as chronic homeless, mainly due to serious problems with mental illness and/or substance abuse, Robinson said.
Robinson said those percentages ring true in Delaware as well. She estimates there are about 250 to 300 chronic homeless in Delaware.
“But they use 50 percent of the services, creating problems for those who are in need of temporary services,” Robinson said. She said half of the people currently taking up beds in Delaware shelters are the chronic homeless.
Delaware, along with all states, has plans in place to eradicate the chronic homeless problem within the next decade. Federal funds, the financial foundation of homeless programs in most states, may hinge on the success of those plans.
More than 40 percent of all homeless are families, and they Homeless
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comprise the single largest growing demographic.
The major factors that contribute to homelessness - finances, loss of housing or lack of housing, mental health issues, drug abuse - are the same everywhere, Robinson said.
Shelters in the area
The homeless in Sussex County have a few options for shelters, but every shelter has restrictions, Robinson said, and all have waiting lists. The local shelter, Casa San Francisco in Milton, accepts homeless single adults or married couples without children. People can stay at the shelter up to 30 days.
Two shelters in Georgetown, both run by Sussex Community Crisis Housing Inc., accept homeless families. Northport allows stays up to one year and Crisis House limits stays to 30 days.
The Home of the Brave in Milford provides shelter for homeless veterans up to six months. Nationwide, nearly 25 percent of all homeless are veterans. The Seaford Mission accepts homeless males (up to one year) and the Seaford Rotary House provides transitional housing to homeless families who have at least one member who is employed full time.
Robinson said the homeless tend to move from shelter to shelter, from program to program and once they have exhausted their options, they move upstate or to Maryland.
Those in danger of becoming homeless
There are several state and federal programs in place to aid people who are in danger of becoming homeless.
Housing counselor - If you are falling behind in house payments, the certified housing counselor in the area is First State Community Action Agency, 308 N. Railroad Ave., Georgetown. Phone 856-7761.
Legal services – Free service is available to low-income residents, the disabled, and those over 60 in the county through Delaware Community Legal Aid, 144 E. Market St., Georgetown. Phone 856-0038. The Legal Link number is 1-800-773-0606.
Energy assistance – There is help paying utility bills this winter through several programs:
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is administered by the state and is for residents at 200 percent of the federal poverty level. A single mother with two children can make up to $33,200 and still qualify for assistance. The average amount given out in 2005 was $283. Phone 856-6310.
Chesapeake Utilities Sharing Program is administered by the Salvation Army. Phone 628-2020.
Delmarva Power Good Neighbor Fuel Fund is also administered by the Salvation Army. Phone 302-472-0750.
Georgetown State Service Center – The state service center serving most of the Cape Region is located at 546 S. Bedford St., Georgetown. Included in the variety of services and programs offered at the center are several programs to prevent homelessness including assistance for rent, utilities and emergency shelter. Counselors can also assist you with information about food stamps, other emergency assistance services, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash for parents who meet income guidelines and are actively seeking employment or working at least 30 hours per week. There are several other requirements that must be met as well. Phone 856-5574.
Danger signs
Living in poverty – The child poverty rate in Sussex County has nearly doubled in recent years with the overall poverty rate disproportionately concentrated in the city of Wilmington and Sussex County, according to the Delaware Community Needs Assessment conducted by the United Way of Delaware.
The assessment concluded: “Many low-skilled jobs do not pay enough to meet basic needs. This population frequently has incomes that exceed eligibility guidelines for public assistance programs but are not sufficient to allow them to afford market-rate services for health insurance, childcare, etc.”
The poverty rate in Sussex County is 11.9 percent, but for single mothers, the rate is more than 37 percent, according to the 2000 Census. A family of three is considered to be living in poverty if its household income does not exceed $15,670; or $18,850 for a family of four.
Housing costs – One-third of renters in Delaware spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and the number of those spending more than 30 percent on their mortgage payment has doubled since 1990, according to the Delaware Community Needs Assessment. Spending more than 30 percent on housing is considered burdensome and impacts spending on other essentials.
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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