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| | Issue #20.46 :: 11/14/2007 - 11/20/2007 | Homeless Count Results Expected to Be Released
1,500 Local Children Without Permanent Homes
| BY JULIE JAREMA
| As the weather gets colder in the winter months, the problem of homelessness in Columbia is brought to the forefront by many local organizations. The long-awaited results of a count of the local homeless population earlier this year were expected to be released today at the Midlands Area Consortium for the Homeless agency fair.
To be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Cecil Tillis Center at 211 Simpkins Lane, the event is a showcase for city and county agencies, volunteers and corporate leaders who might be referring the homeless for services. More than 40 agencies were to be represented, ranging from the Salvation Army to the Mental Illness Recovery Center Inc., says Julie Ann Avin, chair of the Consortium for the Homeless.
The 2005 homeless count — it is conducted nationally every two years — identified about 1,800 people in Columbia. The Associated Press recently reported that nationwide, one in every four homeless people is a veteran.
However, the problem in Columbia extends beyond veterans, to homeless families and children.
Avin says 1,492 children were identified in Richland School District 1 as not having a permanent address.
“So often people think of homeless as the single man or woman you see on the street,” Avin says, “but the number is actually much larger than that.”
Jonathan Artz, homeless program coordinator for the city, echoes that sentiment. “The homeless don’t really fit into one category,” Artz says. “It’s a diverse group.”
The city is finishing construction of two buildings to temporarily house the homeless at 191 Calhoun St. near a city water treatment plant along the Congaree River. One of the buildings, for men, opened Nov. 12.
Scheduled to open Monday, the second shelter will be divided into separate sections for women and men. Together, the shelters can house up to 220 people.
The city plans to keep them open every day from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. through March 31. Shuttles provide transportation to and from the buildings.
Emergency shelters have been opened at least three times this winter at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Five Points when temperatures dropped below 40 degrees at night. They have served about 60 people a night.
If you’d like to help homeless women in Columbia, the Women’s Shelter is hosting its 28th Annual Thanksgiving “Souper” on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Eastminster Presbyterian Church (3200 Trenholm Road). Tickets, which include a bowl of soup, crackers and tea, are $2 for adults and $1 for children. | |
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