Volunteers identify medically vulnerable homeless to find housing for those in need

Some of the most vulnerable homeless people in Orange County could soon have a permanent place to call home.

Volunteers in Wake and Orange Counties spent several January mornings identifying medically vulnerable homeless.

Now numbers are in, and the United Way of the Greater Triangle and the Wake and Orange County Partnerships to End Homelessness are working to find housing for those in need.

The effort is part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign to find homes for 100,000 homeless people by July 2013.

“Housing and services are so critically important for chronically homeless people,” said Jamie Rohe, Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness coordinator.

Of the 57 surveys collected in Orange County, 51 percent were identified as vulnerable.

Of those surveyed in Orange County, 56 percent reported problems with substance abuse.

Rohe said though housing for the 29 most vulnerable people remains uncertain, she has received encouraging responses.

The campaign ranked people based on eight factors, including liver disease, HIV or AIDS and a history of cold-weather injury. It then assigned a numerical vulnerability ranking based on the number of factors they met.

The survey team also considered factors like pregnancy and the likelihood of staying in the county to help determine priority.
Those who had been homeless for at least six months and were given the highest ranking will receive priority in housing.

“We know they’re vulnerable medically, but each of them have different barriers to housing that we need to look at,” said Stan Holt, United Way vice president of regional initiatives.

Rohe said the partnership has also been setting up options for services like mental health care, substance abuse treatment and disability benefits in the last six months.

She said the Orange County campaign’s goal is to house 15 people within two years, and they will start housing people as soon as possible.

Rohe said the committee has identified available subsidized housing and talked to the Triangle Apartment Association and private landlords about potential housing opportunities.

She said she hopes landlords will donate housing or rent at reduced costs for the homeless.

Rohe said she is encouraged by the housing they have found, but challenges still exist.

“Some are harder to find housing and services for, particularly if they have no income,” Rohe said.

While she didn’t know what to expect when the surveys began, Rohe said she is pleased with the result.

“I think it’s great that we didn’t find more than we did,” she said.

Marigny Manson, outreach nurse at Housing for New Hope, volunteered as a co-team-leader on two of the survey days. Her team interviewed homeless people in downtown Chapel Hill.

Manson said her work has helped her understand the importance of helping the homeless get access to health care and housing.

“Part of the 100,000 Homes Campaign is to look at where the gaps are,” she said. “It’s important to take a time out, step back and look at the individual.”

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