Local groups making plans for homelessmaking plans

Local organizations are gearing up this summer to tackle the issue of homelessness head-on.

While shelter from the harsh winter elements is a priority of many services for the homeless, summer also presents a host of weather challenges, said Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service.

“If it gets too hot, people should be inside,” he said.

“Storms, hurricanes and tornadoes are also more prevalent.”

Moran said the IFC has “reorganized” itself and is now ready to open its shelters during daytime hours beginning in July.

Other local groups plan to use the summer months to prepare for winter.

Ronnie and Sharkita Torain of Mebane are working to create Hillsborough’s first homeless shelter.

The Neighbor House of Hillsborough will begin as a group of churches that provide beds for at least one week each during the winter starting Oct. 1, said Ronnie Torain, an employee of the UNC Health Affairs Bookstore.

The goal is to recruit at least 16 churches, he said. To date, six have joined the plan and about 20 people help the Torains as volunteers.

Ultimately, Torain would like to create a permanent shelter. “Hopefully, we can make it happen next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the county is preparing to combat homelessness on a broader scale.

Fourteen local governments and nonprofits have joined the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness.

Members include all four local municipalities, the IFC and the Triangle United Way.

The group now is beginning to take initial steps to prepare the plan. The partnership’s work group presented a one-year plan for drawing up the actual 10-year plan at Monday’s Chapel Hill Town Council meeting.

The recommendations, which were passed by the council without discussion, included creating a steering committee in July to advise the work group throughout the process.

“We are going to hire a project manager,” said council member Sally Greene, the town’s liaison to the group. “The process will begin in the fall.”

Part of the job will be to identify the reasons behind homelessness, said Billie Guthrie, chairwoman of the Community Initiative to End Homelessness, in a phone interview Friday.

She said increasing affordable housing was the first step toward a solution.

“Once people graduate from transient housing, there’s not really anywhere to go,” she said. “Ultimately, you need a place to stay. You have to be stable to have a job.”

The chronically homeless, defined as those who have gone without homes for more than one year, would likely get priority in the plan, said Emily Dickens, chairwoman of the partnership’s work group.

Thirty percent of the county’s homeless are considered to be chronic cases — well above the national average of 10 to 15 percent.

But Moran pointed out that the chronically homeless were the minority by far.

“Why are so many resources being put into (the chronically homeless) when that percentage is smaller?” he said.

Moran said ample funding, affordable housing, mental health facilities and case management services were necessary to combat homelessness with the participation of all involved.

“Homeless people themselves should be involved in the process,” Moran said. “Otherwise, who are we kidding?”

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