The RCCAA runs Pine Haven Homeless Shelter in Beckley, the largest shelter in the state. Bailey says all 150 beds are full and she’s referring people to Charleston and Bluefield.
“We are seeing more and more people who are coming into our agency who have never received services from a non-profit organization. They were the ones giving money to non-profit corporations and now their company has downsized and they’ve lost their jobs,” said Bailey.
While the downturn in the economy is increasing the need among a population that has never been homeless, Pine Haven Shelter largely serves people who are chronically homeless. The majority of its residents have mental health issues and/or substance addictions.
Every resident is assessed upon entry and provided appropriate counseling, according to Rick Titcomb, director of the shelter’s program called Projects to Assist in Transition out of Homelessness.
“If we just find them a place to live, that doesn’t solve the problem,” Titcomb said. “The problem is whatever is occurring inside them, the disorder that is causing them to not be able to maintain that place to live, so those are the skills that we teach them here.”
The biggest reason for homelessness in West Virginia is a gap in services, according to Titcomb. He says people often don’t know how to access the help available to them, like mental health services, job training and HUD housing.
“We educate all our clients about these services and encourage their continued use once they leave the shelter, so they can maintain their independent living.”
Pine Haven Homeless Shelter has a recidivism rate of 13 percent, among the lowest in the state.
Sixty-two percent of the residents are single men; about 35 percent are single women, and just three percent are families. Families stay an average of three to four months. Women stay an average of 55 days and men an average of 38 days.
Thirty-five-year old Brian is a resident and about to complete a substance addiction treatment program.
“It’s a culture shock because you are taken out of the environment that you’re used to and put somewhere where now they have rules, regulations. You have people that you don’t know from anywhere that you have to live with and it’s an adjustment,” said Brian. “It takes a while to do it but once you settle in you see everything they have you do here has meaning behind it.”
Once life skills are developed a resident of the shelter may be ready to move on, but Bailey says a lack of affordable or low-income housing is now delaying that.
“Sometimes there’s nowhere for them to go, so they stay longer at the shelter than they need to until housing becomes available to them,” said Bailey.
Another hurdle is a lack of entry-level jobs.
“Because of the economy, you don’t see signs at every restaurant or hotel like you were a year or two ago, so finding employment has been a challenge this year,” Bailey said.
Bailey is optimistic that Presdient Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan could help. Included in the far-reaching legislation is $1.5 billion for emergency shelter grants, $2 billion for the neighborhood stabilization program, $1 billion for community development block grants, $2.2 Billion to jumpstart housing development projects and $1 billion for community service block grants.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but now there is some hope,” said Bailey. “There are some increases in funds that we definitely need, and there are people that definitely will benefit from those services.”