By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – A January count did not register all homeless people in Berrien County.
But other signs, particularly in Benton Harbor, have officials with the Housing Resource Network saying the homeless situation in Berrien County is not improving. Alysia Babcock, executive director of Emergency Shelter and chair of the Housing Resource Network, said the home she oversees in Benton Harbor has been full for the last year, and added the number of people seeking shelter usually decreases when spring nears.
That is not the case this year, as people are sleeping on air mattresses on the floor, Babcock said.
"I've got dozens of people on a waiting list to get in the shelter. At this time of year this is unusual. I have people sleeping in cars waiting to get in here," Babcock said, adding some seeking shelter are two-parent families.
A homeless count was conducted Jan. 25 in conjunction with the first Project Homeless Connect, a "one-stop shop" location to access numerous community resources and services, and also where the condition of each homeless family or individual can be accessed.
A Project Homeless Connect will be held in Niles at Residential Services of Southwest Michigan, 104 S. Third St, on Thursday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Multiple county and community organizations will be on hand to distribute blankets and hygiene products and assess homeless families and individuals.
Project Homeless Connect is part of the 10-year plan to end homelessness in Berrien County, which was written by Housing Resource Network and was passed October 2006 by the county's board of commissioners. It includes conducting a housing needs survey as well as a homeless count every January for the entire county.
Only 65 percent of the county's homeless population was counted Jan. 25, Babcock said. Holly Pomranka, coordinator of the Housing Resource Network Continual Care program and administrator for Residential Services of Southwest Michigan in Niles, said cold temperatures probably caused many homeless in Berrien County to not show.
Babcock added, "And frankly some people just don't want you to know. We don't expect people to show up. That's why we go out to the soup kitchen and use the police." Babcock said the Department of Housing and Urban Development chooses January as the month to do the count. She added a more accurate count might be found during warmer months.
"We actually had law enforcement, sheriff's department going out on the streets," Babcock said. "They have a better idea of where folks are going to be."
According to a Berrien County Community Development press release, the total number of homeless defined Jan. 25 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development was 183 – 129 adults and 54 children. In addition, there were 64 individuals identified through service agencies as precariously housed.
Compared to the November 2005 count the Housing and Urban Development homeless population has increased by 1.1 percent. The homeless count in January 2006 showed there were 293 homeless people in Berrien County, with 59 of those individuals living on the streets.
"We got enough to show that the numbers are up," Pomranka said.
The Jan. 25 count was also the first homeless survey completed and processed using the Homeless Management Information System, which is a database to input information about homeless individuals in county programs and is used by the state to determine the homeless population. "The Michigan State Housing Development Authority has said people receiving money from us have to be on it," Babcock said.
Pomranka said Housing Resource Network will attempt to gather more information on homeless individuals and families in Berrien County during the Project Homeless Connect in Niles.
Volunteers are needed for the Niles Project Homeless Connect. Anyone interested or needing more information can contact Emergency Shelter Services at (269) 925-1131 or by email at ababcock@emergencyshelter.net.