Efforts Made To Get Homeless Back On Their Feet
December 10, 2021 at 2:04 a.m.
By Carolina Keegan-
Eric Lane, executive director of Fellowship Missions, approximated the success rate of transitioning out of homelessness to be 55 to 60%. Fellowship Missions is Kosciusko County’s homeless shelter.
Fellowship Missions hasn’t changed much since it was founded, Brooke Lane, the shelter director, said. Some changes that have happened are that a women’s side was built after an 18-year-old girl was dropped off on her birthday and people are more aware of homelessness in Kosciusko County now than they were before, she said.
The shelter has a pretty high success rate, according to Brooke. “We just work with them and meet them where they’re at, and we go from there. We’re able to work with them at a pace that they can go, and it’s individualized to each person.”
Tricia Jackson, 34, sat scrunched up in a swivel chair in a two-person office, describing how she became homeless and how she is working to overcome it. She began struggling with substance abuse when she was 15, after she began using methamphetamine, opioids, benzo and marijuana, she said.
In 2016, she went to prison for a felony and her family disowned her, Jackson said. She has been homeless for six years. When she got out of prison, she had nowhere to go.
“I’m working on getting my SSI. The reason why is because I want to be a motivational speaker. My testimony, and my journey, is complex, but it is also something that I can really help people with. And, with my SSI, that’s guaranteed income, so I don't have to be paid to be a motivational speaker because all I want to do is help – especially in schools,” Jackson said.
Jackson is working with a lawyer to get her supplemental security income, and she is pursuing her GED diploma so she can go to school and study social psychology. “I’m very interested in that. I kind of study it already even though I don’t have a GED,” she said.
“Fellowship Missions, they help us so much and they build our confidence so much that there’s no way that we wouldn’t be completely ready because they help us in so many different ways,” said Jackson. “Coming from homelessness you need to be disciplined. We are held accountable here, which I think is great.”
At the Beaman Home, residents stay in the facilities for 24 days on average, Executive Director Jennifer Hayes said. People return to their abusers on average seven times before leaving them for good, Rachel Bennett, the housing specialist and supervisor of case management, said.
The Beaman Home is a domestic violence shelter for Kosciusko, Marshall, Fulton and Elkhart counties. The shelter accepts new residents as they are unless they are a danger to themselves or others.
“Housing people doesn't always take care of what was the underlying condition that got them into this situation to start with,” said Pam Kennedy, executive director of Warsaw Housing Authority.
“There’s some situation that got them that way, so you have to deal with those issues. If you just give them a voucher and throw them in an apartment, they're going to go back to what they used to do,” Kennedy said. A voucher covers 70% of the cost of utility bills in fair-market rent.
“Nine out of 10 people I issued vouchers to were homeless in October,” Kennedy said. “They weren't all on the street, but they fit into definitions. I would have said 10 years ago that I would have had one in five months,” she added.
An approximated 5,625 people were found to be homeless in Indiana as of January 2020, according to usich.gov. This is a 2.8% increase from the previous year. Of these individuals, 17.2% were unsheltered and 82.8% were sheltered, according to usich.gov.
In Kosciusko County, 9% of the population were living in poverty as of 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is comparable to the state average of 11.9%.
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Eric Lane, executive director of Fellowship Missions, approximated the success rate of transitioning out of homelessness to be 55 to 60%. Fellowship Missions is Kosciusko County’s homeless shelter.
Fellowship Missions hasn’t changed much since it was founded, Brooke Lane, the shelter director, said. Some changes that have happened are that a women’s side was built after an 18-year-old girl was dropped off on her birthday and people are more aware of homelessness in Kosciusko County now than they were before, she said.
The shelter has a pretty high success rate, according to Brooke. “We just work with them and meet them where they’re at, and we go from there. We’re able to work with them at a pace that they can go, and it’s individualized to each person.”
Tricia Jackson, 34, sat scrunched up in a swivel chair in a two-person office, describing how she became homeless and how she is working to overcome it. She began struggling with substance abuse when she was 15, after she began using methamphetamine, opioids, benzo and marijuana, she said.
In 2016, she went to prison for a felony and her family disowned her, Jackson said. She has been homeless for six years. When she got out of prison, she had nowhere to go.
“I’m working on getting my SSI. The reason why is because I want to be a motivational speaker. My testimony, and my journey, is complex, but it is also something that I can really help people with. And, with my SSI, that’s guaranteed income, so I don't have to be paid to be a motivational speaker because all I want to do is help – especially in schools,” Jackson said.
Jackson is working with a lawyer to get her supplemental security income, and she is pursuing her GED diploma so she can go to school and study social psychology. “I’m very interested in that. I kind of study it already even though I don’t have a GED,” she said.
“Fellowship Missions, they help us so much and they build our confidence so much that there’s no way that we wouldn’t be completely ready because they help us in so many different ways,” said Jackson. “Coming from homelessness you need to be disciplined. We are held accountable here, which I think is great.”
At the Beaman Home, residents stay in the facilities for 24 days on average, Executive Director Jennifer Hayes said. People return to their abusers on average seven times before leaving them for good, Rachel Bennett, the housing specialist and supervisor of case management, said.
The Beaman Home is a domestic violence shelter for Kosciusko, Marshall, Fulton and Elkhart counties. The shelter accepts new residents as they are unless they are a danger to themselves or others.
“Housing people doesn't always take care of what was the underlying condition that got them into this situation to start with,” said Pam Kennedy, executive director of Warsaw Housing Authority.
“There’s some situation that got them that way, so you have to deal with those issues. If you just give them a voucher and throw them in an apartment, they're going to go back to what they used to do,” Kennedy said. A voucher covers 70% of the cost of utility bills in fair-market rent.
“Nine out of 10 people I issued vouchers to were homeless in October,” Kennedy said. “They weren't all on the street, but they fit into definitions. I would have said 10 years ago that I would have had one in five months,” she added.
An approximated 5,625 people were found to be homeless in Indiana as of January 2020, according to usich.gov. This is a 2.8% increase from the previous year. Of these individuals, 17.2% were unsheltered and 82.8% were sheltered, according to usich.gov.
In Kosciusko County, 9% of the population were living in poverty as of 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is comparable to the state average of 11.9%.
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