Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
She moved to Kosciusko County looking for a safer life for her children. What she found was that the only housing she can afford is two tents at a local campground.
When "Jane" and her four children moved to the Warsaw area from a city in the southwestern United States, she was just happy to get away from the unfriendly and often violent urban atmosphere.
"There were five homicides in the parking lot" where she worked, she said. It wasn't the kind of place where she wanted to raise a family.
She came to Kosciusko County with a guaranteed job and with savings. But she couldn't find a place big enough for her family that she could afford, and all her savings disappeared while the family stayed in a motel.
The problem now, Jane said, is that she can't scrape together the large lump sum necessary for a damage deposit and rent, not to mention utility deposits.
But while she lives in the campground, she pays monthly rental on the space there, plus rental of storage space for her household goods.
The campground provides restrooms, showers and electricity, and Jane's family cooks with a slow cooker, electric skillet and camp oven. She keeps perishable food in a cooler and must buy groceries every day.
Her biggest headache lately has been thunderstorms.
"The tents fell down twice during the storms. We had to lay everything out to dry," she said. On stormy nights, she and the kids sleep in the truck, which has a camper shell.
Jane's family is not the only homeless family in the county that lives in a tent. She said there are at least four at the campgrounds where she is now, and there were always others at places she stayed before.
Most, like Jane, are "working poor" - they have jobs, usually that pay just at or barely above minimum wage, and they have kids. They simply are unable to find housing they can afford.
Often, also like Jane, they are newcomers to the area and unaware of help that may be available, said Vickie Provine, executive director of Warsaw's Housing Authority.
The WHA has a rental assistance program that helps families like Jane's find safe and affordable housing. The WHA also works with landlords to help low-income families pay their rent and utilities, and sets housing quality standards for its clients.
The catch is that WHA has a waiting list of about three to six months for qualified applicants. The good news is that the program provides a long-term safety net to help the families get back on their feet.
"This is not a short-term emergency help organization," Provine said. "This is an ongoing program to help people have stable housing."
"If they would just get to the right services when they're out of luck, ... then they could get in somewhere," said Pam Kennedy, Warsaw's building inspector.
Kennedy said three-bedroom houses or apartments are much harder to find than smaller rentals. "And most landlords rent their places before they ever get into the newspapers," she said.
Combined Community Services refers homeless clients to the WHA and provides lists of shelters and emergency housing sites. And The Salvation Army will house a family for a night or two, but not on a long-term basis.
Jane is most worried about her children, who are enrolled in school now. "It is ridiculous that people have to live like this," she said.
Her daughter came home from school one afternoon this week and told Jane school seemed like home.
When Jane asked why, her daughter said, "Because it's a building and you're inside."
