Agenda - 04-01-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

a dramatic increase in the housing need of homeless persons in Orange County. For the entire calendar year 1990, the shelter served 468 clients for a total of 10,605 nights of shelter. From January through June, 1991, the shelter served 460 homeless persons for a total of approximately 9,000 nights of shelter, indicating nearly double the previous year's service. Most nights, the shelter is operating at capacity. A substantial number of clients for the shelter are persons who came to the Triangle area seeking employment without adequate funds -to get reestablished. The Inter -Faith Council estimates that nearly $1,000 is needed to pay all the up -front costs needed to move into a standard rental unit in southern Orange County. With the rapid rise in clients at the homeless shelter has come a dramatic increase in the number of women, children, and families housed there. With only one homeless facility, meeting the different needs of single men, single women, pregnant women, mothers with infants and small children, and families becomes a difficult task for the shelter staff. Special needs populations, such as persons recovering from substance abuse or persons discharged from hospital care also provide service challenges to the shelter's current operation. No public or private single -room occupancy facilities exist in Orange County to provide transition for shelter residents who have jobs but still cannot afford to enter the housing market. Boarding houses, rooming houses, or other historic transitional facilities have suffered from economic displacement, as the large residences needed for such operations have been purchased by investors and converted to student housing or purchased by families for private residences. Further, only one halfway house exists for women recovering from substance abuse, and none are available for men, leaving the homeless shelter to serve this population. The battered women's shelter for Orange and Durham counties is located in Durham, so women who want to maintain their children's attendance in Chapel Hill - Carrboro Schools have no other option but the homeless shelter. Without facilities for special populations or transitional housing opportunities for working residents, the homeless shelter becomes the county's main source of short-term housing for a broad spectrum of clients. No data are available for unsheltered homeless persons who choose not to stay at the IFC Homeless Shelter; however, local officials have observed an increase in rural homelessness even though figures are not currently available. Many of these homeless persons are migrant laborers or new arrivals who have not been able to find work or save enough money to move into permanent housing. 5