Photo by Joanne Beck
An issue of homelessness couldn’t have been made more obvious for the folks at Batavia First Presbyterian Church and Crossroads House after they discovered people sleeping in a donations shed in the parking lot.
“We had to put a lock on the shed and put cameras up,” the Rev. Roula Alkhouri said Monday evening during an initial meeting about opening a warming center in Genesee County. “Four people had been sleeping there and under trailers behind Crossroads House.”
It became a stark visual example of what being homeless can look like, though there are many other ways, according to a presentation by Chief Executive Officer Karen Kinter of Oak Orchard Health, including:
- Living in hotels.
- Temporary housing after a tragedy.
- Living with relatives and/or friends.
- Couch surfing.
- Living on the streets.
Kinter has been involved in other warming centers, including one in Albion, and has offered her experience to help get one going here.
What is a warming center?
This center is to be set up as an evening and overnight safe space for people in need of shelter from the cold on days when the temperature falls below 32-degrees. Organizers also want to provide an opportunity for this space to be a place of connection with helpful resources.
The meeting was to gauge interest, and about 50 people from several organizations and nonprofits attended, including Community Action of Orleans Genesee, Genesee County Mental Health, Department of Social Services and Sheriff’s Office, City of Batavia Police, Genesee ACE, St. James Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Community Services Board, and Crossroads House.
Kinter’s presentation covered factors that contribute to becoming homeless, such as not having the housing necessary for people in need of a lower-income home and the risk of incarceration or losing custody of children.
It takes education, partnerships with other organizations, community buy-in and resources, plus funding to help solve the problem, she said.
“I started with my team and a lot of other community partners to get that open. As a primary care office, we track homelessness, so we see homeless people in our office,” she said. “But we've had several community partners reach out. Once they heard about Orleans County, they're like, how can we get one? Because we actually get some from Genesee County, some individuals that try to come to the warming center in Orleans County. We’re like, wait, let's find out, what can we do here if there is a need, what’s working and what might be able to be enhanced?
“Tonight was really about understanding what the community is looking for, what the interest is if we're on the same page, or what questions, how can we educate the community about the need? And your role going forward would be to partner with the community organizations to potentially open a warming center,” she said. “We don't have funding at this time for Genesee County, so we would have to work with other partners and organizations to get the funding to open up a warming center. The funding pays for staff. So we would not pay all of the staff. What we would do is hire them, onboard them, train them, and ensure that they're equipped with tools and resources to do the work that's needed during the hours of operation.”
How do you spread the word to a small population of people that may not have Internet to read online postings about a warming center?
“A lot of it is through many of the community partners right in the room. So, just like somebody said, somebody was living in a (clothing shed), so when that church found that person, they have somebody to call. They know a resource in the community,” she said. “And so, really, most of the community partners are our biggest kind of social media for the resource.”
The need is out there, even though you might never see a person sleeping on the street. On average, the Department of Social Services has “maybe 10 to 12 individuals a night, and during off-Code Blue hours, it could be five, it could be less,” Social Services Commissioner Carla Mindler said.
What is Code Blue?
“Code blue is when it's 32 degrees or below. That's including wind chill. So, the feels-like temperature, we use the Ready Genesee app through emergency management. So if that says it feels like 32 or below, it’s Code Blue. We do have individuals who are homeless during that time. So we still, if someone were placing someone homeless, we still do the due diligence to ensure that they are homeless and that they don't have other resources to use for their housing. If they have somewhere else to stay, then they still need to stay there. If they have money of their own, they have to use that for their housing,” Mindler said. “The difference during Code Blue is that if they are sanctioned, meaning they are normally eligible for temporary housing assistance, however, they are sanctioned due to noncompliance, they are eligible for housing during Code Blue, and that's the main difference.”
Those 10 to 12 individuals are who DSS encounters during the Code Blue times, she said. That doesn’t mean there aren’t more than that, but “those are the individuals that DSS are housing and paying for on a potentially typical Code Blue night,” she said.
What role can DSS play in a future warming center?
“Certainly, we can provide information; I’m happy to share what DSS is doing and what the county plan is for Code Blue. We don’t get an allocation for Code Blue that’s large enough for me to share, unfortunately, because I will use all of those funds in-house simply placing individuals at hotels because not everyone will be able to go to the warming center, and we can’t force individuals to go to the warming center either,” she said. “So we will inevitably still use all of that money on the hotels and motels. I’m also just willing to talk about what the need is in the county, I obviously want to be involved in the conversation so we know what’s being planned and we know what’s available, and can help maybe identify other resources as well so that we’re aware of simply because of the work we do.”
There may be individuals that would prefer going to a warming center versus signing up for a DSS paid hotel, which also includes compliance with regulations and requirements, she said.
“And that’s fine. I’d love to have that as a resource to refer people to,” she said.
Reasons for homelessness do vary and include mental health issues and substance use, among a variety of other reasons, Mental Health Deputy Director Peter Mittiga said.
“I don’t have definitive numbers, but it’s just exciting to have another resource out there to provide to folks, to have a potential warming center,” he said. “We link folks up at DSS if they’re homeless, but if they have another source that they can go to, it’s great.”
Meeting attendees were asked to provide contact information, and another meeting will be set up to better define details to move forward with a center, Alkhouri said.
“I want you to go home and think about it. Are you willing to work with a couple of people and be a champion of this?” she said to the group. “I feel like there’s energy around this … and we could enhance what’s in existence.”
A few women — Deacon Diana Leiker, Terry Maguire and Jo-Ann Bestine — representing St. James Episcopal Church were wholeheartedly on board with assisting the cause, even if they didn’t know quite yet how.
“We would like to be a part of it; what that looks like, it’s too early to tell. We're very interested in it and want to be an integral part of it,” Bestine said. “We have to go back and talk to our congregation and see to what extent, whether it's space, money, in what way we would, but we definitely want to be a part of it.”
They know there’s a need for a warming center, she said, from watching their blessing box with free food in front of the East Main Street church quickly empty out continuously, and people in need use the church thrift store.
“So that we recognize there's definitely a need in this community,” she said. “Where we fit in, we'll have to talk about it and pray on it, but we want to be part of it.”
