Montgomery County gets $1.2M to make homelessness 'rare, brief'

Montgomery County agencies will use $1.2 million in state funding to help move more people from homelessness to housing.

The county and St. Vincent de Paul’s Social Services, which operates two homeless shelters, were each awarded two-year funding grants this week from the Ohio Development Services Agency to help transition Ohioans, including those with disabilities, to permanent housing.

“People are going to experience homelessness, but our goal is to make sure it is rare, it’s brief, and it’s non-recurring,” said Jessica Jenkins, who will help distribute some of the county’s grant money as assistant director of the Montgomery County Human Services Planning and Development Department.

An annual state count in January showed 382 households in Montgomery County had no home. Altogether, 500 people were counted, 53 of whom were unsheltered.

The frigid temperatures this week make shelters vitally important, but homeless advocates – and the homeless — say they are not a long-term solution.

MORE: Homeless shelters, Dayton rec centers open to all during severe cold snap

“This is a real lifesaver,” said Carla Pitsinger, who is currently spending nights at the St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Shelter for Women and Families on Apple Street in Dayton.

“But there are so many women just kind of stuck here,” she said. “It’s a little frustrating.”

A bulk of the more than $25.8 million in grant money sent to 72 agencies across the state will be put toward rapid rehousing, a way to quickly move individuals from emergency shelters to permanent housing so they are again connected to the community and support services.

Approximately 39,000 Ohioans will benefit from the Homeless Crisis Response Program grants, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency.

MORE: Cities, volunteers clash over feeding homeless in public

“We’re helping homeless Ohioans get back on their feet,” said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Grants that provide supportive housing to homeless people with disabilities will assist another 5,300 people, including those receiving supportive services from St. Vincent de Paul through its $502,000 award for two years, said Ann Goebel, director of programs.

“For those people, it’s just a matter of finding housing, because we don’t have enough inventory to fill the need for permanent supportive housing,” said Goebel.

Local funding will also benefit women and children in YWCA of Dayton’s domestic violence shelter and those in the youth shelter Daybreak.

In addition to Montgomery County, social service agencies in Butler, Champaign, Greene and Miami counties received grants.

Jenkins said the $1.2 million coming to Montgomery County will allow local agencies to better leverage other state and federal dollars, including more than $9 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds that support homeless programs.

MORE: HUD has ‘significant’ concerns about Dayton’s handling of federal funds

“Having this funding available to get people into their own housing helps reduce the time they experience instability that homelessness creates in a household,” She said. “It is absolutely essential funding.”

On Wednesday as temperatures fought to climb into the teens, Kathy Richardson was thankful for the warmth she would soon feel inside the St. Vincent de Paul shelter.

“I don’t have nowhere to go. It’s freezing outside,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do. I thank God for these people. I really do. They are helping us, really they are.”

Area agencies receiving homeless program grants

Butler County

Serve City

Homeless Crisis Response Program

$302,400

Champaign County

Caring Kitchen, Inc.

Homeless Crisis Response Program

$109,500

Greene County

Family Violence Prevention Center of Greene County, Inc.

Supportive Housing Program

$165,000

Greene County Housing Program, Inc.

Homeless Crisis Response Program

$80,800

Supportive Housing Program

$41,600

Miami County

Family Abuse Shelter of Miami County, Inc.

Homeless Crisis Response Program

$627,600

Montgomery County

Montgomery County Commissioners

Homeless Crisis Response Program

$728,600

St. Vincent DePaul Social Services, Inc.

Supportive Housing Program

$502,000

Where to seek warmth from cold temperatures

Homeless shelters

The St. Vincent de Paul Gateway shelters for women, men and families will be open through noon Tuesday, Jan. 2 for anyone homeless and in need of shelter.

- St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Shelter for Women and Families

120 W. Apple St. Dayton

Phone: 937-461-7837, ext. 122

- St. Vincent de Paul Gettysburg Gateway for Men

1921 S. Gettysburg Ave. Dayton

Phone: 937-222-7350, ext. 278

Warming centers

Dayton is operating warming centers at three recreation facilities through December 30, during regular business hours. Warming center locations are:

- Greater Dayton Recreation Center, 2021 W. Third St.

- Northwest Recreation Center, 1600 Princeton Ave.

- Lohrey Recreation Center, 2366 Glenarm Ave.

The centers are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.