Columbus agencies work together to fill gaps as Homeless Resource Network stops some services
The Homeless Resource Network has halted its direct homeless services as other Columbus organizations prepare to expand some services to prevent any interruption for their clients.
The network decided to stop providing these services as of Dec. 21 because they are already duplicated by other organizations, Liz Dillard, director of the Homeless Resource Network. Some of those services include transportation, mail and storage.
Providing transportation was how the network began its direct services, Dillard said, but expanding those efforts was never in their original plan.
The organization was instead trying to fill in gaps. The idea was for each of the homeless shelters to run the program, but that put more work on the shelters and the Network itself began running the transportation program, she said.
Over time, other organizations in the community were able to provide these services and it doesn’t make sense for the Network to continue doing them as well, Dillard said.
“We have been doing mail services for some time,” she said. “We have people who couldn’t remember and say, ‘Is my mail going to this program or that program?’”
The Homeless Network will continue helping people with housing, case management, identification and services for people living with HIV.
Working with these issues is complicated, especially when it comes to identification, Dillard said.
“You have to have a state ID to get a birth certificate,” she said. “You have to have a birth certificate to get a state ID. If you’ve got none of the above, what do you do?”
Halting direct homeless services will allow the organization to focus their energy more on these programs, Dillard said.
Filling the gap in homeless services
The Network announced its decision to other Columbus housing providers during a monthly housing navigation meeting on Nov. 2, Pat Frey, vice president of the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, said.
Individuals who need the services that were previously provided at the Network may receive help from other organizations. Home for Good, a program of United Way, is working with SafeHouse Ministries to ensure people have access to transportation and is considering ramping up their rapid rehousing program, Frey said.
“There were several conversations with the Homeless Resource Network and other service providers,” she said. “It’s just a matter of who has the capacity to do what makes sense with what agency and making sure that the resources are there for the clients with the least amount of interruption.”
Calling 211, a free phone and text messaging service, will always be the best resource for individuals looking for homeless services and other resources, she said.
“We don’t want to manage homelessness,” Frey said. “We want to end it. And going to do that intake always gives people access to services, resources and housing opportunities to end their homelessness.”
SafeHouse will be able to help with emergency transportation, storage and mail, Executive Director Neil Richardson said. Mail services are something SafeHouse has always done, Richards said, and the organization has the facilities to provide storage services as well.
The ministry will also provide bus passes, he said. SafeHouse serves breakfast and lunch every day, provides clothing and acts as a warming center when the weather is lower than 28 degrees.
“For the most part, our clients overlap (with the Network),” he said. “In the long run, this is probably going to remove an extra stop from what a homeless person is doing in order to access services.”
Most of the Network’s clients are sad about the change, Dillard said, and they’ve had an influx of people come to tell them how much the organization has helped them. However, she said this change will help streamline the process for those services for people to have one stop to get help.
“I think the thing I want to convince people is that we’re doubling down our commitment to make sure that those that God called us to serve will always have access to services,” Richardson said. “We will not close or cut back services for our clients.”
