Six of those programs would receive funding renewals of more than $1 million. Statewide, Indiana received $16.4 million in continuum of care funding. Those who are listed as chronically homeless typically have been sleeping on the streets or in an emergency shelter for at least a year or four times in the past three years.
Substance abuse, chronic mental illness and poor physical health can all contribute to a person becoming homeless, but increasingly, Northwest Indiana is making moves to offer permanent housing alongside support services to the chronically homeless.
Six of those programs would receive funding renewals of more than $1 million, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced last week. Statewide, Indiana received $16.4 million in continuum of care funding. Those who are listed as chronically homeless typically have been sleeping on the streets or in an emergency shelter for at least a year or four times in the past three years.
Last year’s Lake County Point-In-Time homeless count found 348 homeless — an increase from 294 in 2013. The region that includes Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Pulaski, Newton and Jasper counties experienced a decrease — from 213 in 2013 to 187 in 2014.
In recent years, HUD has focused more of its funding on rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing and away from shelter and transitional housing since research shows a place to call home and wraparound services can help them stay off the streets longer.
Catholic Charities received $434,702 for its Gateway Housing program, which finds apartments for 50 chronically homeless people with substance abuses and/or mental health issues and links them to services through case workers who visit twice a month.
“It took a while to get up and running, but after six months, we’ve been full ever since,” said program manager Kay Hosmer. “There isn’t a deadline/timeline to leave the program. People do leave or sometimes we have to terminate them. That’s why we don’t have a huge number of vacancies. Right now, we have 49 slots paid for, and we have one person lined up, but we don’t have an apartment yet.”
When a person is diagnosed with severe mental illness, Hosmer said access to treatment and medication doesn’t mean they can suddenly become independent and leave the program.
“The difficulty with mental illness is a person may be stable for months, then crash when they stop taking their medication or have a situation in their lives that stuns them into a crisis mode,” Hosmer said. “Our goal is they be stable in their housing and not necessarily become totally independent.”
Gateway is a scattered-site program, which means it works with landlords to place people across the area. In contrast, South Shore Commons and the under-construction Northwest Indiana Veterans Village in Gary are self-contained and offer supportive services on site.
Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living received $190,193 for its Shelter Plus Care Program. It goes toward running Phoenix House, a 30-unit transitional apartment building for adults who are able to care for themselves but need extra help, and the year-old South Shore Commons, which provides permanent supportive housing for 36 chronically homeless adults.
Regional Mental Health Center’s program helps place up to 15 people in apartments in the community and enrolls them in supportive care. It received $111,438 for the program, which has been around for at least 15 years, said President/CEO Bob Krumweid.
“We provide them with supportive care, which is ongoing maintenance, attending programs, taking medication to treat their addictions. If they are mentally ill, we make sure on their medications, stay enrolled in Medicaid,” Krumweid said. “The ugly truth is no one comes in with one diagnosis these days — if they have substance abuse issues, they usually have chronic mental health issues and probably physical health problems — so they really need help.”
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In addition, the Aliveness Project of Northwest Indiana received $283,159, Porter-Starke Services’ Shelter Plus Care program received $104,086, and Michigan City-based The Stepping Stones Shelter received $186,950 for its Bridge Transition Housing Program.