Columbia, Boone County officials addressing homelessness in two-day summit
Leaders from around mid-Missouri are coming together, trying to find ways to help the estimated 350 homeless in Boone County. Jennifer Truesdale with the United Way said they also estimate more than 200 of the 350 homeless are children.
One of the topics discussed at the two-day meeting is creating affordable housing.
“It sounds crazy but promoting the simple idea of ‘housing first'” works, said Steve Hollis, the human services manager for Columbia and Boone County. “The solution to homelessness is a home.”
Hollis said one of the other main factors leading to chronic homelessness is health issues.
“It is hard to get healthy without a home,” Hollis said. “So that is why we are so interested in implementing this national best practice which is, to fix homelessness, you put people in homes, and then you work on other issues.”
ABC 17 News spoke with some of the homeless in Columbia about their experiences.
The gentlemen told us they “are just trying to survive” and to find a place to sleep “without receiving a trespass charge.”
The men also told us they don’t like going to the local shelters, including Salvation Army, because of the rules in place.
“Do you want to be told when to go to bed? When to get up? When to get out? When to take a shower?”
Major Jack Holloway with the Salvation Army said those rules are in place for safety purposes.
The gentlemen ABC 17 News spoke with told us they are not drunks, or violent, and actually help clean the parks where they stay. They say they don’t hold signs or ask for money; they are just trying to live with their situations.
“We have come to this spot in our lives and we are just trying to survive.”
Hollis said he realizes homelessness may never be completely eliminated, but said the goal is to limit it as much as possible.
“Our goal is to have enough housing and shelter available that when people are homeless, they can immediately move into a shelter and then rapidly be re-housed,” Hollis said.
