By Boris Ladwig, The Republic
bladwig@therepublic.com
Unemployment, lack of affordable housing and stagnant wages - while the cost of groceries and heating bills keeps going up - are pushing more people into homelessness, local and state officials said.
Of the nearly 14,000 homeless people tracked by Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues in the 366 days before Thursday, 16 percent said they had no place to live because they had lost a job or because their income was reduced.
And the third-most common reason given, eviction, is closely tied to job or income loss, said Sandra Herman, ICHHI executive director.
Nearly 12 percent of respondents said they needed shelter because they had been asked to leave a shared residence. That could include anything from a boyfriend and girlfriend breaking up or a family becoming frustrated with a particular member.
Drug and alcohol abuse ranked fourth, with nearly 11 percent.
"It is definitely a complex set of circumstances," Herman said.
And Indiana is struggling more than many other places with job losses, making this recession especially hard on individuals and families who are struggling to keep up with rent payments.
The national unemployment rate in December was 7.1 percent, up 48 percent from a year earlier. The state's rate, at 8.2 percent, had risen 80 percent.
Bartholomew County's rate, 6.5 percent, rose at an ever faster clip: Nearly 86 percent.
And as companies reduce costs in response to the slumping economy, workers lose income because of extended factory shutdowns and shorter work weeks.
Greater challenges
In Columbus, the homeless and working families face the additional challenge of expensive rental homes. Average local residential property prices typically rank in the state's Top 10.
Last year's flood aggravated the lack of affordable housing, said Peggy Idlewine, director of independent living for Human Services Inc., which oversees Horizon House, a local homeless shelter.
Although the need for housing decreased a few months after the flood when many people moved back into their repaired homes, the waters destroyed some structures and took them off the market, creating a greater demand for affordable homes, Idlewine said.
The least expensive apartments in the city cost more than $400, said Becky Wood, family development specialist in Human Services Inc.'s Continuum of Care Program.
Those apartments often consist of one room with a shared bathroom and kitchen.
Wood said families with children frequently stay in those rooms, sleeping in bunk beds or on the floor.
She also recalled a 25-year-old single mother on disability staying in such a sleeping room with four children under 5.
With rising prices on gasoline, food, housing - and stagnant wages, even the jobs that pay $8 or $9 do not suffice, Wood said.
Utility bills always pose a challenge, Wood said, and lower-income homes typically come with problems such as water leaks or bad insulation that push bills even higher.
Some of her clients get food stamps, Wood said, but those cannot be used for toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper or other basic necessities.
One unexpected bill, even a smaller one, for a car repair or a health problem, can mean a family cannot pay its rent.
"It doesn't have to be that much," Wood said.
The family might even have health insurance - but might not be able to afford the deductible.
Prevention
Wood tries to prevent people from becoming homeless. The Continuum of Care Program, funded by Department of Housing and Urban Development, works mainly with people who have some kind of income, but struggle to meet monthly bills.
Wood said the program includes classes that teach money management, social skills and life skills, such as housekeeping, parent-child communication and spending choices.
Wood helps families with budgets and deposits for apartments - and haggling with landlords over the rent. She also visits her clients in their homes to work on budgets.
Herman said communities can best prevent homelessness by making sure that they have enough jobs that allow families to live above the poverty level.
That often requires expenditures for education and training, Herman said.
But in the long run, she said, spending a little money on such prevention efforts makes more sense than tackling the problem after people have become homeless.