Homelessness is a Bourbon County problem

Even though Kansas has seen a decrease in the number of homeless individuals who are living in the state, results of the 2009 Kansas Point-In-Time Count revealed thousands of people across the state who still need help.

On Jan 28th, the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services sponsored the count, which was conducted in 36 Kansas counties. The KPIT count helped to establish a base line count of homeless people, according to written information provided by Michael Nash of My Father's House Community Services in Paola.

The results of the count, which was a point-in-time snap shot, showed 1,811 people in Kansas were homeless on Jan 28. This was a 14 percent decrease from a similar count conducted in 2007, which showed 2,111 Kansans as being homeless, according to a press release from the KHRC.

According to Patrick Hanrahan, coordinator of the KPIT and president of the United Way of the Plains even though there has been a decrease in the number of Kansas people who are homeless, more improvements need to be made.

"The reduction in homelessness means we're making progress," Hanrahan said. "However, too many Kansas families still don't have a place to call home. This year's count must inspire us to redouble our efforts to eliminate homelessness altogether."

According to Nash, who is the Fort Scott homeless outreach contact person for My Father's House, on Jan. 28 he and other local volunteers searched through Bourbon County in order to make an accurate count of local homeless people. During the local count, out of the 15,379 county residents, nine were considered homeless, and it was determined that 15.4 percent of local residents are living in poverty. However, partially due to the frigid 22-degree winter temperatures, many of the people Nash knew to be homeless in the county could not be found. The nine people who were counted are not people who have recently relocated to this area. They are Bourbon County residents, according to Nash.

"We know of other people," he said. "This isn't people from out of town. It is our own people."

In addition to the nine people who were counted during the KPIT, Nash said there were four local residents who were staying in a homeless shelter in Chanute. Nash said the individuals were trying to secure housing in the local area so they could return to their hometown.

Nash is not alone in his belief that there are more homeless people in Kansas than the count was able to produce. KHRC's Executive Director Gary Allsup said he too believes the actual number of Kansas residents who are homeless may be higher than the count indicated.

"It's difficult to find homeless families and individuals living on the streets, sleeping in abandoned houses or camping in isolated areas," Allsup said. "Because of that and other reasons, the point-in-time count may under-represent the total number of homeless people in Kansas."

According to the KHRC press release, nearly one in five people or 19.3 percent of the people in Kansas, who were considered homeless on Jan. 28, were children under the age of 18. The ages of the homeless individuals ranged from 13-years-old to 100-years-old with 41 being the average age of the homeless people counted during the KPIT.

Hundreds of volunteers across the state contacted thousands of individuals during the 2009 count, the press release said.

"Nearly six hundred volunteers in thirty-six Kansas counties participated in the KPIT, contacting a total of 3,235 people," the press release said. "The goal of the count was to increase public awareness about homelessness, leverage resources that enable service providers to properly address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and help program administrators and policymakers identify strategies to end homeless in Kansas."

Additional partners of the KPIT include: The Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, the Kansas State Department of Education, the Kansas Department of Corrections, the Kansas Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence, the Veterans Administration, and representatives from the state's five Continuum of Care.