Homeless Count: Most Are Local

WHEELING — At 10 p.m. one cold night, local social workers and volunteers left the comfort of their warm homes to count the number of people who do not have homes of their own.

By 2 a.m. the next day, they discovered people sleeping under highway overpasses and bridges, in tents, in abandoned train tunnels and at the Wheeling Salvation Army emergency shelter. According to recently released results of their Jan. 24 survey, there are at least 92 homeless people living in the Northern Panhandle.

Among them were 12 children staying with adults at the Salvation Army or at the Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless transitional shelter, said Tia Liberati, program coordinator with the coalition.

And contrary to what some may believe, the majority of homeless people counted are local — 59 said they were originally from Wheeling; three were from Weirton; eight were from various other West Virginia counties; 10 were from Belmont and Jefferson counties; 10 were from outside the immediate area; and two did not respond to this question.

“Transients who come through go to the Salvation Army for their free three days and move on. The transients aren’t staying too long. They’re not looking to settle down,” Liberati said.

The count was conducted in the West Virginia counties of Brooke, Hancock, Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel by workers and volunteers going into the field and to homeless shelters.

The homeless coalition is required to conduct the count by the federal government because it annually receives funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Lisa Badia, executive director of the coalition.

“The weather on that day was a chilly 18 degrees, with high winds and about an inch of snow and ice on the ground,” Liberati states in her report. “Homeless adults responded with ages from 22 to 84, with the majority being in their mid-30s to mid-40s. Children ranged in age from 4 to 21. There were five veteran respondents.”

Of the 92 surveyed, 77 were white; 10 were black; three were bi-racial; and two did not respond to this question. Also, 73 were single individuals, and five people were described as “one-parent” families with children. Seven of the 12 children were staying in the Wheeling Salvation Army’s emergency shelter, and five were staying in the coalition’s transitional shelter.

In 2006, there were 112 homeless people counted. Badia noted there likely are more homeless people in the region, but there is no way to count them because their locations are unknown.

“We need to get the outlying areas represented. We have to find them first,” Badia noted.

Badia said the most difficult places to survey are in the far reaches of Brooke and Wetzel counties. Survey sheets are mailed to agencies in each county, but not everyone responds. People who know possible locations where homeless people sleep should call the coalition at 304-232-6105, Badia said. If the coalition doesn’t know where the people are, it can’t help them, she noted.

The coalition runs a transitional housing program and provides voucher payments for emergency shelters, such as the Salvation Army and Lazarus House in Wheeling. The coalition also refers homeless people to services such as Health Right and the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling.