photo by: Eric Ayres

WHEELING – What began as an ambitious idea to coordinate services to break the cycle of homelessness, the Life Hub in Wheeling has evolved into a bonafide entity developing a strategic plan to bring its goals to fruition.

Stakeholders on the front lines of efforts to help those in Wheeling’s growing homeless population gathered Thursday at the Wheeling Housing Authority’s North Wheeling Community Center for an informational public meeting about this plan.

The project is a collaborative effort among public, private and nonprofit agencies aimed at not only bringing a low-barrier shelter to the city, but also to providing wraparound social services, housing, employment, education, mental and physical health care, and other vital services in a streamlined process at centrally located site.

However, the Life Hub still has no home of its own. The 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year shelter that welcomes anyone in need is a key component to the plan. Local leaders who are champions of Life Hub’s cause have been working to establish and fund a physical facility.

“There is no better time to launch a project like this,” said Tina Carinci Morris, who heads the funding and marketing efforts of the Life Hub. “We probably have a two-to-three-year window to take advantage of what the federal government is going to be initiating and putting out through their bureaus.”

Morris said efforts in Washington, D.C. have been launched to reduce homelessness across the nation by 25% by the year 2025. Federal funding for the Life Hub’s initiatives are expected to become available, along with additional technical support and funding through the state and via private foundations.

The Life Hub became a 501c3 nonprofit organization this past October.

Wheeling Homeless Liaison Melissa Adams has made the creation of the Life Hub and establishment of a low-barrier homeless shelter top priorities since taking on the newly created city position nearly two years ago.

Many local agencies offer a variety of services that assist the homeless, and some agencies include shelters. However, they receive funds that dictate how their services can be delivered and who can be sheltered. Some require someone to have identification, be a veteran or be in recovery from substance abuse. Others may only offer services to males, or do not accept pets, or offer shelter only to victims of domestic violence.

A low-barrier shelter does not throw out the rules, Adams said, but it does capture those who are falling through the cracks and have nowhere else to turn. It can also help some people become more suited to receive services from existing agencies, overcome those barriers and take the next step toward transitioning to getting off the streets permanently.

“I believe that this model will effectively help them break that cycle, and that we will decrease homelessness exponentially,” Adams noted. “The longer a person is out on the street, the greater the chance they will remain unhoused.”

Adams said Wheeling’s future facility would be the fifth such Life Hub in the nation. She noted that the Haven of Hope in San Antonio, Texas, has served as a blueprint for many of the key elements to the effort – providing a variety of services in one location, eliminating duplication of services to help maximize resources and ultimately decreasing homelessness.

“It’s going to take time, but we are already in existence,” she said.

A large-scale facility will be needed, Adams explained. The plan eyes a large-scale facility of about 48,000 square feet of space. Strategic planning sessions will be held through 2023, and an advisory board of directors is working to determine whether a facility should be built from scratch or if an existing facility should be used.

Adams noted that the Life Hub board is not looking to have the city of Wheeling fund the creation of the physical facility. She said, however, that the city’s involvement is critical to the effort’s success.

Currently, Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron serves as president of the Life Hub’s board of directors, and the city has been assisting with the coordination of these efforts.

“City council has remained fully informed on the progress, and is supportive and interested in the efforts thus far,” Herron said, noting that city leaders were interested in hearing feedback from the stakeholders and the community about the Life Hub.

Participation in the collaborative effort by local agencies will be optional. Not all local agencies have been on board, but many agencies have. The stakeholders on hand at Thursday’s meeting represented a who’s who of social service agencies, church leaders, city officials and others eager to see the Life Hub idea put to action.

Among those on hand in the audience was The Most Rev. Mark Brennan, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Officials thanked the Bishop and Catholic Charities, which offered a large area in the Main Street office location to operate as the community’s winter shelter – operated by the Life Hub this year.

“We’re having about 50 people a night,” said John Moses, retired executive director of Youth Services Systems in Wheeling and head of shelter and programming initiatives for the Life Hub. “Before winter, I asked the Street Moms if they could name people who are homeless in our community. Without too much trouble, they gave me 150 names. I think the plight of homelessness is much more severe than people can imagine.”

Moses said the shelter has already seen about 166 people come through its doors through January.

“I’m so excited about this Life Hub putting us in the direction where we can actually help people – not only roof overhead, but get assistance they need,” Moses said. “The Ohio Valley has heart like no other community I’ve ever been involved with.”

Dr. William Mercer, founder of Project HOPE through the Ohio County Health Department, said the Life Hub will help Project HOPE and other agencies “bridge people into primary care.”

“Medically, I think this is very well needed,” Mercer said of the Life Hub, noting that physical and mental health are major components behind the complex puzzle of homelessness. “I’m hoping this comes to fruition.”

Deacon George Smoulder is leading the faith-based initiatives for the Life Hub. A former executive director for Catholic Charities and the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley, Smoulder said this effort will bring needed services to homeless individuals and families in a more comprehensive way.

“In order for this effort to be successful, we need to collaborate,” Smoulder said. “We need to work together. It’s not an easy thing to do. We need to be patient and really listen and consider the views of others, and be willing at times to compromise.”

A collaborative effort can not only help address problems of those living on the streets now, but can set a foundation that will proactively help prevent people on the cusp from becoming homeless.

“What we can do is build bridges together and help those who are struggling to cross that bridge, and support them as they try to establish a new way of life for themselves and possibly their family members,” Smoulder said. “We may never be able to completely eliminate homelessness in our community, but we may get closer to reaching that impossible star of reducing homelessness in our community than any of us have ever imagined.”

A full website is currently under construction, but officials encouraged interested people from the community to submit questions and comments, and to sign up for future strategic planning sessions on the landing page at lifehubwv.org. Social media pages for the Life Hub will soon be available, as well.