$1.1 Million Requested for ‘Life Hub’ in Wheeling
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WHEELING -- Melissa Adams, homeless liaison for the city of Wheeling, recently submitted a proposal that included a request for $1.1 million from the city's dwindling pool of federal pandemic relief funds -- and for a show of support from the city for her Life Hub initiative.
Following a recent request for a significant amount of money from the city's American Rescue Plan Act funds, Adams was asked to give a presentation before Wheeling City Council Tuesday night during Mayor Glenn Elliott's report to council. Both Adams and Dr. William Mercer, founder of Project HOPE through the Ohio County Health Department, spoke in support of the Life Hub's efforts.
"It's been a very busy and a very challenging time from the moment I stepped into this position, but I hit the ground running, and I do believe that we are making positive headway," Adams said in her update to council.
Recently, they have been working with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on cleaning up abandoned homeless camps that leave unsightly litter and unsanitary conditions behind.
"I just recently had a two-week camp cleanup with the DEP -- and they've cleaned up a whole lot of camps," she said, noting that she has also worked recently with City Manager Robert Herron to help control where homeless encampments often spring up. "We recently, with the help of Mr. Herron, made it such to where camps can no longer be on our trails, on our waterways and under our bridges. We have been enforcing that pretty hard. I am aware, however, that there is still a camp down by the trail near Lowe's. We are working on that - just getting a game plan for those individuals."
Adams said the challenges with her job have come with rewards. In terms of the Life Hub, Adams said the initiative addresses complex issues of people experiencing homelessness and contributing situations, including drug addiction, unemployment, education, poverty and physical and mental health.
"Community collaboration is essential," she said, noting that the city took the bold step of creating her position to coordinate services and to help find real solutions to help decrease homelessness in the city. "There are gaps that need to be filled. We have wonderful services, but in noticing those gaps, that is why the Life Hub was formed."
A nonprofit organization, the Life Hub has partnered with the city and Wheeling Housing Authority. It just ended a successful winter shelter with eight new, trained employees paid through donations. The Catholic Diocese helped provide space for the winter shelter this past season.
When the winter shelter closed, the city saw an influx of homeless people back on the streets, Adams indicated, noting that they would like to continue providing services year-round to people in need - many of whom suffer from severe drug addiction or mental health issues.
"We continue to work with the Life Hub -- even though we do not have a structure at this moment -- but we continue to work with case management," she said.
Adams said preventative efforts help keep people in need or on the fringes of stability from becoming homeless.
"It's now time to engage with our financial stakeholders - on the federal, state and local levels," Adams said, noting that the offices of U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., are providing guidance, support and resources for the Life Hub -- which is being viewed on a state level as a potential pilot program to address homeless issues.
Medical components and respite care are critical parts of the Life Hub's services, Adams said. Funding on the local level will enable them to hire personnel and get a shovel-ready project on a physical facility for the Life Hub ready for state and federal grant applications for the next fiscal year.
Adams noted that she was thankful to the Ohio County Commissioners for recently committing $25,000 for the Life Hub.
"One of the best things you've done is hire Melissa Adams," Mercer told council members. "She has been a godsend to us, and it's been a privilege working with her. The Life Hub, I feel, is needed here in Wheeling."
Other major cities have decreased a lot of medical problems with their homeless population, which has made a huge difference, Mercer said.
"Having all of these resources in one place really is going to make a difference," Mercer said.
The city of Wheeling has around $5 million total in ARPA funding left out of its $29.5 allocation from the federal government.
Adams said the long-term ballpark cost to create the Life Hub and all of the services needed would be around $20 million. She said the vast majority of that would come from state and federal funds, as well as other procurements.
Councilman Ben Seidler said the financial investment from the city is basically "showing and demonstrating that the city has some skin in the game."
Adams agreed, noting that she is asked constantly about the support she receives for her efforts.
"I can't thank you both enough," Elliott told Adams and Mercer. "I recognize that this is an ambitious proposal. I'm certainly inclined to support it. It's very hard for people to get their life in order without having housing first. The housing-first strategy has been proven to work, and the one strategy that has been proven not to work is to do nothing."