Chillicothe — The organization that operates the city’s homeless shelter gave Chillicothe Council data on their efforts Monday.
Julie Bolen, executive director of Ross County Community Action, spoke at length to the Community Affairs Committee. They have proposed legislation named “Camping In Public Areas,” also known as the anti-camping ordinance, which is meant to handle homeless camps.
Speakers addressed the issue in a committee meeting before the council, and in the public address part of the council session. (Hear from the committee chair and two speakers in my previous story, “Defense of Homeless Again Dominates Chillicothe Council.”)
Bolen told me that said she shared information with council members on her efforts to address homelessness in the last few years – especially with Community Action’s Resource Center, which includes the local homeless shelter, which has been open for 14 months.
Bolen said she hopes to encourage more conversation with council on their needs, and hopefully work together. She gave them a 12-page handout with statistics on national, state, and local homelessness. It included the 2010 “Point in Time Count” numbers, an annual attempt of a census of the homeless.
Bolen said her position on the proposed anti-camping ordinance is: We need more conversations. What the city sees is the need for the ordinance, the available resources from Community Action and partners, the needs of the homeless, and so forth. She said she requested to have the legislation tabled or killed.
I asked Bolen some big questions.
Would this size of public response have happened in support of the homeless if not for this perceived threat to them?
She said probably not publicly, but most of those speaking here work with the homeless every day.
It is said that landing a man on the moon was just math, which made it difficult but doable – but human issues like poverty and homelessness are much more complex and unlikely to be solved.
She said yes, absolutely – it’s very complicated, with many causes. She said affordable rent is a big factor. Bolen said the fair market rent in Ross County is $18 an hour versus the average wage of renting at $14 an hour.
And last, what would it take to eliminate homelessness in Chillicothe?
Bolen said that is not an easy answer, and there are no quick solutions – but there are a lot of things advocates are already doing. We need to address housing, develop housing, and serve immediate needs.
Her Community Resource Center fulfills that last item, and her goal is to not need an emergency shelter – because everyone is able to find safe and affordable housing.
Hear Bolen in her own words in the below video interview. Also hear her in my sit-down interview with her from January 11th on the resources her organization make available: “Chillicothe Homeless Shelter Helping Many Nonstop for More Than a Year.”
