United Way of the Midlands Releases Regional Homeless Report
July 23, 2014
COLUMBIA, SC – United Way of the Midlands has released a report on homelessness that serves to increase the public’s understanding of homeless needs and services in our community. The report, which was prepared on behalf of the Midlands Area Consortium for the homeless (MACH), details several trends that both service providers and the public should be aware of, particularly an increase in people served.
The number of people served has increased dramatically over the past three years. Nearly 7,000 people were served in fiscal year 2013-2014 by providers in MACH, compared to 2,652 in 2010. Greater capacity has allowed providers to increase their service, but the report also indicates that there is a continued need for these services.
“We believe that the data indicate that programs like Transitions are filling a gap in the demand for services and housing,” said Anita Floyd, Senior Vice President of Community Impact of United Way of the Midlands. “However, there is still critical work to be done in increasing our available stock of affordable housing.”
The regional report analyzes data from multiple sources, including the community’s HMIS client and bed management system, data collected from a one-day count of homelessness, and other sources such as school district data on children identified as experiencing a housing crisis.
The report is offered as the first in a series of reports intended to help the community develop a more complete understanding of the experience of homelessness among Midlands residents.
“We cannot end homelessness without more affordable housing—that should be the priority for our community,” said Lila Anna Sauls, MACH Board Chair and CEO of Trinity Housing.
Efforts to increase the stock of affordable housing include the Midlands Housing Trust Fund, which was created by United Way of the Midlands in 2010. The Trust Fund has already created 41 units of housing with plans for more.
Other notable trends include:
· Agencies served 35% more families in 2014 than 2010.
· Last year, homeless service providers worked with 1,132 homeless children, but almost three times as many, 2,989, were served by the school districts.
“Because homelessness is most often a temporary situation, it is difficult to measure. To improve our understanding of local gaps and trends we use all available sources,” said Anita Floyd,
Follow-up reports in the series will offer community cost analysis data and explore the emerging issue of homelessness among youth.
The full report is available at the United Way of the Midlands website, www.uway.org.
For more information on these and other projects by United Way of the Midlands, please contact Joey Wallace at803.748.7282 or [email protected].
About United Way of the Midlands
United Way of the Midlands is the most organized, efficient and accountable system for investing in the community. With more than 85 certified partner agencies, United Way works to identify and respond to the critical human service needs of Calhoun, Fairfield, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg and Richland counties. Funds are raised through workplace campaigns, grant writing and individual donations. For more information, please visit www.uway.org.
