The Challenges to Addressing Clinton County’s Pressing Need to Help At-Risk Kids, Families and Individuals

By Bob Rolley

Nobody chooses to be homeless.

That was one of the key messages conveyed by Jeff Rich, director of the Clinton County Housing Coalition, in a presentation to the Clinton County Community Foundation board of directors recently.

Loss of or not enough income, criminal acts, chronic or disabling health conditions, and undiagnosed or untreated mental health illness – these are among the reasons people typically become homeless, he said, drawing from his years of experience with the coalition and the Clinton County Housing Authority.

But in Clinton County, the top reason people become homeless is domestic violence, according to Rich.
“Our community has a high incidence of domestic violence … victims of criminal acts,” Rich told the Foundation board.

Sadly and often, he added, that sudden act of violence involves kids.
Another top reason people become homeless is bad health … chronic disability conditions.
Further, undiagnosed or “untouched” mental health situations contribute to homelessness, Rich said.

“You can’t make people get treatment. You can’t mandate services, so it makes it very difficult to help people,” he added.

Drug and alcohol addiction are another reason for homelessness.

And, he said, “rental assistance addresses the situation, not the cause” of homelessness.

“We do see a huge number of repeat customers because of poor life choices, Rich explained, noting the Coalition operates the two local homeless shelters. “They’re not worried about the future; they’re only worried about tomorrow. They have no long-term goals.”

Rich offered the Foundation some statistics at the time of his presentation:

•56 households in the county qualify as homeless, a number he said “is pretty big” for a county the size of Clinton.
•Of that number, 32 homeless are victims of domestic violence.
•Further, two involve veterans and 47 are health-related.
•28 are single individuals or couples; seven are “transition-aged youth ages 18-24.”
•21 of the total number are families with at least one member under the age of 18.

The local women’s shelter, Roads to Peace – a safe haven for domestic violence victims – is full, he said.
So are the homeless shelters on Main Street – The Life Center and the Merit House.

In terms of subsidized housing, the Housing Authority has 504 units that are all full and a waiting list that numbered 464 applicants at the time of Rich’s speech.

But with a waiting list so large, Rich said, the authority stopped taking applicants last November.
“It is the second time in the last five years we had to close the waiting list,” he said.

Further, he said there is not enough housing for senior citizens here as those apartments are all full.
A lack of affordable housing is a subject Rich is very familiar with.

And he sees a trend that’s not necessarily conducive to solving the challenge.

“The market rate for housing has shifted. Property owners who were landlords are getting out or shifting to property management companies that have strict rules and typically don’t include utilities in the rent cost,” Rich said.

Indeed, he said many landlords are simply getting out of the rental business.

Management companies typically require a lengthy application be filled out and charge an application fee that’s not reimbursable if you don’t get the apartment, he said.

And some employ a “one-strike policy,” meaning tenants are one paycheck away from eviction, he said.

He noted that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Agency, or HUD, lists Clinton County’s average monthly rental rate for a two-bedroom apartment as $911, but that “doesn’t exist here.”

“Rents are unaffordable” to many, he said, suggesting individuals need to earn a minimum of $17.50 per hour to afford rental rates in the county.

He emphasized “minimum.”

The other speaker was Laurie Weinreb-Welch, Penn State Extension educator and food, families, communities and nutrition links program supervisor.

Weinreb-Welch is well known for her work with the Clinton County Community Dental Clinic, which serves those with no dental insurance.

The clinic is very busy, she said.

She also chairs the Collaborative Board, an organization made up of many representatives of social service agencies who collaborate to help kids, families and individuals in need.

She echoed Rich’s comments, but also emphasized the lack of dentists who accept medical assistance. She also said food insecurity is a huge problem here for families and kids, and a lack of public transportation is a serious challenge for the county.

“We have a number of parents who don’t know how to cook food,” she said.

The presentations by Rich and Weinreb-Welch are part of the Community Foundation’s effort to learn more about the pressing needs in the county as it works to provide grant funding to “address the county’s most promising opportunities and pressing needs.”

Through the benevolence of donors, the Foundation provides funds through a competitive grant program to help eligible nonprofit agencies serving the homeless, those dealing with food insecurity, those without dental insurance and families and individuals who are unable to provide clothing and basic necessities.

To learn more about how to support the Foundation, visit www.clintoncountyfoundation.org, or call 570.220.1038.
For questions or more information, please contact Bob Rolley, Outreach Coordinator, at cccf@clintoncountyfoundation.org, or call 570.220.1038.