From nightclubs to hardware stores, rural counties get creative to address homelessness
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Homelessness is on the rise across the state in both urban and more rural areas. However, rural communities often lack shelter spaces and resources to address it.
So, they’re getting creative. Advocates in North Central Ohio found a solution in a former nightclub.
Homeward Bound of Wooster and Wayne County are opening a new Day Center and Severe Weather Shelter just south of downtown Wooster.
“Having this space here is, I think, going to make a huge difference in the county, and the community and the downtown area,” said Homeward Bound Executive Director Cynthia Bonidie.
The building, located at 981 Grosjean Road, used to be a bar called The Vault. Now, it will be a place where individuals experiencing homelessness can come in during the day for a meal, to take a shower and be connected with employment and housing resources.
In the colder months - from Nov. 1 to April 30 - they can sleep here, Bonidie said.
“Our folks that are street homeless that we do outreach with are literally sleeping wherever they can find it, before they’re moved along by say, a downtown business or a police officer,” Bonidie said.
Homelessness is rising in the county due in part to a lack of affordable housing, she said.
This year, the Point-In-Time Count, an annual survey mandated by the federal government, found more than 110 people were experiencing homelessness in Wayne County.
At least 50 of them were staying outside, Bonidie said.
The county has not had a permanent space for an emergency overnight shelter until now. A private donor purchased the vacant bar and decided to lease it to the nonprofit, she said.
“Our buyer had a conversation with his wife and they said, ‘Well, let's ask what we can do in the community to make a difference,’” Bonidie said.
The buyer looked at various buildings before settling on this one, she added. Some of the buyer's bids on other buildings were rejected when sellers learned of the intention for the space, she said.
The city’s planning commission approved a variance to renovate the building into a shelter in May, Bonidie said.
Without it — “we would still have people out on the streets, possibly even sleeping out in the wintertime,” she said.
Other rural areas struggle to address homelessness
The challenge is not unique to Wooster.
The rise in homelessness has hit rural areas across Ohio particularly hard, said Amy Riegel, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, or COHHIO.
“Communities that are urban in nature, they already have built shelter systems and so they have buildings, they have staff, they have resources all there in the community already,” Riegel said. “Whereas, many of the rural communities are starting from scratch.”
These communities often lack buildings that can be turned into stable shelters, she added.
Even if they have them, it is hard to find the resources and manpower to keep them going.
So, communities have had to get creative, she said.
A nonprofit in Ross County opened a shelter in a former hardware store on the outskirts of Chillicothe. They’ve set up a trailer outside the building for showers and laundry, she said.
COHHIO and other organizations are helping communities across the state pursue innovative solutions to "really be creative and just think outside the box.”
“The unfortunate truth is that there's just not enough federal, state or local money available," Riegel said.
Homeward Bound decided not to seek any government assistance for the shelter, Bonidie said.
Instead, they’re relying on local nonprofit agencies, churches and volunteers.
“Our community is very giving, very supportive. I just think sometimes there's [an attitude of] ‘It’s just it's not happening in our town,’” she said. “I mean, you look around, Wooster is a beautiful place, so you don't see what I see when you're driving through.”
What she sees is a big need for the new shelter. It can house 32 men and 12 women, but she expects to look for additional space as numbers continue to rise.
In the meantime, Homeward Bound will be continuing educational efforts to help their community understand the growing problem.
This is the only center of its kind in Wayne County, Bonidie added. There are two other shelters, but both have certain rules that might be a barrier for some individuals, she said.
“We're not asking them to come in sober, felony-free in a good mood. We're just asking them to come in and be safe to yourself and be safe to others,” Bonidie said. “And, hopefully, they get that nice warm food and a new pair of socks and a place to sleep, and the next day they wake up and they say, ‘Hey, this isn't so bad. What does this look like for me and my future?'”
Aside from Homeward Bound employees, the center will be staffed by volunteers and two paid crisis intervention specialists.
Employment, addiction and housing resources will also be available, as well as a medical clinic, Bonidie said.
The center is open year-round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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