In a 24-hour period in January this year, surveyors for the annual point-in-time count found 226 people who reported being homeless. Of that number, 152 of them – or nearly 70% of the overall count – said they were unsheltered, meaning they were living outside, or in cars, vacant buildings and other places not designed for human habitation. The point-in-time count is imprecise, and advocates say that number is almost certainly an undercount. But of that overall total, 55 individuals fit HUD’s definition of being chronically unsheltered, meaning they had experienced homelessness in increments that add up to at least a year, and they struggle with a disabling condition such as a mental illness or a physical disability. That number is significant. For the past two years, HUD has cited the reporting region that includes Wyandotte County as having the nation’s highest percentage of people within the overall homeless population who experience chronic unsheltered homelessness. That unwelcome distinction speaks to a lack of resources for a vulnerable group of people. Wyandotte County and its largest city, Kansas City, have no year-round overnight emergency shelter. Housing for people with limited incomes is in short supply. Motels quickly become expensive, and crashing with friends or family gets old. And so people live where they think they won’t be bothered – in the woods, under bridges and overpasses, and in vacant buildings. Some cluster in small groups; many stay by themselves. “As our population has grown, we’re seeing a lot of camps,” says Kansas City, Kansas Police Sgt. Angela Joyce. “You’ve got people with addictions. You’ve got mental illness. You’ve got a lot of people who’ve just fallen on hard times. It’s such a big problem, and you don’t realize it until you actually deal with it.” Joyce serves in the community policing unit, which is the department’s first point of reference for complaints regarding homeless camps. She has seen hundreds. “Some of these camps get really messy,” she says. “So I can understand people being upset. But we don’t have a shelter in this city. We have minimal resources compared to other cities.”
Source: KLC Journal
