Homeless shelter is turning away more needy people than ever

The Good Works Timothy House on Central Avenue in Athens, which is the only homeless shelter in nine southeast Ohio counties, has had to turn away almost as many people as it has provided with emergency accommodations this year.

The Timothy House typically serves over 150 people per year, and this year they say they've had to turn away 138 people, including 62 children.

Good Works recently received its biennial $128,100 grant from the state of Ohio.

Director Keith Wasserman said last Tuesday that this money, which amounts to about $64,000 per year, has been coming every two years for about 20 years. He pointed to the large area that his organization has to serve.

"First of all, I'm grateful," he said. "But that's how much money the state sees fit to spend on caring for homeless people in nine counties."

The funding has gone up slightly, he noted, saying that for the past 10 or so years it has been around $58,000 annually.

Wasserman said it costs Good Works about $180,000 annually to operate the Timothy House shelter. He said his organization has to raise $120,000 each year in private donations, with the majority of that coming from the annual Walk for the Homeless event.

The Timothy House, at 91 Central Ave., has had to turn away so many people simply because of a lack of space. The current house has a capacity of 15 people at a time, Wasserman said.

Good Works has tried numerous times over the years to expand the shelter to include the residence next door. In 2007, Good Works asked the city zoning board to let it buy a neighboring duplex, connect it to the first house with a passageway, and run them as a single operation.

The plan was to use the second house – which is owned by former state Sen. Jimmy Stewart – to house families without homes. But in order for that plan to go forward, the Athens Board of Zoning Appeals would have to approve a variance.

Some concerns raised by neighbors at the time included having an expanded facility for the homeless in such proximity to nearby West Elementary School; and the city approving expansion of an already non-conforming use in a zone that neighborhood residents worked hard to be designated as single-family residential. The zoning board denied that variance request pointing to the request being a "significant expansion" of an already "significant variance."

In 2009, a group of residents and local pastors presented a letter to City Council asking for help expanding the shelter capacity. Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl took up the issue in an attempt to come up with alternatives, including Good Works possibly submitting the project as a planned unit development, or looking for a property in an R-3 zone. But neither of those options has yet proven feasible for the organization.

And while the letter pointed out that Good Works was having to turn away people without homes in record numbers in 2009, those numbers have grown.

Wasserman said a common misconception is that people without homes found themselves in that situation because of addiction or mental-health issues.

"I would say that the primary reason people are becoming homeless is economic," he said, citing the difficulty in obtaining even part-time, minimum-wage employment in this area.

The effort to expand the facility was a response to a "tidal wave of homelessness," Wasserman said. And this situation has only gotten worse.

"This year has been a record year," he said. "It's been a historic year in terms of the numbers. It may not surprise the public to know that there has been an increase in the number of people needing emergency shelter, but we feel like our hands are tied."

Families need more privacy, Wasserman said, explaining the need for the neighboring facility.

Timothy House director of caregiving, Andrea Horsch, said she's noticed several trends this year with regard to the people requesting help.

"One is, I feel like we're seeing a big increase in the number of families who are calling us," she said. "We don't have room for a lot of families. An individual is kind of easier to squeeze in."

The situation with the families tends to be that they've been hopping from family member's house to family member's house for a long time, and the whole family is crunched for money.

"They're relying on the hospitality of family members who are really stressed and saying, 'We really can't afford to have you here anymore,'" she said.

Another trend is the unemployment situation, she said.

"We have a lot of people (at the house) who are employed right now, but it's more than normal," she said. "In general, we get a lot of calls from people who lost their job, not that day, but lost their job a while ago and have been depending on family and friends. And they just kind of run out of people to depend on."

Wasserman cited the emotional turmoil that comes for employees of the Timothy House when they have to turn families and individuals away.

"I don't think generally the public is aware of how emotionally difficult it is to turn away people; and how mentally and emotionally hard it is for our community to have to suffer through that," he said.

Horsch said that shelter staffers are regularly talking with people who are sleeping in their cars, or a shed or a tent in a yard.

"It's draining for us, sure," she said. "But imagine how discouraging it is for them."

She cited how well some of the residents of the shelter are doing as an encouragement.

Wasserman said that if anybody is looking to help out, the house can always use food and produce and anybody who likes to fix things. Also, he encouraged residents to participate in the Walk for the Homeless. Those interested can call 740-594-3339.