West Virginia
Special Report: Homelessness in West Virginia
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS)– The U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement says as of January 2020, greater than 13 hundred individuals skilled homelessness on any given day right here within the mountain state. West Virginia has the eighth-lowest homeless inhabitants within the nation. In accordance with the USA Interagency Council on Homelessness, about .23% of individuals in West Virginia are homeless. Right here in our native counties in accordance with the West Virginia Coalition to finish homelessness 2021 information, just a little over 100 individuals are with no residence
In Raleigh County, the Group Motion Affiliation and Emergency Housing Middle gave 106 individuals a mattress to sleep in from January 1 by April 20, 2022. Advertising and marketing and Improvement Specialist Leah Deitz Jackson says there are two main causes.
“One, and perhaps the simpler one to take care of is that individuals who reside paycheck to paycheck are actually only one monetary windfall or hiccup away from a scenario that they will’t preserve,” mentioned Dietz Jackson. “For those who spend your complete paycheck overlaying your payments or requirements after which one thing like a automobile invoice or one thing breaks in your automobile and you’ve got an surprising $600 invoice, that could possibly be your hire.”
She mentioned the second most typical trigger is untreated psychological sickness.
“They could discover themselves able that daily life and managing duties turns into extremely troublesome,” Dietz Jackson added. “So, with none help and with none remedy they might discover themselves in a scenario they will’t get out of.”
She mentioned the most important downside surrounding homelessness is stigma. She advised 59News it prevents individuals from elevating their arms and searching for assist and assets, however that stigma is beginning to change.
“The training about these points is simply now beginning to blossom,” she advised us. “We’re studying the right way to speak to individuals, study the language to make use of, learn to be delicate to all people.”
As inflation hits the nation arduous, and the eviction moratorium because of the pandemic ended on August 6, 2021, Dietz Jackson says it’s too quickly to inform if homeless numbers will spike in our space, however homeless shelters throughout the mountain state are making ready for regardless of the summer season might carry. She provides it’s as much as everybody to assist our neighbor in want as a result of one act of kindness could possibly be the important thing to maintaining somebody of their residence.
“Discover your closest blessing field and ensure it’s stocked with something. Meals, toiletries, socks, gloves, sunscreen, it’s about to be that season, something like that.”
Leah Dietz Jackson
The Emergency Housing Middle can all the time use backpacks and duffel baggage with out wheels in order that the individuals they serve have a sturdy, washable bag to retailer their belongings in.