Service providers and community leaders of Jackson County came together Wednesday evening to discuss the challenges, and potential solutions, of the region’s homelessness crisis.
Annual Point-in-Time Counts estimate that more than 100 Jackson County residents are homeless. More than a dozen people were residing at a large tent encampment outside Jackson’s Carnegie Library this summer.
The Jackson City Council is considering an ordinance that would prohibit tents from being constructed on public property without a permit.
It did not pass as an emergency ordinance at the July 21 meeting, because multiple council members wanted to make amendments.
Despite this, the library encampment was cleared in late July.
Representatives of more than 10 local community organizations attended the community conversation Wednesday, where they discussed the recent encampment clearing and answered questions about the ongoing homelessness crisis.
Justin Counts of Jackson Strength Network said the struggles faced by the homeless community in Jackson County are not new.
The downtown location of the camp simply made them more visible to the public eye.
“As a case manager, I've gone out to encampment after encampment after encampment for many years,” Counts said. “This is only a hot topic right now because we've seen them in the library, but every year we do a homeless PIT count, and every year we find people sleeping outside.”
Counts said he has experienced homelessness himself, and he knows firsthand that it’s not a one-size-fits-all issue.
“Even still today, I am just one problem away from being homeless,” he said. “I understand how hard it is to get housing here when we have restrictions that say you have to make three times the amount of rent. And we still deny formerly incarcerated people housing for having a felony. I had a nonviolent felony over 12 years ago now, and still I will get denied for housing today.”
Laura Reaume of Community Action Agency echoed the sentiment, stressing that people can’t make assumptions about why others are experiencing homelessness.
“It's important to remember that homelessness does not equal that that person is a drug addict. It does not equal that they are lazy. It does not equal that they have untreated mental illness,” she said. “Some of those things may be true, but not for everybody.”
The service providers stressed a need for community engagement and donations ahead of the winter months, as people’s experiences will only get more difficult as temperatures begin to drop.
“There are only so many shelter beds. There are only so many rental assistance payments that we have,” Toby Berry with Continuum of Care said. “So, we have these gaps, and as a community, we all have to come together to figure out how to fill those gaps because none of us can fill them independently.”
The next Jackson City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 6:30 p.m., where they are expected to discuss amendments to the camping ordinance.
If the ordinance passes, it will take effect in mid-September.
