© Copyright 2007, Sun Media Corporation
Homeless shelter reaches record high number of visitors
INCREASED USE SHOWS SEVERITY OF PROBLEM
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
BY ASHLEY HOUSE, STAFF WRITER
Dateline: Woodstock
Woodstock's homeless shelter kept a record number of people out of the
cold Monday night.Inn Out of the Cold, housed in the basement of Old St. Paul's AnglicanChurch, was a full house with 13 guests.
The shelter started the season in November with a then all-time high of
nine guests in one night.The shelter offers a warm bed and a hot meal for single homeless inOxford County.
"The growing number of guests is just the increasing reality of the
issue of homelessness in the county," said chaplain of Operation
Sharing, Steve Giuliano.
He thinks word of mouth is one of the reasons why so many have been
turning up at Old St. Paul's.
"A tremendous amount of youth under 25 have been using the shelter,"
said Giuliano. "We've seen more women too."
Two of Monday night's guests had been sleeping under a picnic table in a
park before resting their bones at the Inn. They didn't know the shelter
existed until visiting the Salvation Army.
"The question is how many more homeless are there in Oxford County that
are unaware of our service?" Giuliano asked.
While the shelter can provide beds for around 15 people, program
co-ordinator Heather Scott said living quarters get a little cramped
with so many people.
"We can squish some more beds in, push them closer together, lie them in
front of the other beds," she said. "It's doable."
But rather than making room for more homeless, Giuliano along with the
rest of the Operation Sharing team would like to see more strides to end
homelessness, not just support them.
"A lot of time people fall through the cracks," he said. "People assume
that homeless make the choice to be homeless."
He said sometimes they make that choice for lack of resources available
to them.
Sometimes people aren't qualified for disability or medical supports yet
cannot work. People may have psychological issues that hinder them from
providing for themselves yet still are not diagnosed with a disorder.
"Some homeless find it greatly anxiety-producing to live with a large
number of people," he explained. "We simply don't have the services (at
this time) to offer them anything else."
Woodstock is fortunate to have such a place for its impoverished but
it's not enough just to get them out of the cold, Giuliano said.
"We need to work towards a solution to homelessness."
Operation Sharing is requesting funding to add another program to its
list of services for the less fortunate.
The Extended Family project will "primarily be a walk-the-walk
approach," Giuliano said. "We're looking for people to donate their time
and energy to offer friendship, support and a listening ear to
homeless."
How the program would work is volunteers would be paired up with someone
less fortunate. They build a relationship and focus on areas in life
they need to address.
"There are a whole gamut of issues they deal with," Giuliano said.
By understanding how the impoverished got that way and what they need to
get ahead, the county can work to end homelessness.
"It has to be an integrated approach," Giuliano said. "We can't assume
what (the homeless) need. They have to be included when deciding
solutions and recommendations."
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