Taking homeless aid to new level

FINDLAY — The effort to shelter homeless people in Hancock County and help them transition to a better life is going to a new level. People whom City Mission of Findlay would not take in its regular programs are being extended overnight stays in a separate area at the shelter and a gentle invitation. What's called low-barrier housing is for "people who can't even pass a drug test, can't get a job, can't stay sober for 24 hours … people that are actively using still or refuse to follow the (regular) rules, don't want to live in congregant living, don't want to follow the rules of a community space," City Mission Director Kathryn Bausman said. They are people who cannot, or would not, choose to meet the requirements of City Mission's Life Recovery Program. They were living in "tents and things of that nature" in parks and other public spaces, said Tyler Layton, Project Home director. Sleeping bag So far this year, over 300 people have together received 3,602 nights of stay in a sleeping bag in the low-barrier housing, Bausman said. The low-barrier housing averages 19 people per night. About 80% of the low-barrier housing recipients are Hancock County residents or have another local tie. The low-barrier housing is funded by $300,000 per year for five years, part of a $5.4 federal grant to the Hancock County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services. The low-barrier housing is one program among others under Project Home, a collaborative effort among local agencies to help those in crisis. "The City Mission has always had a crisis component. But we, especially since I have been here in the last four years, we have become what's considered a programmatic shelter. You can come in in crisis, but you are expected to progress through a program," Bausman said. "This (low-barrier housing) doesn't have any expectation of that. We have a hope of that" — she emphasized the word hope with an encouraging tone — "but there is no expectation of that in order to get services." "You can come in every single night at 8 o'clock and you can have something to drink, something to eat," she said. "You can go to bed, you can wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee and leave. There is no more expectation than that, other than follow the rules, follow common safety rules. Other than that, that's it." A name To participate in City Mission's regular program, one must test negative for drugs, be clean from alcohol, choose to engage in its program and follow the rules. "There's people that are not quite there yet," she said. Low-barrier housing meets those people where they are at, giving them a place to sleep overnight and an open door to a better life. "It's also a place that we can form relationships with those people in order to get them to want to go into a program space," Layton said. Many of the same people keep returning to the low-barrier shelter each night and keep seeing the same staff members. They become familiar with each other. "So, just the power of knowing somebody's name, that carries a lot of weight," Layton said. "The staff at the low barrier shelter know them, they talk to them every day," he said. "They're like, 'Hey, maybe stay at the (regular City Mission space) so you don't have to leave at 8 o'clock in the morning. Come into the program, we can help you build a foundation to move along.'" Trust "That's the most important part of the low barrier shelter absolutely. Just forming those relationships," Layton said. For many people, difficulty trusting others has been a barrier to getting help. "You have to realize that the population that remains unsheltered, it's usually substance use disorder, mental health issues or severe trauma, usually some sort of physical trauma," Bausman said. "Trust issues are already an issue. They don't trust that you're there to help them." "As we get to know them every day, they begin to trust, then we can say, 'Would you like a mental health evaluation? Would you like to go to a treatment facility?'" she said. "If the person that's offering you that is someone you trust, you're more likely to do it. "You're not going to go to a heroin addict on the street as a perfect stranger and say, 'You need to go to treatment,'" Bausman said. "But someone that sees you every night, helps you every night, treats you with dignity and respect every night, may tell you one day, 'Hey, I really think you would benefit from going to treatment.'" A behavioral health case manager from Family Resource Center of Northwest Ohio, stationed at the low-barrier housing shelter, provides mental health and substance use screenings, referrals and handoffs to treatment and recovery support services. "We have relationships with multiple agencies in town and also agencies out of town to help us with that process," Layton said. "That's because it's a long process."