SO FAR WE’VE SHOWN YOU PITTSBURGH’S EFFORTS TO EXPLORE TRANSITIONAL HOUSING AND THE WORK UNDERWAY IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, TO BUILD PERMANENT OPTIONS. NOW WE’RE TAKING YOU TO COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CITY ALSO PROVIDING PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING TO TRY TO ELIMINATE HOMELESSNESS. SHELDON INGRAM CONTINUES HIS ROAD TRIP TO SEE THE STRATEGY OF CONVERTING AND BUILDING NEW PROPERTY TO CREATE SAFE HAVENS. FULL OF. THIS IS ERIC DRUG ADDICTION SENT HIM INTO HOMELESSNESS IN 2020. TODAY HE HAS HIS OWN APARTMENT AND IS RECEIVING TREATMENT TO BATTLE HIS ADDICTION. YES, THEY ARE STILL SOME JOHN HUFFMAN, THE THIRD, HAS HIS OWN APARTMENT TOO. AFTER TEN YEARS LIVING ON THE STREETS BECAUSE OF DEPRESSION AND DRUG ADDICTION, HE LIVES IN THIS BUILDING CALLED THE COMMONS AT BUCKINGHAM. IT’S RUN BY NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES TO HAVE A PLACE TO LAY MY HEAD, TO HAVE A PLACE TO FIX MY OWN FOOD, TO GO, TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT ONCE AGAIN IN MY LIFE ON MY OWN WAS AN OVERWHELMING PROCESS. COMMONS AT BUCKINGHAM IS PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PEOPLE COMING OUT OF HOMELESSNESS. NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES HAVE FIVE FACILITY LIKE THIS IN COLUMBUS IS ERIC’S APARTMENT IS RUN BY A COMPANY CALLED HOMEWOOD. IT’S A CONVERTED HOTEL HOME FALL HAS MORE THAN 1000 UNITS IN COLUMBUS DEDICATED TO PERMANENT SUPPORT OF HOUSING. JUST BEING ABLE TO SHOWER EVERY NIGHT, THAT’S SOMETHING I DIDN’T HAVE WHEN I WAS HOMELESS. I DIDN’T HAVE IT. I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING. I USED TO GO TO PARKS AND WASH UP IN THE IN THE SINK, YOU KNOW, JUST TO KEEP MYSELF CLEAN. THERE’S EVEN A MOBILE GROCERY STORE PROVIDED BY HOME FALL AND THERE’S ASSISTANT WITH TREATMENT. MAYBE IT’S REFERRAL TO A DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAM. IT COULD BE MAYBE IT’S HEALTH AND MEDICAL ISSUES, RIGHT? SO ANYTHING THAT MAKES THEM UNABLE TO MAINTAIN HOUSING STABILITY OUT ON THEIR OWN IS WHAT OUR CASE MANAGERS ARE GOING TO HELP CONNECT THEM TO OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. 34 BUILDINGS IN COLUMBUS PROVIDE 2400 UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING. SOME ARE RECLAIMED HOTELS. OTHERS ARE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS. THE COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD MAKES IT ALL HAPPEN BY USING 800 LANDLORDS AS PART OF THE STRATEGY AGAINST HOMELESSNESS. THE COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD IS RUN BY CEO SHANNON ISOM. IT IS AN ACCEPTABLE FOR ANYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY TO NOT HAVE HOUSING UNACCEPTABLE FOR ANYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY, TO BE UNSHELTERED. MONEY FROM HUD, THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, HEFTY BUSINESS AND PRIVATE DONATIONS AND A LANDLORD INCENTIVE PROGRAM IS HOW THE COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD EXECUTES ITS STRATEGY AGAINST HOMELESSNESS. MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE HOMELESS POPULATION IS A CRISIS IN COLUMBUS, EVEN THOUGH THE HOMELESS ARE NOT SEEN CAMPED OUT DOWNTOWN. THEY’RE INSIDE MANY OF THE DAYTIME RESOURCE CENTERS OPEN EVERY DAY FROM 9 A.M. TO 5 P.M. AND IT’S JUST A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN CONNECT TO WI-FI. YOU CAN GET COFFEE, THEY HAVE A KITCHEN, YOU CAN MAKE FOOD. THEY DO DIFFERENT CLASSES THERE AND PROVIDE DIFFERENT RESOURCES. THERE. SO IT’S LIKE A SAFE PLACE TO BE INSIDE THE MARY HAVEN IS ANOTHER PLACE. IT’S A SPECIALIZED SHELTER FOR PEOPLE TO RECOVER FROM PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS AND DRUG INFLUENCE INSTEAD OF STAGGERING AND LOITERING ON PUBLIC STREETS. RATHER THAN COME HOME AND BE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE ARRESTED BY POLICE FOR PUBLIC INTOXICATION. IT’S A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME REST FOR THE EVENING, GET WHAT THEY NEED, AND IT’S REALLY A DIVERSION FROM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. BETTINA BLISS AND RYAN JEFFERSON ARE MEMBERS OF THE MOUNT CARMEL HEALTH SYSTEM HOUSING OUTREACH TEAM. IT’S ONE OF SEVERAL AGENCIES WORKING UNDER THE COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD STRATEGY AGAINST HOMELESSNESS. ALL AGENCIES ARE LINKED TOGETHER BY A NETWORK CALLED THE HOMELESS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM. IT ALL STARTS WITH THE OUTREACH TEAM WHO STARTS THE HOUSING PROCESS. THEY FOCUS ON PERMANENT HOUSING AND AVOID TRANSITIONAL HOUSING. THE THOUGHT IS IF WE GET THEM INTO HOUSING FIRST, WE CAN WORK ON THE DRUG TREATMENT. AFTER WE GET THEM HOUSED AND THEY’LL MAKE IT JUST THAT MUCH EASIER BECAUSE THEY’RE IN A SAFE PLACE. ULTIMATELY, WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT STABILIZATION PRODUCES GOOD RESULTS. WE KNOW THAT ON MANY MEASURES WE KNOW IT PRODUCES GOOD RESULTS FOR KIDS IN SCHOOLING AND EDUCATION. THE COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD SAYS 7000 PEOPLE ARE LIVING ON THE STREETS OF COLUMBUS ANNUALLY, BUT THE BELIEF IS THAT MANY WILL BE HOUSED. JOIN ERIC AND HUFFMAN. I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT’S MY OWN. I DON’T HAVE TO BE BOTHERED. I CAN BE MY OWN PERSON AND I CAN COME AND GO WHEN I PLEASE. I DON’T HAVE A CURFEW. IT HELPS ME BE IDENTIFY WHO I AM AS A MAN. IF IT WASN’T FOR NATIONAL