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United Way adds Marion Shelter Program |
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| The United Way of Union County Board of Trustees is furthering the organization’s commitment
to meet the emergency housing needs of area residents, adding the Marion Shelter Program to its family of
Member Agencies at its May meeting. The decision ensures that those in an immediate housing crisis will have a
roof over their heads by making the homeless shelter eligible for annual funding from the United Way’s fall campaign,
beginning with payouts in January 2006. “We don’t have a homeless shelter in Union County,” said Dr. Charita Cooper, one of two United Way Board Members who visited the shelter this week and recommended that the shelter become a Member Agency. “They’re our neighbor and they are taking care of the residents of Union County, so we should support them.” 12 Union County residents utilized the shelter in 2004 for a total of 205 nights. But increased referrals from Union County social service agencies has led to increased usage, as 11 residents have already spent 180 nights in the shelter in 2005. The Marion Shelter Program serves 14 counties and is the only immediate emergency alternative for Union County’s homeless population. “I don’t know if we’re a tip-of-the-iceberg agency, but if we’re seeing a dozen people a year from Union County, my assumption is that there are probably upwards of a hundred that are technically homeless,” said Mark Lovett, Director of the Marion Shelter Program. “I think we’ve accomplished raising awareness of that need, but this is another opportunity. We have a very well-known agency (United Way) with our name in their pamphlet. There is a homeless shelter that Union County has access to, that it can use, and support.” The United Way of Union County partnered with the Marion Shelter Program in each of the last two years, awarding grants totaling $9,484 to cover the cost of housing Union County residents there. United Way and the shelter have also been partners on the Union County Housing Coalition, which is working to meet the shelter and housing needs of low-income residents. Often, the long-term solution for these families and individuals involves much more than giving them a short-term place to stay. “They are not only taking in homeless people, but changing the lives of the clients they serve,” Cooper said. “They’re not just putting them up for the night.” The shelter, which serves about 25 to 30 people a day, is not a “flop-house.” The difference between what the Marion Shelter Program and traditional homeless facilities provide is profound. In a residential neighborhood, it looks like any other home on the street. It’s not a warehouse with cots, but a home with rooms, beds, a kitchen, and a living room. There are requirements that residents stay no more than 90 days, look for work daily, and save money they earn to get them back into their own permanent housing. Besides giving homeless people a place to stay and food to eat, the shelter provides a structured environment to learn social skills, job skills, and money management skills. A new Day Program at the shelter allows residents to access more than 12,000 educational lessons through computers and software that all but tests users for their Graduate Equivalence Degree. With no shelter in Union County, homeless residents are sometimes leery about crossing the county line to another community for their immediate help. Mark Lovett, Director of the Marion Shelter Program, understands the fears they have of leaving their hometown and concerns about the inconvenience of being 30 miles away. But in most cases, it beats the alternative. Transportation to the shelter has also been a concern, but the shelter is working with area organizations to arrange getting those in need to the facility. Folks don’t need a formal referral to enter the Marion Shelter Program. They need only to show up at the 365 East Fairground Street location. With the Marion Shelter Program on board, the United Way of Union County now has 25 Member Agencies. It is the first added since April 2004 when The Salvation Army’s Union County Homeless Prevention Program became a Member Agency. “It’s a validation of our program and the services that we provide to people who are homeless,” said Lovett, whose agency also became a partner agency of the United Way of Delaware County last week. |
| For more information, please contact the United Way of Union County at 644-8381 or by e-mail at unitedwayuc2@imetweb.net. |