Make the Leap

Housing Insecurity and Homelessness: Changing The Narrative

Ross Education Season 3 Episode 9

Ever wondered how the United States can better address the homelessness crisis? This episode of "Make the Leap" promises eye-opening insights as we welcome Kelsey Fox, the dedicated Director of Housing and Community Solutions at the United Way in Delaware County, Ohio. Kelsey guides us through her journey from public relations to becoming a passionate advocate for housing stability, sharing inspiring stories and impactful initiatives like the Delaware County Housing Alliance and a young adult transitional living program. Hear firsthand about the urgent need for emergency shelters and transitional housing, as well as the poignant accounts of those living on society’s margins, including an emancipated youth forced to live in his car.

As we navigate the complexities of housing assistance programs, Kelsey sheds light on the hurdles low-income individuals face, from cyclical voucher availability to overwhelming eligibility criteria. We challenge societal stereotypes about homelessness, particularly focusing on single mothers and children, and discuss the role of communities in promoting affordable housing through campaigns like YIMBY. The episode also tackles systemic issues, such as the impact of racism on housing insecurity and the importance of creating walkable, affordable communities. Join us for a thorough exploration of how we can equip individuals and communities with the resources to navigate housing crises and foster thoughtful, inclusive development.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Make the Leap, a podcast focused on the many economic hurdles facing college students, lower income individuals and those striving to move up the social ladder. I'm Brad Constant, here with George Grayup and Kristen Beale. George, what are we talking about today?

Speaker 2:

Thank you, brad. Today, our topic is homelessness. Homelessness has surged and receded throughout the nation's history. While there are many drivers of modern day homelessness, it is largely the result of failed policies, severely underfunded programs that have led to affordable housing shortages, wages that do not keep up with rising rent and housing costs, inadequate safety net, lack of access to quality health care especially mental health education, economic opportunity and mass incarcerations. In effect, more than half of the Americans live paycheck to paycheck and they're simply one crisis away from homelessness or some form of housing insecurity.

Speaker 2:

Homelessness in the United States is an urgent public health issue and a humanitarian crisis. It impacts cities, suburbs, small towns in every state. Housing is a social detriment of health, meaning lack of it has a negative impact on overall health and life expectancies. Tens of thousands of people die every year due to dangerous conditions of living without housing. People who experience homelessness die nearly 30 years earlier than the average American, and often from easily treatable illnesses. Even though Ross students do not encounter homelessness on a consistent basis, it is a topic that they face and they deal with at some point in their adult life, and so today, this is where we're going to spend the next 30 minutes talking through homelessness, resources available and opportunities to hopefully prevent our students from having to face us in their day-to-day life.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, george. I'm looking forward to chatting with our guests and diving into this topic. So, kristen, I'll turn it over to you. Who do we have the pleasure of chatting with today?

Speaker 3:

Thanks, brad. Today we're going to be speaking with Kelsey Fox, who's the Director of Housing and Community Solutions at the United Way. I became familiar with Kelsey through my work as a violence prevention educator at Helpline in Delaware, ohio, and then became more familiar with her through the Peace Collaborative. I think is where maybe I first might have met you, Kelsey. So let's go to Kelsey first. Kelsey, thank you so much for joining us. We're grateful that you're here.

Speaker 4:

Thank you very much for having me and for the work you all are doing. I think bringing some light to this topic is incredibly, incredibly helpful, especially when we're talking about our young people who are entering continuing education.

Speaker 3:

Kelsey. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what got you to your role and interest in?

Speaker 4:

housing I'd be happy to. I'm very fortunate to have come up through a public relations background which has enabled me to be just a little bit dangerous to know a little bit in every topic. So working in the public information's office for our local health department in a mid-sized community outside of a larger scale city introduced me to a large network of folks who are working on a number of social determinants that constitute public health concerns. The initial topic was hunger. We have worked with lifelong learning, stability, wellness, both physical and mental health, and our role in the community really is to listen to and address what the largest need is, and we all know, following the pandemic, the affordable housing crisis was front and center. We were able to engage in emergency rental assistance while we were simultaneously launching the Delaware County Housing Alliance in our community, alongside opening a young adult transitional living program. Now the transitional living program is very unique when you look at the continuum of resources available for housing and housing stability. Most communities are a part of a continuum of care based out of a region in their state, out of national resources available from the HUD department, rental assistance whether that is something specific as far as a shelter determination that has to do with a domestic violence, human trafficking, emancipating youth background. There are many specialized spaces to stay. There are also rapid rehousing programs that allow for folks who maybe don't need to be in a shelter environment but can be moved quickly and with step-down rental assistance, through that same continuum of care. On the other end of that spectrum we have tons of developers who are working to create additional affordable housing and looking at different models that really benefit the whole community. Now, with any of this, any additional social determinants or any other identifiers that would place someone in the margins. That would make it more difficult and create more barriers for them to succeed. There's additional considerations for that in a lot of these programs, but the programs aren't happening as quickly as we would like them to.

Speaker 4:

United Ways are not typically direct service providers. When we are looking at solving community problems, a lot of the traditional model is to go ahead and provide financial assistance to someone who can. One of the reasons I'm still with this particular United Way is because we don't leave it at that. If we aren't able to find another agency to partner with that can take on the solution to the problem, we will go ahead and help provide that service. So we were able to engage with a lot of really incredible young adult transitional living programs while we were preparing to open our own, and the stories that these young people are able to provide is just absolutely incredible.

Speaker 4:

I have one particular emancipated youth that comes to mind when we're talking about those stories. The way this young person got connected with us in the first place was taking a survey. It was a follow-up survey as an emancipated youth at the age of 21. When they were going through and identifying different components of his experience, it asks about current housing. While his current housing was living in the car he was using to door dash, frequently using the items that he had picked up to deliver to other people as warmth because it was the winter in the Midwest. This young man was then able to be identified and get connected with a shelter service Through a shelter service, because transitional housing isn't emergency shelter. It serves a very specific niche in between supportive housing and the sheltering system. They were able to go ahead and refer him to us Otherwise and the sheltering system. They were able to go ahead and refer him to us Otherwise.

Speaker 4:

This may be someone who slips through the cracks Talking about your experience at Helpline Kristen. Having the knowledge of 211 for folks to even be able to call and ask the question is so vital. Being able to raise awareness for these networks of care when you're living in the tyranny of the moment, when you are experiencing homelessness, you're thinking about your next door dash or where the next safe place to park, the time to access and learn about a pretty robust network of specialized services and available services in your community can be difficult. So raising awareness on 2-1-1 has been another imperative piece of this puzzle.

Speaker 2:

So, Kelsey, if we can maybe start from the top. For people who are facing imminent danger of losing their home or potentially some form of housing insecurity, what are the resources that are available to them before they lose their home?

Speaker 4:

whether it's due to economic or other reasons that may be playing in their life at that moment.

Speaker 4:

I think something we did really well as a nation initially during the pandemic was providing emergency rental assistance. That money was distributed quickly and with limited barriers throughout the country for folks to be able to access that, and typically the trigger for that is receiving a three-day notice Education for individuals on what a three-day notice means. If you are a person, typically 80% of individuals facing that type of assistance only do so once. It's not something that you learn in school about what to do next if you receive an eviction. So a lot of the work around emergency rental assistance is education and incorporating legal aid into that process, because many times receiving a three-day notice will trigger folks to leave the premises altogether when they have not yet been evicted and they're just entering that process. For a lot of community resources typically 211 is the pathway to be to be connected with. Who is able to provide rental assistance in your community and who has funds available at the time would be able to walk you through exactly what you need to apply and receive that rental assistance.

Speaker 2:

So I'm thinking in terms of our students and coming up with some actionable items. You know, from what you went through and the two things that you know pop up into my you know, as you were talking, that I took down in terms of notes emergency rental assistance. So if I was a student in Cincinnati or in Detroit, how do I access that? Like, what is the? Where do I go? Where I did get the three day notice, what is the actionable advice that you can give to somebody that is facing that three day notice to get access, to help?

Speaker 4:

If you receive a three day notice, do not leave, do not turn your key in, do not make plans to exit. Call your local 2-1-1 phone number and ask your service representative who question. They will be able to connect you with what your local resources are based on any intake information they can help you with over the phone, I'm assuming they can't force you out right.

Speaker 2:

They got to go to court. They got to get a court order.

Speaker 4:

Correct. There's a whole process. So a three-day notice is just the first step in the eviction process. That allows your landlord to begin the process, that it's been on record, that you have received notice that you're in violation. Typically, if that has to do with past due rent past due rent this is a little bit different. If you're being evicted for different reasons or different purposes, your local legal aid society contact would be able to assist you through eviction processes outside of late rent. After that takes place, you have a little bit of time and each landlord is different.

Speaker 4:

I've worked with over 500 of them at this point and each landlord is different. I've worked with over 500 of them at this point and some of them will move very quickly. Some of them will issue that three-day notice as soon as the late fee period has passed. Some of them will not do it until the end of the month. Some of them may allow it to go for months and months before they start to take a look and that can really be dangerous because it's less likely funds will be available for a larger accumulation of past due rent.

Speaker 4:

On the same note, a lot of places aren't able to assist if you have not yet received your two-day or two to three-day notice. A lot of folks and we know people are resilient and people like to be prepared a lot of folks will call in for that type of rental assistance on the first day of work they've missed. If they're out with an illness, right, a lot of places won't be able to assist until one being out has impacted your paycheck and you can show that on your past 30 days of income and two that the rent is actually late. Most programs are not able to assist for rent that you know is going to be later but you could get behind. There has to actually be that two to three day notice and then in between it could be a couple of weeks, it could be a full, another rental payment later.

Speaker 4:

If that has still not been resolved, the landlord is able to go to the municipal court file for eviction, have that notice to appear in court sent to the resident. The resident then is required to either show up in court or to request a continuance. A lot of times if you are still working with a rental assistance agency and you need to ask for that continuance, it buys a little more time for that process to be completed, but participating in the process is very important because I know in my community those hearings happen on a Thursday. If you are evicted on a Thursday, the sheriff set out where they come to remove your items takes place on a Tuesday. This is something that very rarely needs to actually happen, especially if there's rental assistance available in your community. If right at that notice on receipt of the notice, calling 2-1-1 is the best thing someone can do for themselves in that situation.

Speaker 2:

So a couple of follow up questions. You talked about the student vouchers. What's the criteria behind like? How would a 22 year old attending Ross right now? How do they determine whether they're eligible for a student voucher?

Speaker 4:

a metropolitan housing authority, some of it's by county, some of it's by city. It's really dependent on where you're at in the United States for what size of a housing authority is in your community, but they manage all of the vouchers, so that would be what we traditionally refer to as a Section 8 voucher. The most common type of voucher available is income-based, with a wait list that opens regularly. You would want to first contact your housing authority to find out what vouchers are available. Should a voucher be available in that community for students, they would be able to talk through exactly what their criteria is, what the income level is, because it's typically to do with the average median income in that area.

Speaker 2:

So you said there's a wait list. So is this going to come, kind of money that may not be available? Is it like if it runs out it runs out, or is it more of an entitlement? If you meet the eligibility, you get it. It's cyclical.

Speaker 4:

So they open the wait list when new additional funds are coming in or if previous voucher holders have rolled off because they've moved up economically. Economically they now make too much money, fingers crossed, they're not in the benefits cliff and they've moved on to something bigger and better and no longer need it right. But they have new space available as this rolls in and rolls out and there are new types of vouchers being added all the time. So I keep a tight eye on all the HUD press releases to see what the new trends are. It'll be quite some time before they get to my mid-sized Midwestern community, but it's good to know what's coming down the way and what trends are emerging. And student vouchers are very popular right now and I know are available in most metro areas.

Speaker 2:

So the students have to really think ahead, right, they have to anticipate and then go on that wait list and then cross their fingers, right.

Speaker 4:

At times and everyone's story is different and every office works differently, but it's certainly something to investigate if anyone's considering that they might be eligible for something like that.

Speaker 2:

I find sometimes the process makes it hard for people to get access to money, like we make them climb a mountain. Is this one of them? Or are you going to walk uphill both ways and hope to get some help? Or is the process streamlined?

Speaker 4:

I wish George, I wish I could identify one solid answer that's universal, but each office is different and each experience is going to be different. My hope is that when they're engaging with these processes, there are passionate social service workers that are doing everything they can for a warm handoff, a radical welcome, doing everything they can to make sure it's expedient and in line with that student's needs.

Speaker 2:

That may not always be the case, maybe in Ohio, I don't know here, but maybe I think here they make them work so hard to get access to help. They just make it difficult.

Speaker 4:

I think that's true in a lot of systems when we talk about the tyranny of the moment and the way folks have been asked to move from one assistance office to another and they've stopped for child care and they've used the public transit system and stayed in line for their transportation and they've stayed in line to get to their food pantry. It is a daunting and exhausting day to be low income.

Speaker 2:

So this takes me to my last question. As you talk about child care, you know over half a million people are homeless in America but what some people don't realize, over 100,000 kids are homeless. And you know, within Ross we have many, many single mom who go to Ross, who are trying to go to school, work a job, raise their kids. Is there any additional resources for households, especially households that are being led by a single mom?

Speaker 4:

I think that is absolutely something to consider when students call 211. It's vital information because there are some incredible models out there.

Speaker 3:

I'm thinking like big picture kind of what can society do and you brought up some really great programs that are federal funded, state funded, county funded, united Way sponsors or in projects like that but what's the what's something that and George and George has, of course, talked about what we can do at Ross but what are some things that individuals like Christine can do that can you know, help these help not just solve, not solve homelessness, but be able to help people that are in this situation.

Speaker 4:

One of the easiest ways for an average day-to-day person who, whether you are in social services or education, or you touch this day-to-day, your neighbors touch it day-to-day and the best way to advocate for your neighbors is to participate in the yes In my Backyard campaign, the YIMBY campaign. So, as we're looking at this nationally and globally, one of the largest causes of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. And when we're talking Maslow's hierarchy of needs having a place to live, going back to that housing first model, increasing the amount of housing available when we're talking about that, there's some stereotypes around multifamily housing. There's some stereotypes around apartments. And when we're able to take that lens and focus it on helping families and making sure that there are options for individuals who are in your workforce, in your community, encouraging not development for development's sake, but thoughtful development that people want. That takes education, transportation, access to food into consideration.

Speaker 4:

There are ways to get involved with your local shelter. A lot of local shelters accept food items or a meal, always, always, always. If you're looking to help emancipated and foster youth, mentorship programs are ideal Learning to build trusted relationships, learning how to navigate your community and where to go when you need help. Some folks just never learn who to ask.

Speaker 2:

So you talked about not in my backyard. Do you think the perceptions around homelessness in America anyway are changing over time? You know the stereotyping of homeless individuals and homeless family, or is that piece still a work in progress?

Speaker 4:

It's always a work in progress right. We will never be at 100%. People will always have opinions and always disagree with each other. So until we're at 100% that we all agree that housing is a human right, there's always going to be a little bit of progress to be made, but I think that the narrative is certainly shifting. We're getting more and more opportunities to dispel a lot, of, a lot of myths and concerns. I think we're looking at the way we engage in community a lot differently than we used to. We're coming out of the suburban experiment where all development was very specific to keeping commercial and residential very, very separate, separate. Mixed use is on the rise again and we're seeing the good that can come out of mixed use and the return to a downtown with apartments and farmers markets.

Speaker 4:

When our local planning commission put out a survey, number one thing people want is affordability when they're talking about where they would like to live and what they want their community to look like. By and large, every income level said affordability, which was shocking to me because I would expect some folks that maybe aren't as exposed to it to have bumped that further down. No, it still was number one. So, number one we want it to be affordable. Number two walkable. Walkability is now the second most important thing to people when they're planning their communities.

Speaker 2:

Kelsey, I'm maybe going off track here we talk about maybe it's a work in progress but the homelessness hits every ethnic group. So every ethnic group in America is impacted by homelessness, but the reality is minorities tend to pay a much, much heavier price. Homelessness, but the reality is minorities tend to pay a much, much heavier price. As I prepared for today, hispanics are seeing really a huge rise of a number of people who are homeless in real, raw numbers. What are the drivers here? Is it all economics that you see on your end, or is there other problems that seem to be driving right now the rising number in homelessness?

Speaker 4:

Well, when we talk about the disparities between marginalized communities, when we're talking about homelessness, you've got to talk about systemic racism. There has been so much of the way that we look at the economics is based on privilege and what folks have been able to acquire over the years, when amassing generational wealth but, by and large, has rewarded whiteness. So when we're talking about having a disparity in the number of unhoused individuals being people of color, that speaks to a lack of opportunity to build generational wealth in a society that rewards that. That speaks to additional barriers such as language barriers. We're talking about our refugee and immigrant population being able to do all of those things we talked about earlier in the show what it's like to move from one assistance window to the food pantry, to the bus line to pick up your child, and how that's a full-time job in and of itself. Imagine doing that while having to translate in your head when those cultural competencies aren't around.

Speaker 4:

I have a quote here that was provided by the True Colors Institute that spoke to disparities in entering the shelter system. Black women in America have additional stereotypes applied to us when I applied for the things. My name signals whiteness, but then my voice and physical appearance result in different treatment. This is straight up systemic racism. It discourages people from bringing their full selves to situations due to systemic biases about black people, and that is a quote from Jennifer Myers, one of the young people that participated in a nationwide study on social disparities in youth homelessness.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I really want to appreciate the time, really want to appreciate the time. I truly believe if Kristen can find an opportunity for you to get in front of our students and in front of our teachers and staff, I think it would be amazingly valuable. In my heart of hearts, I believe our students are one paycheck away from facing some form of a housing crisis, and I don't necessarily know if they know their rights or if they know the process or if they can even navigate the process, which always the piece that always drives me nuts.

Speaker 4:

Well, you have to prove that you're homeless or you're going to be homeless, versus people giving you the aid that you need and the help you need in a timely manner just very grateful for the time, and it's a very important topic, and it's incredible that you're making sure your students are equipped with the knowledge that, should they ever have to navigate this type of system, or if they ever have someone in their community, they'll know the answers, they'll know where to go and they'll be able to do so with confidence and dignity. Thanks for listening to Make the Leap.

Speaker 1:

Be sure to visit our site, rosspodcastcom or the podcast platform of your choice, to listen to past episodes, as well as subscribe, so you never miss a future episode. We hope you join us two weeks from now for our next episode. See you then. Thank you.

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