Feb 22, 2010
Volunteers to Identify Charlotte’s Most Vulnerable Homeless
Volunteers will take to the streets next week to survey homeless adults about their age, health history, and duration of homelessness in a study coordinated by the Charlotte Housing Authority and the Urban Ministry Center. Each homeless person will be assigned a Vulnerability Index, based on research done by Common Ground, a non-profit organization that partners with cities globally to end homelessness.
Results of the survey will be presented in a community forum at 10 am on Friday, February 26 at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. The research will help further define the homeless and drive public policy toward the creation of housing options in Charlotte.
“We are one of 15 cities that have used this research tool to help personalize and quantify the chronic homeless problem,” says Kathy Izard, Homeless to Homes Director at the Urban Ministry Center. “It is a huge undertaking. We worried about finding 80 community volunteers and were amazed that more than115 responded before we had to close off volunteer registration.”
Pre-registered volunteers will be trained Monday February 22 from 4-6 p.m. at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday volunteers will go to shelters, outreach agencies, jail, hospital and to the streets and camps where homeless live to conduct interviews. Volunteers will work in four shifts throughout the day beginning as early as 5 am on into the evening.
The Common Ground Vulnerability Index has been used in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New Orleans, Nashville, Portland, and most recently Denver. The 32-question survey determines how long the individual has been homeless and 8 other risk factors for premature death on the streets, including:
- more than three hospitalizations or emergency room visits in a year
- more than three emergency room visits in the previous three months aged 60 or older
- cirrhosis of the liver
- end-stage renal disease
- history of frostbite, immersion foot, or hypothermia
- HIV+/AIDS
- tri-morbidity: co-occurring psychiatric, substance abuse, and chronic medical condition
In addition to the Charlotte Housing Authority, Urban Ministry Center and Common Ground Institute, other partners in the study are Homeless Services Network, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Homeless Support Services, and City of Charlotte: Neighborhood & Business Services.
Charlotte has an estimated homeless population of about 6500 individuals.
About Urban Ministry Center:
Founded in 1994, the Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith organization that serves poor and homeless people with love and compassion and tangible help. Services include a soup kitchen; showers, restrooms and laundry facilities; phone and fax service; nurse and medical referrals; mail, paycheck, and prescription pick-up; food pantry and clothing referrals; assistance filing for disability and food stamps; Room in the Inn winter shelter program (December – March). www.urbanministrycenter.org
About Common Ground:
Common Ground is an international leader in the development of the solutions to homelessness. A pioneer in the development of supportive housing and other research-based practices to end homelessness, Common Ground partners with cities in the U.S. and abroad through its training arm Common Ground Institute. www.commonground.org
