Homeless in Hattiesburg
According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Mississippi has an estimate of 1,352 people living homeless. Of that number, 112 are family households, 102 are veterans, 87 are young adults ages 18 to 24, and 279 are individuals who experience chronic homelessness.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that in 2015, 188 people counted as homeless in the Pine Belt Community and in Forrest County, 126 people were counted as homeless, sheltered and unsheltered.
In Hattiesburg, a homeless person (who wishes to remain anonymous) says being without is hard. “I’ve been homeless for about a year now since losing my job. I don’t have family or anything like that to ask them for help with anything. I have been in and out of shelters and I had several job interviews. I still got nothing. All I can do is keep my faith”.
Bigissue.com says that there are many factors that contributes to one being homeless. Such as minimum to no qualifications, broken relationships and substance abuse. What also can be contributed to homelessness are previous experience of family homelessness, family disputes, sexual and physical abuse form parents or gradians, economic issues and lack of affordable healthcare.
Kim Townsend’s goal for Homelessness in Hattiesburg is to ensure that the impoverished and homeless members of the Pine Belt community gets structure and goal oriented assistance. This will help to push positivity in to the lives of those effected by such.
There are many resources in the Pine Belt Community for the homeless such as, the Hub City Homeless Outreach Team who goes to a community every week to meet those in need and assist them with help.
Then there is the Fieldhouse for the Homeless, one of many shelters who helps those struggling get back on their feet. The Fieldhouse is a day center for anyone who doesn’t have a place to go.
Open 24 hours, they help people reunite with loved ones, hygiene, find jobs with use of computers available at the shelter, receive phone calls, mail and transportation to and from work. They also provide meals, twice a day through the weekday, three times a day on weekends and also serve meals on the holidays.
Courtesy of: relevantmagazine.com
Representative of the Fieldhouse for the Homeless, Percilla, says many that comes to the shelter that doesn’t realize they are able to get their benefits. “Sometimes they don’t realize they have benefits. We had a veteran guy that lived in the woods and had been homeless for years, and he was able to get his back pay and buy a house”.
Courtesy of: militarytimes.com
There are homeless people that are around the difference areas in the Pine Belt Community but most are not seen often. Instead of going to shelters or seeking for help, they’re staying in the woods where they mostly live.
The Fieldhouse also connects with Pine Belt’s hospitals, police departments and other sources of the community, who will drop people off at their day shelter. The shelter often gets single mothers and their children and handicaps. Another support to the shelter are the churches that comes every Sunday to have devotional services and bring meals. “All the churches from surrounding areas come, it’s just not the Pine Belt. We have people that come from McComb, Collins, Perry county and all around. They actually come with things to drop off that will help them.”, says Percilla.
Click here to watch more on shelters in the area.
For the last five years, the Fieldhouse also gives their homeless people money vouchers to shop at the Fieldhouse Thrift Store. And for those who obtain an apartment, the shelter gives them vouchers to get furniture and other things that would fit their needs to get then on their feet.
When receiving new arrivals at the shelter, the first thing to do is to make sure they are healthy by doing referrals. The second thing to do, is to reunite them with their family and friends. According to Percilla, their biggest thing is identification. If someone does not have identification or a birth certificate, the shelter assist in helping the new arrival obtain them. They have others who comes in for intervention and prevention.
An Alcoholrehabguide.org article states that 38 percent of the homeless population are alcohol dependent and it becomes challenging for them to remain sober. Substance abuse in younger homeless population have high numbers with 30 to 70 percent of them abusing substance. On the other hand, alcohol use is more common in the older homeless population. This addiction can continue for years which leads to developing strained relationships.
For those battling drug addiction the shelter does help by sending those to different centers mostly out of the state of Mississippi being, California, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana.
Courtesy of: Amber Milsap
According to nationalhomeless.org The National Health Care for the Homeless Council estimates that 70% of Health Care for the Homeless clients do not have health insurance.
Health care can become more of a problem for those who are already homeless. They are three to six more times likely to fall ill than those who are housed. Diseases that are prominent amongst the homeless population include heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other issues. For the homeless who spend more time outside, they are more susceptible to getting frost bite and hypothermia.
The shelter helps those with a chronic health issues by receiving vouchers from Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative and giving it to the homeless persons. The vouchers helps them to see a doctors for free and the shelters will pay for medication.
The shelter provides smaller things that one may needs as simple as hand sanitizer and wipes as well.
Most homeless shelters collects many different donations, meals, canned goods, clothes, furniture, hygiene items, money and even a little donation of ones time for volunteering.
Homeless resources:
(601) 336-4055
5712 US 49 S, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
(601) 544-3684
5670 US 49, Hattiesburg, MS 39401
(601) 544-6149
1919 Edwards St. Hattiesburg, MS 39401
