Editor’s Note: Grace College professor of English and Journalism Dr. Paulette Sauders’ senior journalism majors wrote investigative pieces for their senior papers. Student Carolina Keegan wrote about homelessness in Kosciusko County. This is the fifth and last part in her five-part series.
The Warsaw Housing Authority runs the housing choice voucher program. Individuals with the housing choice voucher pay 30% of their utility bills and the voucher covers the rest, Executive Director Pam Kennedy said.
“You should never pay more than 30% under housing; otherwise, you will go under in other places,” she added.
The voucher is only available to those paying fair-market rent.
Permanent supportive housing is a program the Warsaw Housing Authority is working on getting. The program is for anyone under any of the classifications of homelessness, and they get their own apartment in one complex, and the services are all there, Kennedy said.
Some examples of the services are mental health, drug rehabilitation, self-sufficiency programs and housing programs. They plan on implementing the program within the next five years, according to Kennedy.
Kennedy gave an example of what this would look like: “In Fort Wayne, there was a huge population of foster kids. A lot of foster parents, the day you turn 18, they go, ‘You’re done, out of here,’ because they were collecting money to house them.”
Fort Wayne built permanent supportive housing for young men and women coming out of the foster care system, she said. “There is a lady that has an office there; she’s watching what time you get home; you can’t have visitors past a certain time, even though it's your own apartment ... and they provide services there. They put in a professional kitchen, and they get to learn how to cook in it two nights a week.”
The Beaman Home’s rapid rehousing program faces challenges in finding affordable housing nearby, Rachel Bennet, housing specialist and supervisor of case management, said. Much of the affordable housing in the area is reserved for senior citizens, and Warsaw does not have Section 8 housing, so many who are in their rapid re-housing program must go to private landlords, she added.
A domestic education specialist helps those who have been rehoused, Jennifer Hayes, executive director of the Beaman Home, said. They also offer safety plans and exit strategies to any interested residents. The Beaman Home was the first domestic violence shelter to get rapid rehousing funding, she added.
Fellowship Missions is hoping to build a larger facility in the future, Executive Director Eric Lane said. “The dream is to have a larger space to better serve people.”
The shelter is split into a men’s side and a women’s side. On each side, there are two living room spaces, a back porch and two bedrooms. On the women’s side, one bedroom houses six individuals maximum and the other houses 16. On the men’s side, the bedrooms house four and 18. In the middle is the kitchen and dining area.
Behind the shelter is the back porch and yard area. In season, the residents work together to grow a garden, Anne Hasse, recovery services director, said. A playset stands in the middle of the backyard.
Now they are looking to build pods for families, single mothers, single fathers and for recovery.
Stigma is a challenge that Fellowship Missions faces. “People tend to think, ‘They should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get a job,’ but if you don’t have a cell phone these days, it can be hard to get a job,” Eric Lane said.
More collaboration between Fellowship Missions and surrounding agencies is also a future goal, Eric said. He hopes to bring the programs to the point where they do not compete but share their resources and collaborate with their programs.
Being a nonprofit organization and having a lack of resources for homeless people is a big challenge for Fellowship Missions, and the community has also been a challenge for them, “but they’ve been awesome,” Brooke Lane said.
“I give support through donations,” Robert “Bob” Burress of North Webster said. “I was just reading about how different donations go to food drives.”
In the entry of First Methodist Church, there are boxes filled with shampoo and other supplies, he said.
“I think the local officials should get more involved,” Lisa Johnston, Warsaw, said. “They need a larger facility, and more education for the public about homeless individuals.”
“Our biggest thing that we ask is people’s time, because we have a lot of spots for volunteer positions that we need filled. Since COVID, we had to shut off all volunteers coming in, so since that has happened it’s been a slower transition back to getting volunteers. They can work in the kitchen, they can work at our front desk. Our front desk is probably our biggest need,” Brooke said.
Other volunteer areas available are discipler, mentor and children’s mentor. These positions work one on one with an individual. They request college- or high school-aged people to pair with some kids who stay there with their parent(s). Fellowship Missions also asks for monetary gifts.
