BUCYRUS — More than 100 children are homeless in Crawford County.
Homelessness in Crawford County was the topic during the Crawford Conversation event at Trillium Event Center on Thursday.
Erin Stine of the Crawford Partnership asked questions of a three-person panel which included Eliza Cole, executive director of Bucyrus Outreach and Restoration Network, Matt Henderson of Bucyrus City Schools and Bucyrus Police Chief David Koepke.
The conversation began with a video created by Todd Boyer and Ryan McQuillen that included national and local statistics. About 550,000 Americans were homeless in 2017 and half of those are families and a quarter of those are children. One-in-eight people are chronically homeless and about 50,000 are U.S. Veterans.
When it comes to Crawford County, Cole said BORN assists more than 100 people each year that are homeless through local law enforcement agencies and others along with people that come in on their own for help. Crawford County is only one of two counties in the state of Ohio without a homeless shelter.
“A 24-year-old mom with an eight-month-old baby recently came to the BORN office,” Cole said.
Cole said the woman was from Marion and considers her infant a miracle baby since the child was born with many medical issues.
“She came into our office to use the electric to plug in her baby’s heart monitor,” Cole said.
Cole said the woman lost her job after staying by her child’s side for six months while the baby was in the NICU unit of an area hospital.
“Her and the baby were sleeping in her car. We put them up in a hotel for one week which is all we had funding to do,” Cole said. “We are in desperate need of a homeless shelter in our county.”
Cole said the woman now has two part-time jobs.
“There are a few family members that can babysit for short periods at a time due to the baby’s medical issues, so she works part-time jobs while trying to create an income for herself and her child,” Cole said.
Henderson said you can see it in the faces of children that are worried about where they will sleep at night.
“This puts a lot of pressure on a child because not only do they have to meet the requirements expected of them at school, but they worry about all of this too,” Henderson said.
Henderson told a story of one of his students whose dad was forced to place her with a local family while he is out of town working.
“He is homeless and sleeps on the floor of the shop where he works,” Henderson said. “The little girl said she worries about her dad every day.”
Koepke said there are many reasons why people end up homeless.
“Domestic violence displaces children and teens often,” Koepke said.
Other factors include sudden job loss, mental illness, unexpected illness and medical costs, a house fire or other natural disaster, divorce, a sudden death of a spouse or other that was the main provider of income, foreclosure and substance abuse.
“Many people are just one paycheck, one crisis away from being homeless,” Cole said.
She said that lack of affordable housing is another factor of homelessness in the county.
“We need more affordable housing for people,” Cole said. “Most people cannot come up with $2,000 to $3,000 for first and last month’s rent and deposit to obtain a place to live.”
Koepke said that re-entry into society after prison is also hard for people to find a place to live.
Bucyrus resident Barb Rigdon came to the event to learn more about the plight of the hidden homeless in Crawford County.
“I want to learn more about it and see what I can do to help,” said Rigdon, who also helps with many programs at her church, Bucyrus Church of God.
Cole said rural homelessness looks different than urban.
“Many people in our county live in places we do not see. They sleep in their car at Walmart where they have access to a restroom, abandoned buildings or even couch-surfing from one place to another,” Cole said.
Cole said it is the goal of BORN and others to open the House of Hope Homeless Shelter as soon as possible.
“We need funding and are looking into many options,” Cole said.
Cole said BORN is in need of donations and volunteers.
The conversation on homelessness in Crawford County will continue on Jan. 10. For more information about BORN, visit the BORN website or on the BORN Facebook page.