MONROE - The Green County budget to help homeless and near-homeless people with rent more than tripled in the past three years as need for assistance grows.
For 2013, the county has budgeted $220,000 toward rent assistance. Three years ago at this time, for 2010, it had budgeted $60,000.
Projected budgets haven't been keeping up with demand. In 2010, the county ended up spending $175,980 on rent assistance. The budget increased to $140,000 for 2011. By the end of the year, the county had spent $318,635 on the program. In 2012, the county again budgeted too conservatively at $140,000. The money vanished by mid-year, but the Green County Human Services Committee successfully made the case for $100,000 more to cover the rest of the year.
Last year's numbers aren't yet final, but Human Services estimates not all of this extra money was spent and is tallying total expenditures for 2012 at $233,456.
"Homelessness is a huge problem that hasn't been recognized in Green County as in other areas simply because we're able to keep a lid on it," said Greg Holcomb, director of Human Services.
Still, he said, "we can't continue to go over budget."
Fortunately, the county isn't working alone. Holcomb and Jeannie Blumer, economic support supervisor at Human Services, credit a new charity in the area with keeping the county's rent assistance costs lower in 2012. Family Promise of Green County, established in late 2011, relies on volunteer power to find people housing, transportation, meals and other emergency help.
"That saves Green County taxpayers a lot of money," Blumer said.
The county gives Family Promise $15,000 annually - "a good bang for their buck" for taxpayers, said Holcomb.
But demand for housing help is great enough that Human Services programs are still needed as much as ever. The county doesn't advertise its rental assistance program, Holcomb said: "We don't have a neon sign that says, 'Come on in' ... We like to consider ourselves the (option) of last resort."
The scarcity of subsidized, low-income housing in Green County means many residents are shelling out more for rent than they can realistically afford, Blumer said. Ideally, housing should cost no more than 30 percent of a family's income.
"A lot of our clients are spending 50 percent or more. It doesn't take much, like a car breaking down, to throw people into a major crisis with housing," she said.
'It's not welfare'
One 45-year-old Monroe woman, who shared her story with The Monroe Times on condition of anonymity, faced such a crisis last year.
A series of surgeries to remove a cancerous tumor growing in her lungs and another on her brain have left her unable to work consistently at her job, at a local cheese factory, since June 2011. Her husband has a broken back, but his disability benefits ran out more than a year ago. She's also caring for her 7-year-old high-functioning autistic son.
The pressure came to head late last summer, when her doctors told her she had stage-four cancer and likely wouldn't live past Christmas. "I got scared," she said. Looking at her bills, she realized "we weren't going to be able to do it."
For the past four or five months, she's been getting help from Green County Human Services to pay for rent, utilities and food.
"I'm really amazed and grateful, of course," she said. Although she's still in recovery, scans are now indicating she's cancer-free. She expects to go back to her job as soon as she can.
Her situation is temporary, she stresses. Help from the government doesn't have to be a "full-blown welfare situation." Even an extra, temporary $100 per month helps. "It's not welfare," she said, or a hand-out. "It's a hand-up."
Tightening eligibility
Green County is in the process of reviewing its eligibility requirements for rent assistance.
"We're currently rewriting the handbook to tighten eligibility," Holcomb said. Family Promise "has taken a little bit of the pressure off," he added, but demand isn't lessening.
Typically the county helps a family for one or two months. In 2010, the county provided rent assistance to 80 homeless families and 95 near-homeless families, or 434 people; in 2011, to 83 homeless and 142 near-homeless families, or 572 people; and last year, to 55 homeless and 130 near-homeless families, or 451 people.
Such programs are not mandated by the state but offered at the discretion of a county. Green County asks potential clients to fill out an 11-page form with details on living situation, sources of income, debt, health issues, education, employment history and vocational goals.
Fine-tuning eligibility to stay within a budget forces difficult questions, Holcomb said. Does the county help undocumented parents with kids who are U.S. citizens? What about people with criminal backgrounds?
It's a balancing act. Often, he said, helping people with housing costs saves the county money in the long run. Keeping a family together in an apartment is cheaper than placing children in foster care or trying to help people after they're already on the street.
Once homeless, people "generally run into problems with their employer," Blumer said. "A lot of things in their life start falling apart."
This is why, she said, "one person being homeless is unacceptable to us."
For 2013, the county has budgeted $220,000 toward rent assistance. Three years ago at this time, for 2010, it had budgeted $60,000.
Projected budgets haven't been keeping up with demand. In 2010, the county ended up spending $175,980 on rent assistance. The budget increased to $140,000 for 2011. By the end of the year, the county had spent $318,635 on the program. In 2012, the county again budgeted too conservatively at $140,000. The money vanished by mid-year, but the Green County Human Services Committee successfully made the case for $100,000 more to cover the rest of the year.
Last year's numbers aren't yet final, but Human Services estimates not all of this extra money was spent and is tallying total expenditures for 2012 at $233,456.
"Homelessness is a huge problem that hasn't been recognized in Green County as in other areas simply because we're able to keep a lid on it," said Greg Holcomb, director of Human Services.
Still, he said, "we can't continue to go over budget."
Fortunately, the county isn't working alone. Holcomb and Jeannie Blumer, economic support supervisor at Human Services, credit a new charity in the area with keeping the county's rent assistance costs lower in 2012. Family Promise of Green County, established in late 2011, relies on volunteer power to find people housing, transportation, meals and other emergency help.
"That saves Green County taxpayers a lot of money," Blumer said.
The county gives Family Promise $15,000 annually - "a good bang for their buck" for taxpayers, said Holcomb.
But demand for housing help is great enough that Human Services programs are still needed as much as ever. The county doesn't advertise its rental assistance program, Holcomb said: "We don't have a neon sign that says, 'Come on in' ... We like to consider ourselves the (option) of last resort."
The scarcity of subsidized, low-income housing in Green County means many residents are shelling out more for rent than they can realistically afford, Blumer said. Ideally, housing should cost no more than 30 percent of a family's income.
"A lot of our clients are spending 50 percent or more. It doesn't take much, like a car breaking down, to throw people into a major crisis with housing," she said.
'It's not welfare'
One 45-year-old Monroe woman, who shared her story with The Monroe Times on condition of anonymity, faced such a crisis last year.
A series of surgeries to remove a cancerous tumor growing in her lungs and another on her brain have left her unable to work consistently at her job, at a local cheese factory, since June 2011. Her husband has a broken back, but his disability benefits ran out more than a year ago. She's also caring for her 7-year-old high-functioning autistic son.
The pressure came to head late last summer, when her doctors told her she had stage-four cancer and likely wouldn't live past Christmas. "I got scared," she said. Looking at her bills, she realized "we weren't going to be able to do it."
For the past four or five months, she's been getting help from Green County Human Services to pay for rent, utilities and food.
"I'm really amazed and grateful, of course," she said. Although she's still in recovery, scans are now indicating she's cancer-free. She expects to go back to her job as soon as she can.
Her situation is temporary, she stresses. Help from the government doesn't have to be a "full-blown welfare situation." Even an extra, temporary $100 per month helps. "It's not welfare," she said, or a hand-out. "It's a hand-up."
Tightening eligibility
Green County is in the process of reviewing its eligibility requirements for rent assistance.
"We're currently rewriting the handbook to tighten eligibility," Holcomb said. Family Promise "has taken a little bit of the pressure off," he added, but demand isn't lessening.
Typically the county helps a family for one or two months. In 2010, the county provided rent assistance to 80 homeless families and 95 near-homeless families, or 434 people; in 2011, to 83 homeless and 142 near-homeless families, or 572 people; and last year, to 55 homeless and 130 near-homeless families, or 451 people.
Such programs are not mandated by the state but offered at the discretion of a county. Green County asks potential clients to fill out an 11-page form with details on living situation, sources of income, debt, health issues, education, employment history and vocational goals.
Fine-tuning eligibility to stay within a budget forces difficult questions, Holcomb said. Does the county help undocumented parents with kids who are U.S. citizens? What about people with criminal backgrounds?
It's a balancing act. Often, he said, helping people with housing costs saves the county money in the long run. Keeping a family together in an apartment is cheaper than placing children in foster care or trying to help people after they're already on the street.
Once homeless, people "generally run into problems with their employer," Blumer said. "A lot of things in their life start falling apart."
This is why, she said, "one person being homeless is unacceptable to us."