Homelessness can happen ‘faster than you think’

Homelessness can happen “faster that you’ll ever think,” Kevin Kerwin told more than 100 audience members attending a forum about homelessness in Longmont on Nov. 18 at the Longmont Senior Center.

Kerwin, who had been a cab driver, was laid off from his job in July. He used up his family’s savings, then couldn’t pay the rent. He and his family ended up sleeping in the family car, or in a tent.

“At first you are in shock, and you don’t know what to do,” Kerwin said. “Then you’ll run through things so fast you won’t even believe it. The safety cushion you thought you had will disappear extremely quickly.”

Kerwin said he used to think “if they’d just …” when he would encounter homeless people in his job. But, he said, it’s not as simple as “if they’d just.”

“It can take most of the day just to accomplish one thing,” he said. “And then you don’t sleep at night because you are worrying about how you and your family will survive the next day. Even giving my child $5 for a school fee is a hard thing.”

Kerwin said he found that many people – friends and those who used to talk with him – began to avoid him.

“I think they were afraid that I’d ask them for money,” he said. “But all I really wanted was the human contact and connection of a friend.”

But Kerwin and his family are among the lucky ones – they have secured a housing voucher and will be moving out of homelessness and into transitional housing soon. Still, he said, his experience has changed him.

“I think I’m a better, stronger and more compassionate person now,” he said. “I know there are tons of homeless people out there who need help, and I will volunteer my time now.”

Homelessness in Longmont is growing rapidly, according to Kathy Fedler, City of Longmont affordable housing coordinator and a member of the Longmont Housing Opportunities Team (LHOT). Since 2000, the number of homeless persons in Longmont has doubled, according to Fedler. About half of those homeless are families with children, and a third of those who are homeless are children under age 17. Nearly 10 percent are military veterans, and 54 percent received some money from work, she said. And many individuals are homeless more than once.

“The recession isn’t helping,” Fedler said.

LHOT, a collaborative partnership with more than 50 members, is working to end homelessness in Longmont.

“We support the ‘housing first’ model to combat homelessness,” Fedler said. “If a family or individual is living in a shelter or constantly has to move to keep sheltered, they can’t address the problem that led to the homelessness in the first place. They need to be in stable housing of their own.”

Once a family is in stable housing, they also need to receive “quality supportive services,” Fedler said. “You have to address the root cause to move someone to self-sufficiency. The family or the individual is in a better place when they have housing and can work on making changes.” LHOT has been able to house 26 families since the end of 2006.

LHOT also strives to raise community awareness and highlights the need for a coordinated response from city agencies, social services, volunteer agencies, the school system and others, Fedler said.

Preventing homelessness also is a priority, Fedler said. To that end, LHOT places emphasis on providing skills, education, training and employment to enable homeless families and individuals find employment and become self-sufficient.

“It is far less costly to prevent someone from becoming homeless than it is to bring them out of it,” she said.

LHOT recently received a financial shot in the arm for 2009-10 from the Longmont City Council. At its Nov. 17 meeting, city council members unanimously voted to provide $67,323 from its contingency fund to help pay for emergency shelter and assistance for the homeless this winter.The group also received enough funding to provide 10 additional housing vouchers for families, Fedler said.

Doug Branstetter, who served in the Army from 1976 to 1978, ended up homeless after he had two strokes and “a run of really bad luck,” he said.

“Even my children wouldn’t help,” he said. “And when people see that you’ve gone from being successful to being broke, they wonder what you did wrong.”

Branstetter eventually found his way to the OUR Center, where he received help, and more importantly, found people willing to listen and offer solutions to some of his problems. He volunteered at the center while working on securing housing and was able to leave living on the streets.

“But I am only one or two checks away from being homeless again,” he said. “I need help with medical costs and with food. If I couldn’t get a free dinner from HOPE and a free lunch from the OUR Center, I wouldn’t be able to make it with the money I have.”

This is the second part of a series about homelessness in Longmont. To read the first story, go to www.longmontledger.com

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net