Mecklenburg County plans to host its annual Point-in-Time Count on Wednesday night. The volunteer-driven event assesses the number of people sleeping outdoors in places such as bus stops and tents. Ahead of the count, Roof Above’s Liz Clasen-Kelly, who oversees the organization’s local shelter programs, shared her thoughts on what to expect.
Elvis Menayese: Liz, you were one of the hundreds of volunteers who walked the streets in places like uptown to count the number of people sleeping outdoors. Ahead of this year’s count, I’m curious to know what you think we might see out there?
Liz Clasen-Kelly: Last year, I thought we would see a decrease in unsheltered homelessness because the temperatures were so cold and we were doing no turn away at the shelters, and yet we saw a significant increase. So this year, I think what we've seen at the front doors of Roof Above is an increase in homelessness. I think from the community, we hear a lot of reports that people feel unsheltered homelessness is more visible. It seems to be increasing. So those indications tell me I think it would go up.
Menayese: Last year’s count showed that 444 people were experiencing unsheltered homelessness. 60 more people compared to the previous year. So, we saw an increase. What drove that increase, and are those factors still in play now?
Clasen-Kelly: I've been doing this work for a long time, and I just learned more and more how connected the issue of homelessness is to our housing market. And so we continue to see higher rents, even though rents have been more stagnant; there are other costs of living that are higher, inflation is very real, and so we just see far more people are what we would call housing insecure. They're paying large amounts of their income towards housing costs, so it just makes people more vulnerable when there’s, you know, unexpected job loss or, you know, loss of a loved one in life, they're more vulnerable to homelessness.
Menayese: You touched on it there, the loss of loved ones. Last year, what the count showed was how brutal living outdoors can be. 52-year-old Abdul Wright was found lying dead in uptown near a church. Reflecting on that fatal incident ahead of this year’s count, Mary Ann Preiester, who helps oversee the count with the county, had this to say.
Mary Ann Priester: We hope that is not something we will find. We don’t want to experience that kind of tragedy because we believe no one should have to die on the streets.
Menayese: Wright died from pneumonia, a lung infection. Liz, you were one of the volunteers who found Wright dead. We’re seeing some of the coldest temperatures of the year this month like you mentioned. How are you helping people cope, and to be frank, are you worried about more people dying?
Clasen-Kelly: Elvis, you, you were with us, it was, um, just incredibly jarring and tragic and incredibly real. And so homelessness can be deadly. We are not Michigan or Indiana, but the temperatures here do get low enough to rob people of life.
Menayese: And are there any plans you plan to adopt this year that aim to mitigate the number of people who we could see sleeping out on the streets, which are different from previous years that you've had in play?
Clasen-Kelly: We are anticipating being on overflow again during the Point-in-Time count, so we anticipate having a no-turn-away policy. We have, over the last year, expanded, just over the last few months, we've expanded capacity at one of our shelters. We've added 20 beds, so, you know, it's not huge, but it's something we keep trying to find ways. To increase capacity. We've just opened a new transitional housing site called Kings on Lamar, which we're in the process of leasing up, that will be 64 units. So we've tried to do some expansion. We've got some other, I think, community ideas coming in the future.
Menayese: One of the ultimate goals of the count is to survey people about their experiences and gain insight into what’s driving homelessness in an effort to find different ways to address the crisis. With that in mind, Liz, what do you hope to take away from this year’s count that can aid your efforts?
Clasen-Kelly: No one is more expert on homelessness than someone experiencing it, and so it is always a chance to listen to people.
For us, as Roof Above, as a shelter provider, one of the questions that people ask is, have you stayed at the shelter? If not, why not? And so, you know, list several reasons, like, is it because, because we remain full, right? Capacity is one of those questions. Is it the crowded conditions, because we're always interested in those who want to move into the emergency shelter? How do we help people gain access to that? So that's, that's a question that I'm always eager to hear from people on. So, that’s one of the questions I’m focused on.
Menayese: Liz, thanks for your time. I look forward to speaking with you after the count.
Clasen-Kelly: I look forward to it, Elvis.
