Decade to Doorways program addresses homelessness in Chesco

Katie O'Brien and her 11/2-year-old son have bounced among family and temporary housing for the last two years. Now she has a permanent home of her own for the holidays.

With the help of several agencies in Chester County, O'Brien, who is pregnant with another son, moved into an apartment in West Chester in June.

"I live like a normal human being. Before, I didn't even know how I was going to feed my son," said O'Brien, 29, who works at a restaurant on East Market Street. "Me and my children [will] have a stable life now because of these programs."

Building on partnerships among private and public organizations and raising awareness of homelessness are the backbone of a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Chester County, one of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania.

The initiative, called Decade to Doorways, will enter its third year in January.

The program marks a change in the way county officials and organizations respond to homelessness. It is designed to move from managing homelessness to preventing it and quickly finding housing for the 680 or so people who are homeless on any given day in Chester County.

But the county's prevention fund, which relies on money from the state and federal governments, is practically empty.

"Unfortunately, we often run out of funds prior to the program-year end," said Patrick Bokovitz, director of the Chester County Department of Community Development. "This year, due to the program's popularity and positive impact, we ran out of funds earlier than most years."

The county raised about $2,200 last week, mostly from citizens, at an event thanking faith and business leaders, service providers, and others for working to end homelessness.

But with a growing population of people for whom the loss of child care or a broken-down car could mean losing their home, $2,200 will not go far, county officials said.

The money helps county residents pay expenses such as back rent and utility bills, and provides one-time emergency assistance to rent a place to stay. County officials hope to get additional funds early in 2015.

For the last 10 years, the county department has provided between $125,000 and $175,000 annually for homelessness prevention services.

The Decade to Doorways initiative "has given us an insight into how big the problem is," said Catherine Friedman, executive director of Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, which partners with Chester County to prevent and end homelessness.

One strategy of the initiative is to simplify the process of asking for help. In July 2013, county officials created ConnectPoints, which gives people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless a single place to go for help.

Michael Hackman, administrator of Decade to Doorways, said the only way to end homelessness in the county is through investment by the private and public sectors, and raising awareness that homelessness is a problem in Chester County.

"The homeless population is to some extent invisible," Hackman said. "There's a significant need in Chester County."

Last winter, when temperatures dropped to single digits and snow fell heavy across the region, Gabriel Cruz, now 48, lived in a tarped shack in a forested area in southern Chester County. About a dozen other people lived with him in a makeshift community of ramshackle structures or in a nearby abandoned warehouse near Kennett Square.

Cruz, who worked for a fencing company, had been living there for four years. He ate and showered when he could. Unchecked diabetes combined with frostbite took all of his toes and part of one foot.

"Through the community partnerships we have, we were able to come together and help him," said Isidoro Gonzalez, planning supervisor in the Department of Community Development.

Cruz now lives in a 16-unit permanent housing building in West Chester that serves low-income single men and women living with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and HIV.

"Now, I eat every day. I wash every day," Cruz said. "I'm living much better now."