Basic Human Needs Listening Session
Malcolm Chapman will be our administrator this year but is unable to attend due to his father's illness. Renee will be facilitating this meeting however. Our focus is on food, clothing & shelter.
Major Needs:
United Way has been hosting listening sessions for the last 3 years.
Barb Garcia--Community Development. She has been working with BH Homeless Coalition & they have been discussing the community's housing needs. In Sept. a housing needs study was done which included clients of 13 non-profits participated & they raced. 752 questionnaires back. It was a 4 pg. Detailed questionnaire. Executive summary was handed out & the full summary is posted on the city's website under community development. Of the 752 people who responded we had 63% of those making < $1,000/mo. Affordable housing was the #1 need according to the survey. Doug Wells-Pennington Co. Housing's was previously 1700 people & now it's around 200-300 people. Rental units around town have a vacancy rate of as high as 40%. There aren't enough vouchers for subsidized units. We have enough housing units however. We have 399 new rental units in the past year. An affordable rent to the people making, $1,000/mo would be $250-$300/mo. Affordable cost is $650. What's missing is difference in the gap between those figures. We have a very large # of homeless which varies form 450-1200 depending on your definition of "homeless". Every funding source has a different definition of "homeless". Our definition of homeless is those who meet HUD guidelines which is someone without housing 3 times a year & Barb is counting those who are doubled up. HUD does not count them. HUD is only counting the people as "chronic homeless" who are on the street whereas we are counting the people who are doubled up with family or friends. 45.9% of respondents are saying that food is an issue & then another 31% say food stamps are an issue. We have about 600 people saying that food is an everyday issue for them regardless of the church meal programs or the Cornerstone meals programs being offered.
Pat Silbernagel---SHARE SD. Our agency is looking at now giving out 25 food certificates/ mo. for Share food which is $21 each. Because they only hand out the food once a month they don't have anything on hand. They are thinking about setting up a store that people could come to once a month, for those who are out of town. They are also thinking of doing food nutrition classes which would teach people how to purchase food & how to fix it & how to stretch to stretch your budget which will be based on the SHARE food each month. In Pierre, before they sign up for food stamps, they have to take a class & we're thinking thinking about doing something like that.
Marcia Leitheiser--Community Food Banks of SD. The food pantry in RC has now been open 2 years & they have almost doubled in the # of people coming in compared to 2004. 50% of people that are on food stamps still come into the food pantry as they still can't get enough food. Either they are not buying the right foods or they can't get to the right stores. The food pantry is located in the back of the food bank & is operated only on referrals. 50 agencies have referral cards to hand out. A 3 day supply of food is given out once every 6 months. If they are elderly or have mental health problems they can get food monthly. It has been open since Feb. 2004. They can be reached at 348-2689.
Pat Shaykett--RC Horace Mann School. She's seeing clothing needs, kids coming hungry. Shelter has seen a big shift. On Silver St.4-5 rental homes were torn down & that did impact our normal enrollment of kids. Seeing an increase in families living in hotels & tracking of location is tough.
Marcia Mayer--Meals Program. Every day they serve about 170 homebound individuals. We have 16 sites in RC, 29 cities in western SD. Every year she sees a larger # of individuals needing help. Seniors are on fixed incomes & high medication costs. They have family farms which they don't want to sell. The pride factor also comes into play as nobody wants to say that they need help. Mainly 60 yrs. & older are served. Homebound? Try out for 2 weeks & they are hooked. Every M-F they get a hot lunch, & freezer meals given out on Fri for them to use over the weekend. Blizzard meals were given out before the last storm to get them through. Some of their clients are in a hotel situation for whatever reason. A large increase in the # of participants using this service. If you know someone that could use this service, call 394-6002.
Renee--stated that agencies have stated that children are coming much more hungry on Mon. like they are getting enough M-F but not enough on the weekends. Another issue in the community if a lack of affordable medical/dental care.
Pat--SHARE. Requested a list of the people in attendance as well their ph #'s, so they can contact each other after the meeting.
Amy Buffalo--Community Health. They are seeing an increase of clients with no insurance & no help with medical care at all.
Renee stated that there is a need with prescription drug help. She knows that Meth was an issue in the past. Please share with us.
Barry Tice--Penn. Co. Health & Human Services-they provide economic help, rent, utilities & food assistance but the majority of their time is spent helping those who don't have insurance & providing dental coverage. In the last year dental needs have tripled. Twice a week that he has seen people missing teeth. Their prescription assistance program ended with Medicare Part D. An alternative with affordable medications is avoidance. Meth use has caused this as well as poor dental health, alcohol abuse, etc. Medications with clients with mental illness are a huge issue.
Pat Shaykett--affects carry over to the kids. Mental illness, food disorders, etc. Bi-polar & mood disorders are going to be the next issue for this generation. Difficulties diagnosing because they are not getting help.
Andrea Denke---Salvation Army. They supply 20 food boxes every week. An increase in the need for affordable housing, lack of budgeting skills is key. Title loan centers, cash -n-go, or cash advance places are causing a bigger debt problem. More clients are coming from 6-7 people in a motel room. Many clients have more than enough food stamps but they can't chose affordable meals. They are buying junk food instead.
Pat--SHARE. That's where our new service could come into play. We could teach them how to cook & cook a healthy meal. Clients stating that they appreciate the new menu plan in the back of the SHARE booklet. 20 people ordered food stamps last month. Money tight, food is so expensive. 201 clients served last Sat which was over $10,000 in food.
Rena Leite--Sioux San. They agency is seeing some meth. use. Hired 3 case managers on their staff to help get enrollment papers if they have any Indian in them. Seeing a lot of Behavior Management clients. Supplies for home care are being requested. They want a full 30 days given to them.
Carrie--WAVI Meth side affects such as sexual abuse in children have increased 85% in children ages 0-12 from 2003-2005. At Common Ground's visitation centers more clients, that are doing exchanges, are coming in high or testing positive at the times of visitation so they being declined of their privileges. Meth. is trickling down to the kids, which is affecting their hygiene, food & clothing. Meth will become a huge problem in the next 5 years if we don't take action to curb it.
Melanie Flatt-WAVI. Violence was a #1 concern in RC last year & it's only increasing. WAVI ended up $170,000 in the hole due to this crisis. They are concentrating on looking towards other orgs. (other than U.W.) for help. Concentrating on the CARE program with the Penn. Co. Sheriff's Dept. 1/3 to ½ of the clients come from outside the RC area. They provide case managers to the Sheriff's Dept. They have offices at WAVI as well as at the Sheriff's Dept. Rural funding is helping but not enough. They are also working with RCRH & their SART team & they call WAVI with any sexual assault that happens if it shows at RCRH. WAVI has a team on hand 24 hrs. 365 days a years to help in those cases. Started a program with Cornerstone in collaboration with Community Health giving them office space which has helped their clients. WAVI is trying to get funding outside of RC. Their average stay in the shelter has gone up from 11 to 13 days, which causes budgeting problems.
JIM--Cornerstone. Seeing an increase of mental health cases. 30% of persons at the shelter have a profound mental health problem. They are trying to find housing for them, which will provide dignity for them. The cycle continues from them to Yankton & back again. Transitional housing -24 new apartments have a price tag of $3,000,000. WAVI is a partner in that. They will take families mainly with children for 2 yrs. working with them on life skill issues. Working on putting a dent in the cycle of homelessness.
Maria Niggemann--Literacy Council. Helping with literacy is a step up but it will help them in the long run. She's excited that having someone in a program for a couple of years would also benefit them in the literacy area.
Renee--Access to people with disabilities?
Judi Severson--Medicare part D causing people with disabilities to go in the hole.
Barb Garcia--Community Development. Western Dakota Resources has over a 1 yr. Waiting list for access ramps to homes. The city can help with putting in ramps on homes that are owner-occupied. One of the issues for landlords is they can't afford to put up ramps for 1 unit, wheelchair lifts, etc.
Michelle--Habitat for Humanity. Habitat homeowners stay with us for years. A big # of their clients are living on min. wage. Clients can't pay for prescriptions causing a need for reasonable housing. 35 families. Land is readily available but now they can't afford 2 X 4's. Their selection committee would be a great asset to this meeting because they decide if potential clients are living in sub-standard housing.
#1 issue was lack of good paying jobs in the last community needs assessment done 5 years ago.
Jack Sitch--Red Cross. One of their greatest needs is getting families back into affordable housing after losing their homes to fire. A lot of communities they can be bumped up on a waiting list, not the case in RC. Here we offer 1 month's rental assistance to those who lose their homes to fire. This can cause a huge problem with the Red Cross' budget due to the high cost of rentals here in RC. Last year we had 17 single- family homes lost. This year we already have 41. The loss of houses due to fire affects, mental health, kids not being able to get to school, etc. They are working with Lutheran Social Services, Behavior Management & Health & Human Services to get counseling for those families. Housing is a bigger issue than food right now. If we have a lot of fires-the need increases for affordable housing. Meth. may be part of the problem other than cold spells with space heater, plugged fireplaces, etc. 93% of all disasters that the Red Cross responds to are due to house fires. CDC tells us that a pandemic is coming. There were four pandemics in the 1900's such as the Spanish Flu of 1918. 20,000,000 people died from that. Avian flu may be a big issue as well. School districts, movie theaters, libraries will all close with an issue such as avian flu. Working to push 100,000 people through in 48 hrs in order to stop the spread of such a disease. 11 sites in SD would come to the aid of such an issue in helping with getting food to people's homes, etc. With good planning, we can be prepared. Agencies collaborating will be key. People to serve on planning committees. Economic impact will be affected when the bird flu hits SD & the pheasant hunters won't come. It's not if it hits SD, it's when it hits, and if it will be in human form.
211 line--U.W. has allocated $31,000 to 211 which will get it up & running & keep it running for 4 mos. The database is already available. 211sd.org is the new website. If your org. is not listed & if your programs & services are not listed there, please let Renee know.
Maria Niggeman--Literacy council. We help those with English as a 2nd language. Earned citizenship may affect the need for literacy help. Those needing help can call 394-5454.
Alice BoJack--Care Net PRC. Need is young mothers who need temporary help. They are seeing an increase in the # of pregnant girls with no place to go. Shelter is needed, even if it's overnight.
Vicki Byrne-Cornerstone Women's Shelter. Most common on waiting list is a woman with 4-6 children let alone accommodating a single woman. The whole issue of transitional housing is huge. They have 30 beds at the home & a huge waiting list. The # of mentally ill patients is increasing. Pennington Hospital has a regular bus service to the Cornerstone Women's Shelter. They are working with Community Health & Behavior Management to develop an intake process & hopefully they wouldn't end up sending them back there. 5 parolees are currently staying at the home, 2 more calls today. One of the basic needs is an individual looking for formula & diapers (4-8 requests a day).
Paula--WAVI. 1400-1900 clients a year in a shelter or on a case load. Some of the people on a caseload don't need to be sheltered.
Monica Leithauser--Community Food Banks of SD. Diapers are available but not much formula comes in.
Care Net or Church Response handles some need for formula/diapers. Agencies feel that they are bouncing clients from one agency to another.
Maria Niggemann--Literacy Council. Suggested a monthly email to share what you have available as far as diapers, formula, etc. Everyone agreed.
Barb Garcia--RC Community Development-Exploring a group to spearhead issues. They are considering having 3 separate one-stop locations for the 3 different types of people needing services.
Renee--shared that this is the year that a community assessment will be conducted. Cheisman Foundation will be partnering with us to get us results in Nov. We are going to try to have one of these done every 3 yrs. Agencies were encouraged to give recommendations to Renee concerning this.
Barb Garcia--RC Community Development-The city will be helping in the community assessment survey. The city has a requirement, every 5 years, to develop a consolidated plan, which they use to decide who gets funding. Agencies are encouraged to show up to these public meetings to gather input & put in their ideas. This is your one time to really get your needs into that report so that when you come before the city to get funding for CVG dollars or any other dollars that they are able to access, that it's one of the high-priority items. We take the comments of the community to do that. The only things that are in there are the comments from those attending the meetings.