{"id":1281,"date":"2012-05-17T19:22:52","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T23:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2012-05-17T23:12:36","modified_gmt":"2012-05-18T03:12:36","slug":"how-can-we-end-homelessness-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/05\/how-can-we-end-homelessness-in-america.html","title":{"rendered":"How Can We End Homelessness in America?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m sure I don’t have all the answers for that, but if we each\u00a0try to make a difference in our own community and work together with others of like mind, I believe we can make a difference.\u00a0 I live in a small town in Sandusky County, Ohio.\u00a0 Many of our residents didn’t believe we had any homeless people here.\u00a0 That was a big city problem, like Columbus or Toledo.<\/p>\n

Until 1993 the Fremont Clergy Fund was putting our homeless up in local hotels.\u00a0 That was getting very expensive and not very efficient.\u00a0 In 1993 a group of concerned citizens and clergy met and began developing a more efficient way to handle this.\u00a0 We didn’t want just a row of cots and a roof over their heads.\u00a0 We wanted to offer them a way out of their current circumstances.\u00a0 Thus was born the Liberty Center Homeless Shelter.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Liberty Center provides a family living environment where the residents are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to start over and become self sufficient.\u00a0 The residents are not required to pay a fee of any kind, but if they are working, they must save 80% of their income toward their future housing cost.<\/p>\n

Potential residents must\u00a0 go through a police check and drug test,\u00a0 They are required to do chores while at the shelter and they have a strict curfew.\u00a0 We offer training on many things that will help them start over; everything\u00a0 from cooking and nutrition to writing a resume.\u00a0 Our staff can counsel those who just need to talk, or can send them\u00a0to other individuals who are more qualified to help.\u00a0 Our staff also can hook the residents up whatever services they might need; food, housing, legal aide, health services and so much more.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since opening in June 1994 the Liberty Center has served 2368 people, 1051 of these have been children.\u00a0 The Liberty Center is a family shelter.\u00a0 We take, men, women, and families.\u00a0 That’s why our intake is so careful and our rules necessary…for the safety of the children.<\/p>\n

It was never\u00a0been our desire to simply provided a place to sleep and eat for a few days.\u00a0 We want to reach our a helping hand and enable these people a new start.\u00a0 It really doesn’t take much to end up homeless in today’s\u00a0economy; businesses are closing, factories being sent overseas, stores are cutting their work forces.\u00a0 It only takes a few weeks to go from just making it…to being on the streets.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest problems with homelessness is that people don’t know what help is available.\u00a0 They think if they\u00a0go to live at a homeless shelter,they will lose their children.\u00a0 Not true!\u00a0 But if you are living in your car, Children’s Services will come looking for you.\u00a0 If you choose to stay in a home with out heat, water, or power, Children’s Services will be looking for you.\u00a0 If your family is safe in\u00a0 a shelter, your children will stay with you.\u00a0 Don’t be afraid to ask for help.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m sure I don’t have all the answers for that, but if we each\u00a0try to make a difference in our own community and work together with others of like mind, I believe we can make a difference.\u00a0 I live in a small town in Sandusky County, Ohio.\u00a0 Many of our residents didn’t believe we had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,27],"tags":[42,29,68],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-news-or-feature","tag-choices","tag-family","tag-helping-the-needy"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Can We End Homelessness in America? - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/05\/how-can-we-end-homelessness-in-america.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Can We End Homelessness in America? 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