The Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition has reached a significant milestone in its mission to establish the area’s only homeless shelter.
Rev. Sandra DePriest, co-director of the GTRHC, confirmed that the organization has secured two apartments in east Columbus which will be used to provide short-term housing for a pair of families. DePriest said the GTRHC is busy cleaning, furnishing and preparing the apartments with a goal of having the apartments ready for occupancy next week.
“The apartments are not the end goal. We still are looking for a homeless facility,” DePriest said. “But this does give us another option until we reach that goal. While we will continue to provide motel rooms for homeless people who are in an emergency situation, these apartments give us an opportunity to provide short-term help for two homeless families. They’ll be able to stay for no more than 90 days, and that will give them a chance to get on their feet.”
DePriest said the homeless often don’t have the resources to secure housing.
“When you have to come up with a security deposit plus first-month’s rent and utility deposits, it’s often far more than they can manage,” she said. “With these apartments, they don’t face those obstacles. There are no deposits and we take care of the utilities. The apartments will be furnished with everything they need. All they have to do is move in.”
DePriest said providing the apartments allows people to focus on finding employment, securing a car and pursuing other goals that lead toward self-sufficiency.
There are several families who have come to the GTRHC’s attention. Two — DePriest calls them “leading contenders” — have qualified for the apartments.
“First, they understand that they will be randomly drug-tested,” she said. “This is not a place for those who are fighting addiction. There are facilities for those who are in that position. We want to have families in the apartments who have a high probability of using this as a real step toward making it on their own. We want the people who are most likely to be successful.”
Community Outreach Center and Helping Hands of Columbus screen applicants.
While the apartments offer another option for GTRHC, efforts to secure a full-scale homeless shelter continue, DePriest said.
The group has visited several facilities, but DePriest said the group is beginning to think building a facility might be the best option.
“I think as we have gone along that we are beginning to come to the conclusion that it might be better to build a facility,” said DePriest, who said it might not only be a cheaper option, but would allow the group to have the facility it wanted.
“We’re thinking of a dorm concept, one for men and one for women,” DePriest said. “The best way to do that is building our own facility rather than trying to adapt a facility, which might be difficult or even impossible.
“We haven’t made that decision but I do think that’s the direction we’re leaning toward at this point.”
The GTRHC has made progress in other areas, too, having secured its 501c3 status. The group filed its Charity Registrations with the state on Friday and should have that certification within two weeks. At that point, the group can solicit tax-deductible donations from the community.
DePriest said the group has a Facebook page — Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Shelter, Inc. — where people can keep up to date on the group’s work.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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