“Please understand that we receive many more requests for shelter than we can accommodate,” the voice mail inbox message for the Salvation Army’s shelter in Madison says. “This means we may not be able to return your call and we may not be able to offer you shelter even if you are eligible.”
The Salvation Army’s homeless shelters may not be the only ones experiencing the effects of rising numbers of homeless citizens in Madison.
Brad Hinkfuss, the Director of Operations at Porchlight Inc., which operates three emergency shelters in Madison, said his shelter is unable to meet all of the needs due to a rise in the number of people seeking shelter in the last few years.
“The shelter system has become overcrowded,” Hinkfuss said.
According to a Dane County report from 2012, the number of homeless served in the shelter system increased from 3,079 to 3,382. The report said there were no significant policy changes in shelters that could have caused this difference.
During the summer a shelter will see about 50 to 60 people a night, Hinkfuss said, and in the winter that number can be as high as 150 to 160.
The shelters have never turned anyone away due to space limitations, Hinkfuss said. However, Hinkfuss added, just because they are allowing eligible people in, it does not mean that they are meeting all the housing needs and may simply be keeping people out of the cold.
“We’re letting people in, but sometimes in the dead of winter when the numbers are high they don’t even have a bed on which to sleep on,” Hinkfuss said.
Hinkfuss said the Salvation Army Family Shelter is not even this fortunate, and because of the increasing demand for emergency housing they often are forced to turn families away.
Katie Crawley, Mayor Paul Soglin’s spokesperson, said the problem of homelessness is one of his top concerns. She said the city’s community development staff is currently working to address this issue. The staff works directly with nonprofit organizations and the homeless shelters throughout the area.
In the proposed 2014 Capital Budget, Soglin pledged funds toward a study that will look at the creation of new single room occupancy affordable housing units. The facility would house people who need assistance in order to pay rent, Crawley said.
There is some money dedicated to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund that would provide rent assistance to those who need it, she said.
The budget pledges $4.2 million toward the project in two phases, one in 2014 and one in 2016, Crawley said. The facility would contain 110 units, Crawley said, and part of the study will be dedicated to research a good location for the residency.
The problem of homelessness, as well as preventing future homelessness in Madison, is not one that is easy to solve, Crawley said. Soglin and city staff, however, would like to continue addressing it through different methods such as the new residency.
“It’s a constant battle,” Crawley said. “It’s an issue that that the Mayor has been always working on.”
