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photo by: Christopher Dacanay

Members of the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness of Jefferson and Harrison Counties participate in an activity during the groupÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s quarterly meeting Friday. Participants lined up labels with the names of local services and providers that contribute to the continuum of care for helping individuals transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

About two dozen individuals and organization representatives engaged in a discussion Friday centered on preventing and ending local homelessness.

Discussions took place during the quarterly meeting of the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness of Jefferson and Harrison Counties. Typically hosted in the North Street War Memorial Building, Friday’s meeting was shifted to the Jefferson County Tower Building to accommodate a greater number of participants.

The coalition is a loose “organization of organizations” aimed at combating homelessness by coordinating services, evaluating data and advocating for policy change, said the Rev. Ashley Steele, former executive director of Urban Mission Ministries Inc. and president of the coalition.

Homeless trends can be somewhat observed through the Point in Time Count, an annual, volunteer-led survey of sheltered and unsheltered individuals during a single January night. According to the recently released 2024 count results, Jefferson County contained 56 sheltered and four unsheltered individuals, while Harrison contained none in either category.

As for the Urban Mission, Steele said the nonprofit’s shelters served 184 households so far this year, equaling 328 individuals who had an average stay of 43 days. She said these numbers are reported to the state quarterly.

Discussions shifted to possible funding opportunities related to housing, such as the $30-to-50 million Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods grant currently being sought by the City of Steubenville and Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority.

Another opportunity mentioned is HUD’s Continuum of Care Builds, which would pay up to $10 million for building renovation to create permanent supportive housing. That type of housing, Blanchard said, is meant for unsheltered individuals with a documented disability who are prioritized for service by a committee, Blanchard said.

The coalition then discussed winter sheltering strategies, including winter clothing giveaways by the Urban Mission and Sycamore Center and a warming center planned by the Brooke-Hancock Family Resource Network.

Steubenville Councilman Dave Albaugh questioned the Urban Mission’s “exit strategy” after individuals reach their maximum length of stay in a shelter — 90 days. He also asked how many individuals later become successful contributors to society and why individuals come to Steubenville from elsewhere in the nation.

Steele said the Urban Mission has a roughly 40 percent successful permanent exit rate, which is above the state average. As a low-barrier housing provider, the mission can only require that individuals meet certain baseline rules to prevent them from hurting themselves or others.

In an ideal world, Steele said, the community would have three types of shelters: No-barrier shelters to get individuals off the street for a night or two, low-barrier shelters like the mission’s and transitional program shelters, which Steele said this area lacks.

“So, when we know there are three ways to do it, and we’re only doing it one way, you’re going to have people that are going to keep falling through the system,” she said

Regarding homeless individuals coming to Steubenville from out of town, Steele said that’s always been the case and there are many reasons why, but “we have no idea.”

Blanchard suggested it’s because the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing lists the Urban Mission and JCCAC as homeless service access points in an online and publicly accessible database.

Third Ward Councilwoman Heather Hoover lauded the Urban Mission for its 40 percent successful permanent exit rate. She acknowledged the individuals coming from out of town but said she’d like to see Steubenville’s own residents who are experiencing homelessness be treated as the main priority.

Separately, coalition participants engaged in an activity meant to show the local “continuum of care” between services meant to help individuals go from homelessness to self-sufficiency, as well as identify possible gaps.

Steele said the coalition’s next meeting will take place in January, and she encouraged people to invite others from Jefferson and Harrison counties to contribute to future discussions.

“It’s just good to be in one room together,” Steele told coalition participants, adding that the hardship is “worth it.”