You won’t see Iola’s homeless residents sleeping in cardboard boxes on the sidewalks downtown. You might catch a glimpse of someone standing on a street corner with a sign asking for donations or a ride, but it’s likely law enforcement will soon arrive and take them to an agency that can help.
Even though not everyone sees them, the local community does have a small population of homeless and a group of dedicated public servants and volunteers who try to help them find emergency shelter.
Tracy Keagle, founder of Iola’s Humanity House, sees the homeless often. They come to Humanity House in hopes of finding someone who can connect them with a place to stay, a little bit of food or supplies or other needs. After a bitter cold snap on Jan. 17, three sought help from Humanity House. Two were sleeping in vehicles. Another, who identified herself only as Tiffany, was walking toward Iola Jan. 14 when a law enforcement officer stopped and gave her a ride to Humanity House. Staff worked to find her a safe place to stay and later took her to Hope Unlimited, a local domestic violence shelter, because her circumstances might have qualified for their services.
Keagle worries about the people who are homeless. Can they survive the bitter cold? Where will they sleep at night? What will they eat?
“It’s scary. I don’t like to think about it but it’s all we think about,” she said. “People don’t know it’s a real thing. It’s real.”
Dorothy Sparks, director of Hope Unlimited, sees women, men and children who are homeless because of situations like domestic violence and sexual assault. Last year, Hope Unlimited provided shelter to 57 women, 42 children and three men, which Sparks said seems to be about average each year. Though the shelter was at capacity from time to time last year, they were able to find room for those who needed it.
While someone is at the shelter, they receive other types of support and counseling to transition to independent living. Hope Unlimited receives donations of various supplies they give to people as they move out. The agency also offers outreach programs to help outside of the shelter program.
Though Hope Unlimited only works with people in domestic violence or sexual assault, Sparks said many people do not realize how different types of abuse can lead to homelessness.
“Generally when you get to talking, a lot of times there may be something that’s happened that qualifies as domestic violence even if they don’t recognize it as such, like verbal or emotional abuse,” Sparks said. “We try really hard not to send people elsewhere. If there’s any way they can qualify for our services, we try to get them somewhere safe for the night.”
IOLA POLICE Chief Jared Warner and other law enforcement officers see homeless people too. Sometimes, officers come across someone who is standing outside a business or on a street corner with a sign, asking for donations or for a ride to another community. Sometimes, a business or individual will call police about someone who may be homeless or needs help. Often, those people are just passing through the area. They might need a place to stay on a temporary basis.
Officers do their best to help people in need find services, especially during the winter when exposure to the elements is most dangerous, Warner said. At first, someone who is homeless may be reluctant to talk to police.
“Officers make contact with them, try to get their back story and find out where they’re headed and see what we can do for them,” Warner said.
It’s more challenging to help local residents who are homeless, he said. Officers will contact places like Humanity House, Hope Unlimited, the Ministerial Alliance or other agencies, depending on the circumstances, need and availability of resources. But Allen County and other communities in Southeast Kansas lack resources such as shelters or rehabilitation programs.
“We’re fortunate we have some sources to help us out, but those are only good for so long and it depends on funding,” Warner said. “It’s difficult. There’s nothing easy about it.”
A RECENT federal report shows that homelessness in Kansas grew by 1.4 percent between 2016 and 2017, and 13 percent since 2010. About eight in every 10,000 people in the state experience homelessness, according to the 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. The report is compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
On any given night in 2017, about 2,287 Kansans were homeless, according to the HUD report. That includes 1,423 individuals and 864 families.
