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HOMELESSNESS IN THE LOWCOUNTRY
2007-2008
Anyone involved with helping low income persons in the Lowcountry knows that homelessness is a widespread and serious problem. To measure the scope of this problem, the Lowcountry Continuum of Care Partnership has used three strategies.
Point in Time Homeless Count
The purpose of this research was to identify the number of unduplicated persons in the seven county Lowcountry area who were homeless on January 25, 2007. In order to avoid counting people more than once, unsheltered persons were asked to supply their first and last initials and date of birth as an ID code.
The Count consisted of two parts: counting sheltered persons and counting unsheltered persons. Participating in the effort for the Lowcountry Continuum were all seven counties of its service area – Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton, and Jasper.
The very nature of a “point in time count” indicates that it is only a snapshot of the problem of homelessness, capturing data from a particular night. Everyone involved believes that the numbers of unsheltered homeless identified represented a significant undercount. In addition, HUD’s definition of “homeless” is very restrictive. The South Carolina Office of Research and Statistics has compiled estimates of more accurate numbers based on the poverty population and other available data. The complete report may be found at www.schomeless.org.
Highlights of the report for the 7 county Lowcountry area include:
- 512 persons meeting HUD’s definition were identified as homeless on the night of January 25, 2007.
- 612 persons were identified as homeless on that night, if HUD’s definition is expanded.
- 50 of those 512 individuals meeting HUD’s definition were children, adding 19 more with the expanded definition.
- 2,354 persons are estimated to have been homeless that night based on poverty data.
- 7,063 persons are estimated as the annualized number of homeless persons based on poverty data. For the Tri-county area, the estimates are Berkeley County – 1,181, Charleston – 3,057, and Dorchester – 828.
Data from Service Providers
Crisis Ministries in Charleston is the largest provider of emergency shelter and soup kitchen services in the Tri-county area. Looking at the numbers of people they served in 2007, we see that:
- 1,685 persons were sheltered, including 110 children
Crisis estimates that on any given night, 3,000 people in the Tri-county area are homeless.
Poverty and Living Wage Information
According to the latest data from the US Census Bureau:
- 14% of people in the Lowcountry (112,000) live in poverty
- 7.25% of people in the Tri-county area (80,418) live in poverty
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s “Out of Reach 2006” indicates that for the Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area:
- $13.27 hourly wage (or $27,600 annual salary) is required to afford a 2 bedroom apartment based on HUD’s Fair Market Rent for the area
- A minimum wage earner would have to work 2.6 full-time jobs to be able to afford this rent
The Lowcountry Continuum of Care Partnership plans, develops, and implements comprehensive and coordinated strategies to address homelessness. In the past 12 years, the organization has been awarded more than $11 million through HUD’s Continuum of Care homeless assistance grants. Its vision is a community where everyone is appropriately and safely housed.