Notes from Focus Groups with People Experiencing
Homelessness - October 2, 2013
These comments were made during focus groups and therefore are comments about specific programs
both good and bad. The consultants thought it was important to include everything that was said (or at
least, everything they were able to capture).
23 participants total between two groups
Focus Group #1
The first time you became homeless, where did you go for help?

Urban Ministry Center for food and shower

Men’s Shelter - was not a good experience, rejected me because had been
there before and completed program with 28 days, wouldn’t let me talk to
anybody about it - put out without other options

At detox- went to women’s shelter and turned away because full, realized
later not necessarily true, turned away for 7 days and went back to detox,
program made direct referral and I got in

Have to go to detox/hospital to get direct referral into program

CMC - was told to go and say that I would hurt myself to get off the streets,
went to Billingsley facility

Majority of group- had to go to detox or hospital to get direct referral for
shelter

Apartment fire to hospital - was supposed to go to Monarch for housing but
still waiting for months now at shelter but getting the run around (Urban
Ministry-shelter-Monarch)

Seem to get more attention if you have substance use or mental health issues

When ask about option s- get blown off, staff doesn’t ask about what issues
are going on with me

No accountability, not equal treatment - rough guidelines but not clear,
concise, universal rules
o Staff interprets rules
o They can do what they want

3 people turned away from 1st place

5 people still at same place where they first went
Were you asked about what you need?

Have to ask for what you need, if you don’t know you don’t get it

Most times programs will make you leave after time, didn’t believe I could get
a job

Dove’s Nest - let me stay longer in program until I got a job and transferred
to YWCA

Dove’s Nest - waiting list is different- God centered program, on wait list for 3
months before I got in

Rescue Mission - Let you stay as long as you need, help you find housing,
job, services

Hope Haven - get to stay for 2 years

Have to go through programs to get into aftercare program

Shelters do not point people in the right direction

I know there is a certain way to act to get help - catch more flies with sugar

Not a transparent process to get into programs

No experts at shelter to help and no one to go to when you have a problem
- gives a sense of powerlessness and that some people feed off of it with a
sense of power

Men’s Shelter works - Moving Forward and Moving Home programs
o Make you use passport
o Got a lot of stuff you can utilize - FED, computer, housing programs
o Don’t let people in off the streets

People can fall through the cracks of programs if they don’t need the
particular services that are offered
What has helped/has not helped get you into housing? Are programs helping
you get into housing?

This state labels people who are homeless as lazy, don’t work - in other
places you aren’t turned away

Hope Haven - been almost 2 years, setting me up with different services,
started talking about housing about 3 months ago- people move from Hope
Haven to Habitat Houses

6 people say getting active help in finding housing

Others who are not:
o Salvation Army - revolves around SA, work for them, didn’t help with
getting what was needed - ID and counseling
o Hope Haven - staff come together to help out, address SA (substance
abuse) issues
o I just check in with case manager and get support from outside sources
(ACT Team)

Lots of options for substance use and mental health but if you don’t have
those issues, you don’t get services

Need non-SA services in the system

Too many boundaries with programs (only taking chronic homeless) and need
income to get into housing programs

Housing programs are full and wait list gets backed up
What is your perfect system?

Utilize Urban Ministries - got people and resources, gate way drug of
Charlotte

Crisis Assistance Ministries - go there for services you need

I have experience with Columbus, OH
o Have one place to go for intake into all shelters, coordinates all shelters
o Get bed for 90 days
o As long as doing what you were going to do - could stay
o No one failing through cracks

State oversight, coordinated system, number to call, agency to go to

DSS would be a good place, oversee/make agencies accountable

System for people to investigate grievances

System that accounts for all reasons why people become homeless (not just
SA and MH)

Walk in, plug in, and immediately get your needs addressed
o Provide safe place to sleep
o Address immediate need, no one turned away
o Having a bed that day

Clear map of system and services

Advertised clearly about where to go and not have to go to 20 places

Improve staff and program knowledge about services and how to connect
people to services

No more proof of homelessness to stay at shelter

Central government organization that regulates the agency
o Assessment
o Case worker at oversight, mandatory

Warm referrals, not just telling someone where to go

Knowing where you are on “the list”

Transparency

To eliminate the catch 22 rules

Staff trained up on what resources are available and coordination of resources
Focus Group #2
Where was the first place you went when you became homeless?

Center of Hope - horrible experience, standing at window, workers
lollygagging, heard "we're not taking single women", had heard of UM, didn't
know where it was, then went to UM, got there and "ew", talked to someone,
felt like talking to a wall; talked to volunteer, volunteer talked with her for 20
minutes, explained process, for 41 days I did Room at the Inn, told she was
being recommended for shelter through Center of Hope, got a letter to go
there, was a better experience, was housed at Caldwell House (a church), once
there, it wasn't so bad, there are people that are homeless that don't have
MH/SA issues, lots of rules with program, after about 3 months I was ready to
go, job didn't work out,” fell flat on my face", went all over the city trying to
get help, got no help when
$450 short of paying rent, went to Crisis Assistance - asked for resources of
other agencies that may be able to help - they said no, they don't do that had to come back to the shelter in August - it's discouraging, think there
needs to be a centralized intake process, not sure if should be on the gov't
level or faith based, but there should be a collaboration between church and
state for this issue, doesn't need to be run through DSS, they're already
overwhelmed, DSS has long lines, an independent entity to do the intake,
then everybody else should provide the resources that their agency offers

Hard for single women to find resources, we're at the bottom of the food
chain, especially the older single women

Several people upset about Ramada being torn down when people could
have been sheltered there

At motels before the Salvation Army, was told about it, she called, no beds no
beds no beds, had to keep calling back, had to call Child Protective Services
on herself to get into shelter, had been calling SA for a month straight, told
her not to call on weekends because they don't do intakes, people get turned
away, they need more than one shelter, tell them to go to other communities
Rock Hill, Gastonia, no transportation to these places, shelter didn't provide
transportation

Calling and calling, and finding no space

Feels like they're picking up the phone and saying "We don't care"

Called Social Services - we can come get your kids, but not you, told her to
go to the Salvation Army

SS will help people on alcohol and drugs

Battered Women's Shelter, went to Dove's Nest, then the Y, not a lot of
apartments in her budget range

90 days isn't enough time to fix things that are broken

Not provided other resources when certain programs were full

People weren't necessarily listening

Shelters know whose trying to help themselves and who isn't

Can’t come back for 60-90 days after you leave

People get different treatment based on relationships

Funding in RRH - some people get 1 months, 3 months, 6 months, should be
greater accountability in how funding from gov't entities is used

Got bus passes to get here and back - didn't sign anything - no
accountability

I identify with everything said; lost her job, people were getting killed in her
neighborhood, moved in with a girlfriend, needed to move somewhere else,
her mentor told her about YWCA Women in Transition program, everyday
people can get into program, no places for women, a lot of places for men,
women are second class citizens, not enough space in shelters

Note from Kim: A lot of "no’s” that programs are focused on housing

Charlotte Housing Authority - two year wait - keep losing the paperwork,
changing requirements

Being told you need to get a job

Seeing age discrimination

Not getting help with employment

WIT (Women in Transition)- different experiences - 1 bad (disability), 2 good helped with budgeting

It needs to be individualized

Became homeless after 3 months in Charlotte - called Salvation Army, had a
family of 7, kept hearing beds were full, said she was going down there after
a week or two, were putting cots on the floor in the kitchen, said she wanted
to go in the kitchen, told them she was gonna sleep in the car and would
hold them liable if something happened to their kids, was there 3.5 weeks,
had to do research herself, found TH for large families, got in there, had
requirements, but once you're in, you're in for 2 years, they run you to the
ground, but they're gonna make sure you're not homeless again, have to
explain .70 cent difference in budget, only 9 units in program

Girls at the front desk of SA (Salvation Army) make minimum wage, they don't
care, not being asked about needs

You have to have a certain credit limit to get into housing, can't have been
evicted and have broken a lease

No explanations about different housing program
Miracle Question: If you woke up tomorrow and you had the perfect housing
crisis response system (a system to help people experiencing homelessness get
re-housed), what would that look like?

1 stop shop, emergency shelter at that time, and then placed with entity to
meet their needs

Preference for women with children and elderly - men can find a place to stay
right away

Think they have a good homeless system in NYC - there you go to DSS and
they place you - if shelters are full, get hotel that takes DSS payments - stay
there until a shelter bed becomes available - transport you to wherever
they're sending you; you might sit there all day, but you get what you're
coming for, they give you paperwork with family size, maybe run it through
the County, same guidelines for everyone

Would help to know guidelines

Need to be able to be placed regardless of priority

North Carolina is not right to shelter - we need to change that

Once you get out the shelter, need affordable housing, there's limited
housing, aftercare to avoid domino effect, repeat

We have all these people with resources and all these people are homeless –
we assume exclusion is necessary, okay

Other people can still have money when they're not doing their job; it's
disheartening seeing exclusion of any type of person; badmouthing turns into
economic consequences; it's not about services; you want to make me
homeless, and then you want a thank you for the charity; women think men
get special stuff; men think women do

Scary as a man to read about other men dying in the streets

Nobody asked me what was wrong - slept at corner of Providence and
Queens being ignored

People should have compassion