MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The homeless issues across the state are serious and solutions are slightly different in every community.
On MetroNews “Talkline,” Executive Director of the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, Zach Brown, said effective programs are managed with clear goals, regular contact with advocate agencies, and a “team approach” to identifying the most effective programs to chip away at the problem.
Morgantown is a great example of how everybody has a different idea; they’re well-intentioned, and their hearing is in the right place,” Brown said. “But doing this work takes more than a big heart.”
Identifying the most immediate needs and getting acceptance from other agencies is the best way to make progress toward a solution. Getting the organizations within a municipality to agree on priorities keeps most efforts working in the same direction, making progress possible.
“You have to be proactive, and really, that’s the hallmark of the way we’re going to deal with this or any of these issues,” Brown said. “You have to look into the problem and face the problem rather than look at how we can arrest this away and out of the community.”
In the city of Morgantown, Mayor Joe Abu-Ghannam said the homeless problems are caused by drug addiction. Beyond that, he said empathy is important in the community, and until people refuse help, the proper solution is social workers and counseling, not the police department and justice system.
“We’re not dealing with a homeless issue; we’re dealing with an addiction issue,” Abu-Ghannam said. “Step one of the conversation is to acknowledge that.”
Brown said the solution to community cohesion is to shed egos, focus on the problem, be prepared to make adjustments to the plan, and track progress along the way.
“How do you coalesce all those organizations and get them to work toward one single goal?” Brown asked. “We’ve been trying for the last decade plus, and that becomes the question.”
Across the state, the communities of Huntington, Charleston, and Morgantown have seen large post-pandemic increases in the homeless population. Some of the causes of the increases have been substance abuse, domestic violence, eviction, and job loss.
“Doing this work and making any progress takes more than just a big heart, compassion, or dipping into emotional responses to these kinds of problems,” Brown said. “You have to be smart about it, you have to be strategic about it, and you have to put money, people, and resources in the right places.”
Mayor Abu-Ghannam said there is a very fine line between empathy and enforcement. But he said there have to be consequences when the same illegal behavior is noted time and time again.
“To me, the approach is case workers and social workers,” Abu-Ghannam said. “Getting people the services they need to fight the addiction; with that being said, not everyone is willing to get the treatment, and that’s where we’re finding that fine line.