MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Members of the Monongalia County Commission now hope to find ways to fund long-term measures to address those affected by mental health or substance abuse disorders.
The commission spoke with Catholic Charities West Virginia Grace Shelter Director Dr. Jessica Thompson as part of an overview of operations at the Grace Shelter in Morgantown during their regular meeting on Wednesday. During the conversations, the commissioners discussed topics ranging from avenues on how to work to decrease the amount of unsheltered individuals in the area as well as the amount of beds that are needed at the shelter that is currently working towards expanding into the former Hope Hill Sobering location at Hazel’s House of Hope.
Commissioner Tom Bloom expressed a desire, which was supported by the other commissioners, to explore avenues to use the over $1 million invested annually by the county to fund social service programs to help organizations like Catholic Charities WV to work towards creating solutions that could help trend down the over 100 unsheltered individuals reportedly in the county. An issue made worse by the current federal budget conversations.
“We have to work on preventing it, and that’s state and federal, and currently we know that’s happening there, more cuts, and we’re really worried about that,” said Bloom. “So I think we are all open to ideas, but we don’t really have the answer.”
According to Thompson, 124 people have taken advantage of the services provided at the Grace Shelter as of May 1st, with 35 of them being able to find long-term housing with the help of a variety of social services. Anyone who was accepted into the shelter was given a 45-day stay period that could be extended to six months with a special exception case. Among the residents who stayed at the shelter were eight people aged 25 years or younger, as well as 13 veterans who were immediately transferred to veteran services.
It was also noted by Thompson that the number of beds declined over the course of the year due to city fire codes, which resulted in what is now a 19-bed shelter, the majority of which are occupied by either people suffering from mental health or substance abuse disorders. With spots filling up as fast as a few hours, depending on the day, Thompson described the importance of even nine extra beds in an area where very few social services exist outside of Mon County.
“We do not have the mental health beds needed to support our community,” said Thompson. “And yes, the majority of the individuals that I have served at Grace (Shelter) have mental health issues.”
Thompson also stated that many of the people served at the Grace Shelter over the course of the year were not Monongalia County residents. Based on her end-of-year report, just over fifty percent of the people who used services at the shelter were certified Monongalia County residents, with thirty-seven percent of the people using the services residents from neighboring counties such as Harrison, Preston, and Marion counties. Due to the large number of residents from neighboring states and counties making use of the Grace Shelter, Thompson did implore the commission to consider advocating for funding by other governmental bodies to support services in their area. A proposal not really acknowledged by the commissioners during the conversations.
“I have people coming from P.A., we have people from Preston County, from Marion County, it’s regionally based,” said Thompson on the need for other counties to support such programs. “If we would work with those other counties and areas to help support their homeless population (the number could drop).”
The Monongalia County Commission confirmed that they intend to continue to work with Thompson and other representatives at Catholic Charities West Virginia but did not confirm any extra financial commitments past what has been initially allocated to support the Grace Shelter. In recent conversations with the Morgantown City Council, Thompson reported that an extra $150,000 would be needed in order for the Grace Shelter to return to the 29-bed capacity and eventually expand into the first floor of Hazel’s House of Hope to support an “overnight shelter”. While no financial or number of beds was explicitly mentioned during the meeting, the commission expressed a desire to continue to seek solutions to that are now becoming what appears to be a region-wide problem.
“The edict is to help the citizens (every citizen) of Monongalia County,” said Commission President Jeff Arnett. “We’re not shutting doors, but that’s the dichotomy, that’s what we struggle with in trying to help the situation.”
The Monongalia County Commission currently covers approximately $300,000 in costs to operate the Grace Shelter, the remaining costs are split between the City of Morgantown and the state.