Families seek shelter; homeless advocate says relief is needed

Homeless advocate Dr. Carl Bailey has been asking -- and is swiftly running out of answers.

With Bedford County's unemployment rate pushing 12 percent, more and more families are being forced into the streets, Bailey said.

Just last week, Bailey said, six families -- making up 27 people, mostly women and children -- came to him begging for help.

Help he could not provide.

The C.R.O.S.S. (Community Religious Outreach Social Service) shelter is now at full capacity and to put a roof over the heads of a family would mean kicking out people already housed, Bailey said.

"I'm at my wit's end," Bailey said. "I don't know what to do."

Situation getting worse

In April, Bailey said that the C.R.O.S.S. shelter had a limited capability to take in families and that he was looking for a larger place so family rooms could be designated.

"As the economy deteriorates ... we're going to see more and more of these families," Bailey said at the time.

Three months later, that statement is coming true.

Layoffs by large firms in the region, such as the General Motors plant in Spring Hill, have contributed to the homeless problem families now face, Bailey said.

"There's a very significant number from our community that worked there," Bailey explained, and he worries about possible layoffs from other large companies in Middle Tennessee that could impact other local families.

Dr. Bailey is asking to meet with mayors of both Shelbyville and Bedford County to brainstorm on how to fix the latest problem and is also asking for ideas from the community.

"These families are coming to me every day and I don't know what to do," Bailey said.

Shelter supported

The situation Bailey and the families face is definitely not from a lack of effort from both the city and county, who have contributed much to the formation of the shelter, including arranging for a building to house the facility, he pointed out.

Contributions from area churches have also made the C.R.O.S.S. facility work.

Bailey said the shelter has enough funding to handle operational costs until January 2010 and as the facility is run now, it can continue with its mission.

But the C.R.O.S.S. facility was envisioned to handle individuals impacted by homelessness, not entire families, and that is what Bailey says the region is facing now.

The only solution that Bailey can envision is to obtain a piece of property to house inexpensive Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers or perhaps a large commercial building or unused county or city property where families can be sheltered in large rooms.

Bailey said he would welcome any other ideas. Among the county's substantial faith-based community, he said, there should be some ideas on how to solve the problem.

Bailey believes he can come up with the voluntary supervision for a family shelter; he just needs a site on which to place it.

Funding coming

There is some recent good news -- $13.4 million from the stimulus bill signed by President Obama in February is slated to go to homelessness prevention in Tennessee, Bailey said.

However, over half of that funding will be going to Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga, leaving the rest of the money to be split up between the 91 other counties around the state.

Bailey said that whatever money Bedford County will get from the stimulus, he is hoping he will be able to manage it locally.

But that funding will not be available until October, he said, and Bailey believes that the region has not seen the worst of the homeless problem yet.

While Bailey spent most of his life in California, he is originally from Michigan and, after speaking to people there, he says, "if we ever get in their situation, with unemployment reaching 20 percent, that will be a crisis here."

How to help

Contact Dr. Carl Bailey at 575-9954.