Bryce Leach and Logan Orloff

The Mission
The Coordinating Council on Homelessness, or CCOH, has been around since 2011.
Since then, according to the document Accomplishments CCOH, they have reduced
homelessness in the Morgantown area by 38%, as of February 2016. Their overall mission is to,
improve the quality of life for all citizens of the county through network building and general
collaboration with the community in addressing the causes and effects of homelessness and
working towards achievable solutions. The end goal is to eliminate homelessness and
panhandling in the community. To help with this mission, the council recently designed a pilot
project called the Give Change That Matters Campaign. The mission for this campaign is
similar to the CCOH in that it plans to accomplish three objectives:

1. It will help raise awareness of homelessness and the resources that already exist in
Monongalia County.
2. It will be the building block for bringing the community in the downtown business area
together by offering vouchers to those in need.
3. The campaign will provide basic services like hygiene, hot drinks, and transportation to
those in need.

The Plan
The CCOH has developed a plan to raise awareness and education of poverty and
homelessness in the Morgantown area, focus on providing the basic services, then helping them
obtain a place of sustainable living, and finally focus on the issue preventing the victims from
acquiring permanent homes. In the document The Plan to Reduce Homelessness, they focus on
two principles to maximize efficiency in reducing homelessness: rapid rehousing and housing
first. The idea of rapid rehousing says that when someone who becomes homeless it is crucial to
help them find permanent housing again as soon as possible. The idea of Housing First says that
the priority should be to move the homeless individual or household into permanent housing,
then focus on the issue that prevented them from getting a home. The main focus of the Give
Change That Matters Campaign, is the vouchers for basic services (laundry, bus tokens, hot
coffee, and bathrooms).
Transportation
In this paper, the issue facing the homeless, housing unstable, or impoverished
communities of Monongalia County we chose to highlight was the issue of the lack of
transportation. According to the document, Report on Homelessness, when surveyed on key
issues facing homeless individuals, transportation was listed as the fifth highest response behind
food assistance, hygiene items, medical treatment, and emergency shelter. However, lack of
transportation can be linked to a few other factors contributing to homeless. For example, in a
university city many landlords make more money by charging many students rather than one
family, so most affordable housing is outside of the city. In turn, it requires a mode of
transportation that some families dont have to get to their jobs in the city. This, consequentially,
leads to the families not being able to work as much, then not getting as much money as they
would, and finally becoming impoverished and not being able to afford the housing.

Now that the mission and the need for transportation have been highlighted, we would
like to direct the local businesses towards the CCOHs plan to reduce homelessness. Created in
the spring of 2010 by the Morgantown City Council and the Monongalia County Commission,
Bryce Leach and Logan Orloff

this community-wide plan to reduce homelessness is presented by the Morgantown/Monongalia

Task Force. The guiding principles of the plan, located on page three of the document, are central
affirmations created in order to guide all of the councils future efforts. Out of the seven
principles stated, the first, and most important, one is titled Shared Responsibility. The
principle says that that problem of homelessness and lack of affordable housing is shared by
everyone in the community, and ending homelessness is a collective responsibility. This is
important to note because the council does not need one business to exhaust all of their resources
towards the ultimate goal due to the simple fact that it would not work. CCOH is looking for
every local business in the area to come together and provide what they need while the
organization worries about the rest.

This takes us to the next point in the plan: the need for a coordinated assessment system.
Located on page eleven of the document, this critical section explains in detail the strategy
employed by the task force for a central organization to coordinate community-wide action to
reduce homelessness. In the section the plan states that a lasting solution to this complex social
problem comes from each partner working together under a backbone organization. While the
qualified team of organizations does the ground-work around a similar goal, this organizations
sole purpose is to coordinate the community-wide efforts, develop a common agenda, assist in
creating data sharing and measurement standards, facilitate continuous, open communication,
and keep all agencies aligned with the common agenda. This may sound like a lot to take on at
once, and that is because it is. If every participating organization were to coordinate these things,
there would be no time to complete every task without eventual failure. A supporting
infrastructure is necessary.

The next important point we would like to discuss is the reason why a local business
should care about the critical issue and homelessness in general. First, the costs of homelessness
are not just affecting those who are directly experiencing homelessness, everyone in the
community pays the price. Whether that cost is personal, social, or even economic the whole
community pays at least some of it. For example, the homeless do not contribute personally or
financially to a business as much as they could if housed or employed. Also, some local residents
have the perception that that homeless are dangerous and therefore will not frequent downtown
businesses. Homelessness could directly affect sales, the look of the community, and the mindset
surrounding the area.

As far as transportation goes, the issue is the most important variable to take care of
behind housing. This is because most jobs are located in town, while most affordable housing is
located out of town. This point is especially relevant in Morgantown because landlords are
incentivized to rent out their homes to university students because they would earn more by
renting a unit out to several students at a time than to one family, couple, or independent adult.
Another example that could be applied to this issue is the fact homeless people in rural areas are
isolated from jobs or services strictly due to the fact that they lack any form of transportation to
and from the location of need. On top of that, homelessness in rural areas takes a different form
of doubling or even tripling up or living in conditions that unsafe and unsuited for human
habitation. This lack of transportation only furthers the problem of homelessness for everyone
involved.
Bryce Leach and Logan Orloff

Healthcare is another important factor to think about when considering the lack of
transportation for the needy. Transportation barriers may exclude health care access from
someone. The facts get even muddier when the statistics begin to involve women and children.
Whole families may never get to see a doctor due to their transportation barrier. Researchers
Samina T. Syed, Ben S. Garber, and Lisa K. Sharp pointed this alarming fact in detail within
their paper on the subject in 2013, Transportation barriers lead to rescheduled or missed
appointments, delayed care, and missed or delayed medication use. These consequences may
lead to poorer management of chronic illness and thus poorer health outcomes. (Syed, Gerber,
& Sharp 2013) Not much more has to be explained than transportation barriers may be the most
dangerous of them all. The authors went on to conclude that transportation barriers are important
healthcare access, specifically for those with lower incomes or the under/uninsured.

John Pawasarat and Lois M. Quinn are two researchers from the Employment and
Training Institute with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Pawasarat and Quinn tackle the
problem of removing barriers to employment for low-income families. We believe that this is a
good example to use here because while the authors local is not Monongalia County, it is similar
to it because they study a large university town with the smaller areas surrounding it. The
researchers state, For most single parents who are expected to work full-time under current
welfare initiatives and who have children needing child care, use of a car is the most practical
means of transportation. (Pawasarat & Quinn 1998) Regular access to a vehicle is crucial when
juggling a family along with the daily obstacles of living with a low income. On top of that,
according to the article, many low-income teens and adults who have no record of serious traffic
offenses lose their driving privileges for failure to pay fines and forfeitures. Pawasarat and Quinn
found this data by examining and analyzing drivers license records and suspensions, 719,320
Milwaukee County residents, analyzed 331,304 recent (1992-1996) suspensions and 125,717
revocations by type and number of actions, geocoded addresses (Pawasarat & Quinn 1998)
This brings us all the way back to the basics of the homeless problem, which is that
homelessness is not a simple issues because it is supported by a plethora of factors that continue
to cripple those affected by the disease that is chronic homelessness.

Once a local business owner understands the basics behind CCOHs purpose, than they
may be more inclined to get involved with the council. The best first step to take would be to get
into contact with the organizations executive director John Sonnenday about upcoming
meetings, local promotions, or donations towards the cause. According to the official website for
CCOH, the council is responsible for setting policy, hiring and overseeing staff, developing
community support, and raising operating funds. This could be a great first step for local
business owners interested in joining the cause. The council meets monthly. Be sure to take note
of the two key work groups that report back to the council: The Summit on Homelessness or the
executives of the service agencies or their representatives. It is responsible for inter-agency
cooperation and recommending policies and procedures to the council. And The Multi-
Disciplinary Council or those working directly with clients. The Summit meets every month
and The Multi-Disciplinary Team meets once a week.

Once a local business gets in contact with the council and sets things up for further
involvement, one good idea would be to use ones resources in order to support the need for
transportation. An example of this would be to hold a special event that involves a business
Bryce Leach and Logan Orloff

respective networks in order to receive ride or even car donations for the CCOH. This may come
from vouchers or promotions for cars, bus rides, or Uber rides around the local community. Out
of these three items, we believe that Uber may be a worth investment that benefits both sides.
This is because Uber is a new, up-and-coming taxi service in Morgantown and would want to
receive advertisement from a legitimate business while making them look good in return.

Transportation is a barrier that is important to tackle, but may be the hardest problem to
do so because of how overwhelming the issue is. This is why we need the local communitys
strongest presence to come together under one goal and solve homelessness for good. We are
reaching out to all local businesses in Monongalia County because we believe that they not only
have the strength and willpower to do so, but the knowledge and sympathy of the surrounding
area necessary to keep the ball rolling. If we can influence just one local business owner to get
involved with the councils mission to end homelessness in the community than we would be
satisfied. There is an unlimited potential to what a team of the strongest organizations in the
county can do with the right guidance.

The mission of the Coordinating Council on Homelessness is clear: to bring together

community stakeholders to end homelessness and promote housing stability through
collaboration, facilitation, education, and advocacy and our critical issue of transportation has
been highlighted and argued for. Now, it is your turn. Make a difference that will not only help
out your community, but will help your business out as well. It will take time and effort, but that
is why the council is here to take care of all busy work while you get to work. We have a
foundation, a goal, and the right approach, now it is time to take a leap.

Additional Resources
In addition to the vouchers provided by the Give Change That Matters Campaign, there
are many other resources in the Morgantown to help combat the issue of lack of transportation
like

Christian Help- They provide Emergency Financial Assistance, or EFA, for transportation
in addition to medical equipment and first months rent among other things.
The Connecting Link, Inc- They also provide EFA for families in need of financial
assistance.
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources/Services (DHHR)- The
DHHR provides a food stamp program based on income eligibility that helps with
transportation assistance along with other needs.
Morgantown Unity Manor- They offer scheduled transportation to grocery stores and
other essential locations.
Scotts Run Settlement House- Bus passes are donated to individuals to assist with
transportation issues.
St. Ursulas Food Pantry Outreach- Supplies many types of support including
transportation.
Bryce Leach and Logan Orloff

References

1. Pawasarat, J., & Stetzer, F. (1998). Removing transportation barriers to employment:

Assessing driver's license and vehicle ownership patterns of low-income populations.
2. Syed, S. T., Gerber, B. S., & Sharp, L. K. (2013). Traveling towards disease:
transportation barriers to health care access. Journal of community health, 38(5), 976-
993.