Full House

Well, not exactly full, but for the first time in recent memory, our transient men’s dormitory is full. This dorm sleeps 54 men. For overflow, we have cots to use; we’ve used 4.

Observations:

• Many local people do not see Youngstown as having a homeless problem. Perhaps this is because very few “street people” are ever seen wandering the downtown district.

• Homelessness in not exclusively an inner city problem. More and more people are coming from the suburbs looking for drugs or finding themselves in the Mission because of a drug problem.

• Economic factors may be involved. With unemployment in the Valley at 14% and minimum wage earners finding difficulty maintaining housing and feeding the family, the Mission often becomes a temporary respite between better paying jobs and affordable housing.

• As we get further into 2011, our guest count continues to remain high. During the same period last year, our average overnight count was 70. This year, it has risen to 88.