It’s been said before that homelessness is a housing problem, and there’s no bigger proof than the hundreds of thousands of Americans estimated to be homeless, but uncounted by the federal government.
These are often people you’d never assume are homeless. They don’t fit the stereotypes, after all: they have jobs, they dress in clean clothing, they don’t sleep in the street. Instead, they crash with family or friends until they wear out their welcome, sleep in their cars, and sometimes live precariously in hotels.
This hour, we’ll dig deep into the problems facing this group of people: the housing crisis that has led us here, and what solutions can be found. The audio comes from a panel put on by Good Shepherd Center. It took place at WHQR's MC Erny Gallery in early December, and WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer moderated.
If you’d like to read the book this panel was based on, it’s called There is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America. It’s by Brian Goldstone, and is widely considered one of the best books of the year.
While this book is focused on the realities of homelessness in Atlanta, this crisis is happening right here in the Cape Fear Region as well. New Hanover County alone saw more than 4,000 evictions filed in the last fiscal year - the most of any year on record. The Cape Fear CoC's Point in Time Count this year found 506 people experiencing homelessness – but that is certainly an undercount. As discussed in Goldstone’s book, only those living in shelters or on the streets are counted in that tally. The author estimates there could be five times the number of unhoused people than captured in the government's official count.
Our guests are Wilmington Housing Authority CEO Tyrone Garrett, Good Shepherd Center Executive Director Katrina Knight, New Hanover County Schools Social Worker Suzanne Biagini, and Mary, a single mom with lived experience being homeless.
If you'd like to hear the rest of the panel, including Q&A from the audience, you can listen below.
