HUD required the county to undertake a housing study as part of this grant award. The commissioners hired Harsany & Associates to shepherd the project and Doug Harsany gave the recommendation Monday.
“It seemed to us the significant need for supportive housing was a good place to put our dollars,” Harsany said. “Because not only could we provide stabilizing housing for those who are ready to take that step, but that would also open up shelter beds and really deal with both issues.”
Harsany said Hamilton received its own allocation of funds of $1.4 million and the county must share the $3.1 million with Middletown, so the commissioners have $1.9 million to spend countywide.
The plan calls for creating 32 affordable housing units at a cost of $2 million for both the county and Middletown to help people at risk of homelessness, those who are trying to escape domestic violence and other qualifying demographics. A total of $809,668 will be spent to give the people supportive services such as help getting a job, childcare and counseling for mental health and drug addiction. The estimated cost to administer the program is $295,641.
Middletown officials can City Manage Paul Lolli told the Journal-News they are going to tour the Unibuilt factory in Vandalia in a couple weeks, where they build modular housing they can put in their low income area where, “we have a need for a lot of in-fill housing.”
According to the study, based on the 2019 point in time count — which was the last available — there were 166 people in emergency shelters, 86 unsheltered people and 46 in transitional housing for a total 298. The point in time count is when the homeless living on the streets are counted on a given night in January, as mandated by HUD.
Affordable housing was identified as the “overall biggest” housing issue in the county. There are more than 6,300 renters and around 2,700 homeowners earning less than the median income in the county and are paying half their income on housing.
Harsany said they are hoping through the request for proposal process — the next step if the commissioners endorse the plan and HUD approves it — they will be able to build even more units for the same price.
“We’re requiring leverage of other dollars into these as well,” Harsany said. “Our hope honestly is that it’s more than 32 units total. Those RFPs will come in and they’ll get some additional points for additional leveraging and they’ll build 60 units or whatever and provide the units and services as needed to those that might reside there.”
Commissioner Don Dixon he said he heard recently that a police agency dropped off a homeless man from another county in Hamilton “because that’s where you take the homeless people.”
“I think we need to be very careful that we don’t create a magnet,” Dixon said. “How do you manage that to make it a point of fairness? Because they are not all from one city.”
Harsany said the project is not designed to directly serve the homeless living on the streets, but it will benefit them by opening up beds in the shelters.
“The bulk of these dollars are going not to people that are not stabilized in that sense, they’re going to provide additional units for those who are already in the system, have reached a point of stability to where they are ready for a permanent housing situation,” Harsany said.
Middletown has launched a new initiative to deal with their homeless problem in downtown after about 100 people came to a meeting to discuss their concerns about the homeless accosting people and damaging property. They have stepped up police patrols, starting engaging with people in the homeless camp and other initiatives.
“We actually so far this week have made great strides in the homeless situation,” Lolli said. “The first thing we focused on was the safety of the downtown area and we in three days have accomplished securing the downtown in a manner where there is a larger police presence to discourage bad behavior, and that’s going to continue for the next several weeks, to show we’re not tolerating bad behavior from anybody not just the homeless.”
He said since Monday they have gone into the camps and convinced six people to receive substance abuse and mental health treatment. He said they actually have been doing this for the past several months.
“Our goal is to help the homeless, it’s not to drive the homeless into a bad situation,” Lolli said. “But listen, if you want help we’ll get you in the direction where you can receive help. If you don’t want help, if you’re just living this type of lifestyle, we’re going to make it very difficult for you to do it in Middletown.”
Another initiative that has gotten a potential boost recently is the Permanent Supportive Housing program — known locally as Shelter Plus Care — that provides rental assistance and treatment for the homeless who also suffer from mental illness. The county currently has 63 vouchers costing $529,219 and Mindy Muller, chair of the Butler County Housing and Homeless Coalition, told the Journal-News the state approved them for 50 more rent vouchers. The cost is roughly $445,000 and providers from the behavioral health community provide in-kind services for wrap-around programs.
There are 137 eligible people on a waiting list and 189 others coming out of the criminal justice system who have been identified as potential candidates for the program. HUD still has to approve the application which won’t happen until next year and the program begins Sept. 1, 2023.
Now the task is to find more landlords who will accept the vouchers.
“We’re not focusing just on the urban core of Middletown and Hamilton, we’re talking to landlords that have units throughout the county, in different pockets of the county,” Muller said, adding the important thing about the program is people get to choose where they want to live. “We want to make sure there is a choice throughout the county and not just a couple of options where they’re essentially forced to go.”
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