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Homelessness FAQ
How big is the problem of family homelessness in Cincinnati? Out of the more than 25,000 people who experience homelessness in Greater Cincinnati yearly, about 10,000 of them are in families who are homeless. It's estimated that about 2,500 families are homeless at one time or another each year. Why are families homeless? The major reason families are homeless is lack of affordable housing. The second biggest reason is lack of sufficient income. Other factors, such as mental illness and emotional health problems, domestic violence, and substance abuse also contribute to family homelessness. However, homelessness can increase these problems as well. How does homelessness affect children? Here's what one respected study found: Dr. Ellen L. Bassuk, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and co-author of a federally supported study of homeless families, has found that homelessness tends to ratchet up the already grim effects of poverty. According to her research, children in homeless families are sick twice as often as poor children who have never been homeless. Nearly 70 percent of homeless children, she found, suffer from chronic illnesses like asthma and anemia, and almost half of school-age homeless children have emotional problems like anxiety and depression. They also experience four times the rate of development delays and double the learning disabilities and are twice as likely to be suspended from school or repeat a grade than other poor children. How does homelessness affect women who are pregnant? Click here to see a slideshow created by Kourtney Merriweather, Hope Schweitzer, and Meagan Reddish, UC nursing students, who researched the specific challenges to women who are experiencing homelessness during a pregnancy.
Congregations FAQ
What can congregations do to help? IHN participating congregations provide overnight lodging, three meals per day, and volunteer help to house up to four families every night for a week, about four to six weeks per year. What is a host congregation? A host congregation provides the space, meals, and the bulk of the volunteer support for an IHN hosting week. What is a support congregation? Support congregations work in conjunction with host congregations who need extra volunteer, meal, and monetary support. How can I get an IHN spokesperson to come to my congregation or service organization? Please contact Bob Moore, Executive Director of IHNGC at 513-471-1100. What does a hosting week look like? Several weeks before a hosting week, the IHN Coordinator at the congregation will begin to round up volunteers for the upcoming week. There are all sorts of volunteer opportunities--in order to host IHN for a week, volunteers are needed to prepare and serve meals, greet guests, stay overnight with the guests, do laundry after the host week, and plan and participate in activities with the guests. There are many opportunities for whole families in the congregation to volunteer; children in the program and children from the congregation often have a great time playing together and getting to know one another. The host week runs from Sunday evening to the following Sunday morning. The Thursday before the host week, the coordinator will get a list of guests that will be staying with the congregation. The coordinator then can prepare the guest rooms, alert the meal preparation volunteers, and so on. From then on, the IHN Coordinator makes sure that volunteers are at the congreation at all times, to greet the guests when they arrive around 5:30-6:30, to serve and eat dinner with the guests, to participate in any evening activities, and to be available during the night in case a rare emergency should happen in the night. The overnight volunteer also puts the families on the bus in the morning at 6:30am on weekdays, and 7:30 on weekends. After the host week, the coordinator makes sure that volunteers are available to put the congregation's IHN space "back to normal" and clean any linens used during the week.
IHN Cincinnati Agency FAQ
How long has IHNGC been around? IHNGC began in 1991. IHN works by combining the resources of religious congregations who provide, at the minimum, shelter and meals, and IHN staff, who provide case management, information and referrals to help families obtain and retain housing. IHN began in New Jersey, when founding National President decided to do something to help the homeless families she saw in New York City by convincing her church and other area congregations to provide them shelter and meals. IHNGC came along five years later because a handful of representatives of local congregations-Protestant, Catholic and Jewish-recognized the value of this mission and implemented it. How long do the families stay in the Network? Currently, the average length of stay in the Network is between three and four weeks. Who refers the families to the Network? Referrals come from a variety of sources all around the community. Friends, family, congregations, other agencies, government offices, and, most recently, United Way's “Helpline” (211) are some of the ways families are referred to us. How do I refer someone to IHNGC? Call us (513) 471-1100, or suggest to the family that they call us.
IHN Cincinnati Guests FAQ
Isn't it difficult for families to move week to week? Not really. While families enjoy their week stay at each congregation, they usually look forward to experiencing a new congregation. They know that wherever they go, compassionate people will be there to provide them with hospitality. We serve families without homes in the Greater Cincinnati area. By families, we mean a parent or parents with children. We are one of only two family shelters that serve male parents and male children over 12 years old. How are potential guests screened? Our case manager does an in-depth intake interview, and then checks information like criminal records by accessing information services available to her. What are the qualifications for staying at IHNGC? Besides being homeless and a family with children, guests must not be using alcohol or abusing drugs, must not be committing domestic violence or be the recent victim of domestic violence in the perpetrator is likely to find them, and must not have been committed for a violent crime. How long may guests stay at IHNGC? That depends on how long it takes for them to find housing, whether or not they abide by our rules and regulations, and whether or not they actively implement their case plans. Some families have stayed as long as three months, but the average length of stay is only 23 days. Where do guests go when they move out of IHNGC? Most guests move directly into homes of their own, either subsidized or market rate depending on their income and other qualifications. Others move in with family members while awaiting housing. A few are reunited with their families in permanent housing. Some move into “transitional housing,” housing that other non-profit agencies provide for families with too many barriers to obtain housing within a couple of months, and people may reside there for up to two years. Transitional Housing is housing with supportive service, such as counseling or employment assistance, and residents pay up to a third of their income while there. Only about seven percent of our guests have returned to area family shelters over the last three years. What happens during a normal day for an IHN Guest? An IHN guest wakes up bright and early at the congregation, with enough time to dress, eat, and get ready to board the bus at 6:30 to head back to the Day Center for the day. Once at the Day Center, guests occasionally have a house meeting, parenting, life skills, or budgeting class. The guests also have time during the day to meet with the Case Manager to establish and work on a case plan. The rest of the day is spent working on that case plan, both independently and with the case manager. Working on the case plan may include attending a food stamps appointment, interviewing for a job, creating a resume, taking children to daycare, and so on. All guests are expected to return back to the Day Center at 3pm so that they can prepare their belongings and children for the night at the congregation. Guests are also assigned chores to do in the Day Center, and that happens every day at 3:30. At 5pm, the guests board the IHN bus, and head out to the congregation for the evening. Once at the congregation, the guests are greeted by volunteers at the congregation and settle in for dinner and evening activities. Each congregation differs in the activities they provide in the evening. Some congregations offer time for guests to relax and hang out, while others plan entertainment for the guests, such as magic shows, trick dogs, or movie night. At bedtime, the guests retire to their family's private sleeping space for a good night's sleep.
How to Help
While it is difficult for kids to volunteer during the day at the Day Center, the "families helping families" approach in the evenings at the congregations lends itself very well to entire families, or parent and child volunteering together. Volunteering with your child is the ultimate "teachable moment" and exposes your child to the importance of service to others, social justice, and diversity. And best yet, the volunteering that kids can do best is playing with kids in the IHN program--so everyone is having a good time. If you would like to volunteer at a congregation, check to see if your religious congregation is an IHN host or support congregation. If your congregation is not an IHN congregation, and you think it might be something of interest to your congregation, please contact Bob Moore, (IHN's Executive Director) and your clergy to suggest the idea. Finally, if the above does not apply to you, you can call the Day Center at 471-1100 and the staff there can refer you to a congregation near you that may need volunteers. How can I volunteer for IHNGC? If you would like to get involved at IHN's Day Center (hours 7am-5pm), please see our volunteer opportunities and call the Day Center (471-1100) for an appointment and to discuss volunteer opportunities. If you would like to volunteer at a congregation, check to see if your religious congregation is an IHN host or support congregation. If your congregation is not an IHN congregation, and you think it might be something of interest to your congregation, please contact Bob Moore, (IHN's Executive Director) and your clergy to suggest the idea. Finally, if the above does not apply to you, you can call the Day Center at 471-1100 and they can refer you to a congregation near you that may need volunteers. Where do your volunteers come from? Evening volunteers at the congregation mostly come from the host or support congregation. Day Center volunteers sometimes come from our congregations, but are more often referred to us by our website or the United Way's volunteer referral website and phone service (dial 211). How can I make a donation to IHNGC? You can send monetary donations to: If you would like to donate stock, please click here for more information. You can drop off in-kind donations such as these listed. Please call in advance of dropping off donations so that we can assure that we have the staff and space to accept them!
Financial FAQHow is IHNGC funded? We are funded like a quilt is made, from many sources. Individuals and congregations make up a large, and growing portion of our funders, but we also get some government grants, private foundation grants, and United Way funding. Special events make up a small percentage of our funding, but they are fun as well! Where can I find your financial information? All of our most recent financial information is available in the funding section of the web site.
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