Jamestown YWCA and Jamestown Justice Coalition hold a conversation on homelessness.
Top – Panel representing service providers
Bottom – Panel representing those with lived experience being homeless (September 12, 2024)
More than 80 people turned out for a discussion on homelessness Thursday night.
The event, sponsored by the Jamestown YWCA and Jamestown Justice Coalition, was held at the Robert H. Jackson Center. It featured a panel of people who have worked with people who are unhoused and another panel of people who have lived experience being homeless.
Trust was brought up by Joy Fellowship Pastor Dodi McIntyre and Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition board member Sean Jones as a barrier for people who are experiencing homelessness and for people helping those who are homeless.
Jones said part of that is that change is scary, “We might think that the way they’re living is not healthy or not good for them, but it is what they know. It’s comfort. They’re very comfortable with what they’re doing at this time because change is very scary. Right? So that’s on a human level.”
Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County Project Director Steven Cobb said the thinking has changed over the last four to five years where providing housing first to the homeless is the priority.
He said in the mental health field, the previous practice was to immediately deal with mental health symptoms or to help stop substance use, “And we’ve really found.. as this has been proven out by research.. that housing first.. if you deal with the housing piece first with lots of supports.. I’m not talking about just giving someone a key to an apartment. I’m talking about housing first, with support.. then it’s easier to deal with the other things.”
Tracy Rogers, who is currently living in the YWCA’s transitional housing, said she keeps hearing titles like “homeless” and “unhoused,” “We come from your community. We’re real people. We went to your churches, your schools, and your restaurants. We like the same music. I love to read. We are here. We are not ‘other.'”
When it comes to what the community can do beyond donating funds or needed items, Cobb said people can offer skills they have, citing examples of hairdressers giving haircuts at the MHA and another person offering bicycle repair.
Some of the suggestions made at the meeting included having service providers meet those who are homeless where they are, or have other venues where people can access help beyond needing to go to multiple organizations. Another suggestion was to create a kind of “cheat sheet” of how and where to access specific services. When it comes to encampments, one woman suggested figuring out how to put port-a-potties on the Riverwalk that are taken care of on a regular basis. The same person suggested that the hotels where people are placed in emergency housing be inspected for available amenities, such as sheets on the bed and soap being provided, as well as for meeting health standards.
Jamestown Justice Coalition Coordinator Justin Hubbard said the plan following the meeting is to send the comments and suggestions in a report to Chautauqua County, the City of Jamestown, and Chautauqua Opportunities Inc.
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