Homeless Advisory Board

 

 

What Poverty and Homelessness Looks Like in Sioux Falls…
Causes of homelessness are varied but can include poverty, domestic violence, mental health issues, catastrophic illness, unemployment, substance abuse, divorce, natural disasters, returning to civilian life after military service, and a lack of affordable housing.

 

A basic definition of homeless is someone who is lacking a permanent, safe place to live.

• Often times the difference between being housed and being homeless is the support network that is available – both familial/friend and in the community – how it responds or has set up a safety net to prevent homelessness.

 

October 2017 Hunger and Homelessness Data

 

 

FOOD/HUNGER

2017 Poverty Guidelines                                                    2017 Area Median Income - SF
- Individual                          $12,060                                                 - $76,800
- Family of 4                        $24,600                                

Every day, 106,646 people in South Dakota are at risk of going hungry and 68% must choose between paying for food or utilities

- In Minnehaha County, 17,816 people including 8400 children rely on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to help meet their food needs.

 Sioux Falls Public Schools serve 23,957 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and 963 children in pre-kindergarten programs.

The percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-priced meals sits at nearly 50% District-wide

Feeding South Dakota has seen a 15% increase in the number of people needing food assistance this year.

- they are providing 3000 backpacks of food every week in the SF area to help ensure that           children have some nutrition over the weekend

The Banquet
Banquet West has served 11,252 meals through September 2017 = 2 nights a week averaging approximately 180 people per meal.

85,243 evening meals served at The Banquet downtown to date 2,279 of these meals were served to children

- 5700 School Supply Backpacks given out for Project S.O.S.

HOMELESSNESS

Sioux Falls School District through 10.24.17 has identified 438 homeless students in 220 families with 13 unaccompanied youth

 

FY17: Volunteers of America, Dakotas - Street Outreach came into contact with 226 unduplicated individuals ages 16-21.

Nationally, 1 in 7 youth runaway from home every year and in 2016 have reported higher rates of abuse. In 2016, The National Runaway Safeline had 119 calls from South Dakota

 

In South Dakota, 29.4% of individuals with disabilities live below the poverty line.
Nationally, 37% of all homeless individuals have a disability.

Southeastern has enrolled 273 homeless individuals fitting “severely mentally ill” criteria so far this year and over 60% of those have a substance abuse disorder.

County Human Services Unduplicated Homeless Applications as of Sept 30, 2017

789 without Children           348 with children                 Total = 1,187

               
Total Overall Duplicated Applications to County = 5,022 (58.7% female)

 

Veterans
FY 2017 in the Sioux Falls area, 338 Veterans were served in the Homeless Outreach and Prevention programs with the VA.

130 Veterans were identified as homeless during our January 2017 statewide annual point- in-time count.

Drug, DUI and Veterans Court in 2017
- Have 97 active participants of which 22 have minor children
- Has successfully graduated 31 participants

Shelter
St. Francis House
319 total unduplicated guests (159 men and 160 women) through October 26, 2017
- 94% have dependency issues and 49% report mental health issues

Bishop Dudley Hospitality House
- 1279 unduplicated guests through September 2017

Union Gospel Mission – 17,093 nights of lodging through August 31, 2017 averaging about 70 guests per night, and 62,357 meals during the same time

 

Domestic Violence
Children’s Inn – through August 2017 – 10,091 shelter days with 918 women and children

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) 188 children assigned through October 25 which is 46 more than the same time as last year indicating a significant increase in the number of children experiencing repeated abuse and/or neglect.

Housing

On a very positive note, South Dakota ranks 49th out of 50th for most affordable housing according to http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2017.pdf

Affordable housing typically means a person is paying no more than 30% of their income towards their monthly rent.  For a 2-bedroom unit at 2018 FMR, a person needs to be earning approximately $15.02/per hour and for a 1-bedroom approximately $12.30/per hour.

Final FY 2018 Fair Market Rents By Unit Bedrooms
Year	Efficiency	One-Bedroom	Two-Bedroom	Three-Bedroom	Four-Bedroom
FY 2018 FMR	$535	$639	$781	$1,045	$1,217
FY 2017 FMR	$543	$655	$811	$1,098	$1,296

 

:

Housing Choice (Section 8) Voucher Wait List as of 10/04/2017 = 2166 households
30% or less of Median Income	1774	30-50% of Median Income	392
1 bedroom household	856	1 bedroom household	160
2 bedroom households	485	2 bedroom households	137
3 bedroom households	352	3 bedroom households	85
4 bedroom households	70	4 bedroom households	10
5 bedroom households	11	5 bedroom households	0

Wait list tops 4 years for someone to receive this vital housing assistance through SF Housing and Redevelopment Commission. The last person contacted on the wait list applied June 2014.

 

For additional information and updates, please review this Snapshot of Economic Indicators for Sioux Falls:

 

Contact info: 
Kari Benz
Homeless Advisory Board
521 N. Main Avenue, Suite 201, Sioux Falls, SD 57104
(605) 367-4217