‘They’re going to do whatever they can to help you, and we need more of that’
Courtney Gannaway sings the praises of the Daniel Pitino Shelter Henderson.
The 42-year-old Gannaway said she was homeless for about a year, hopping from house to house and struggling with addiction when she decided to go to the Daniel Pitino office on Eighth Street.
Now, nearing a year later, she’s clean and has her own apartment. If not for Melissa Collier and Jessica Lang, Gannaway believes she’d still be couch surfing.
Gannaway said there’s no place in Henderson that provides all the help that the Daniel Pitino Shelter does—helping get IDs, obtaining birth certificates and social security cards, helping with laundry, providing food when needed, helping with bills when behind and more.
“I was lost in life and I was miserable,” Gannaway said. “They stepped in.
Collier and Lang and members of the Henderson County Homeless Coalition held the yearly K-Count gathering at the Henderson County Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The K-Count is the day that local agencies around the state conduct a homeless count in their communities.
Collier said this year’s count totaled 157 homeless in the county. That’s up from last year’s 103 total, she said.
There are numerous reasons this year’s count is higher. For one, Collier believes last year’s actually should have been higher. Two, the weather was better this year, and officials and volunteers were able to get out and talk to more people.
That evening, from 4-7 p.m., Collier and other volunteers held an open house at the Henderson County Public Library in which volunteers were on hand to talk to and help homeless people who came in, while also adding to the count of homeless in the community.
A woman that evening also spoke of the help she’s received from the Daniel Pitino Shelter Henderson. She preferred her name not be used in the article.
She, like Gannaway, was couch surfing for months before being referred to the Daniel Pitino Shelter. She didn’t have her birth certificate nor her daughter’s, so applying for housing was not possible.
Collier, the case manager for the shelter, was able to help the woman obtain both birth certificates and later a two-bedroom apartment through the Housing Authority of Henderson.
This case illustrates one of the top roadblocks that many homeless people encounter when trying to find a place to live—having all the required documents, Collier said. She said 95% of those who come to her Eighth Street office for help don’t have necessary documents.
Collier, whose role is funded through money allotted by the Henderson County Fiscal Court and the Henderson City Commission, said to do better with helping the homeless in the community, other things besides money are needed—more affordable housing, more mental health providers, she said. And more compassion.
She did say, though, that Henderson County has been supportive of the programs her organization has in place.
Collier also pointed out that from the time of last year’s K-Count in late January to this year’s event, 554 people visited her office. Of those, 96 needed utility assistance and 72 needed rental assistance.
“We’ve been able to keep 168 families in their home,” she said.
The top needs Collier sees are:
- Help with finding housing (affordable housing)
- Rental/utility assistance
- Food support
- Obtaining identifications
- Benefits access
Of the Pitino Shelter Henderson, Gannaway said, “They’re going to do whatever they can to help you, and we need more of that. I thank God for them every day.”