PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010

 

COUNCIL WORK SESSION

7:15 P.M.

 

 

1.         CALL TO ORDER:  Mayor O’Brien opened the Council Work Session at 7:15 P.M., with the following council members present:  Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, and Mayor O’Brien.  Mr. Blair and Mr. Wisniewski were absent.  Others present were:  Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Nate Ellis, Patti Morrow, Carol carter, Pastor Cuenin, and others.   

 

2.         SCHEDULED MATTERS: 

 

A.        Presentation on Fairfield County 211 Project Housecall Program.   Ms Patti Morrow stated she is a Housing Specialist at Fairfield County 211, formerly known as Information Referral.  Ms Morrow stated not a lot of people know that you can dial 211 from any phone and, depending on the county you are in, reach an information referral service.  She stated hopefully this would eventually be nationwide; however, Fairfield County has been a 211 center for about a year.  She stated the majority of the phone calls they get are for food services and people who need referrals.  Ms Morrow stated with most of the food pantries in Fairfield County, households need a referral in order to go to a pantry and she tracks the pantry usage and tries to avoid duplication of services. 

 

            Ms Morrow stated she works with people who are homeless throughout the entire county, whether they are single adults or adults with children.  She stated she tries to locate the type of housing they need, whether it is a programmed specialized housing, subsidized housing, etc.  Ms Morrow stated when a call comes in to the Center that is in any way related to housing, it is referred to her, and this could be someone who is homeless, at risk of homelessness, dealing with housing issues with a landlord, and she is working directly with landlords so she also receives calls from landlords who are having problems with tenants.  Ms Morrow stated she works with these individuals and tries to come up with solutions and appropriate referrals for them.  Ms Morrow stated she also gathers information about housing throughout the county, whether it is an independent landlord with a rental, an apartment community, or a program that may be specific for people with mental health issues, recovery issues, or senior housing programs.  She stated she also keeps current and accurate information about shelters and what money is available to help with rent or other financial assistance.  Ms Morrow stated she publishes Project Housecall with all of this information and she updates it daily as information comes in and it is available on their website at www.fairfieldcounty211.org.  Ms Morrow stated she also provides this information electronically throughout the county. 

 

            Ms Morrow stated people tend to think of homeless as the derelict sleeping under the bridge, and there are those people.  Ms Morrow further stated that there are people you could meet and converse with and be surprised to find out they are homeless because they do not fit into the image we all feel the homeless belong.  Ms Morrow stated many of the people that are becoming homeless now are “working poor” they are not people who are unemployed, they are not people without incomes.  She stated they are families that can’t afford to make it on their own.  She stated over the past three years she is finding more rentals available because there are more families doubling up.  She stated when she receives calls for food referrals she is frequently talking to people who have seven or eight people living in a two or three bedroom apartment because they are a couple of families that have joined together to try and make ends meet and maintain housing.  Ms Morrow stated there are homeless people in Pickerington and she talks to them every day.  Ms Morrow stated last January when they did the “point in time count” they counted around 280 individuals who were homeless on that one given day in Fairfield County. 

 

            Ms Morrow stated by coordinating all of the housing information into one resource they can eliminate some of the homelessness or at least get people into appropriate housing as quickly as possible. 

 

            Ms Morrow stated she was addressing Council so they would be aware of the fact there is a homeless situation in the County, that there could be and are people that are homeless in this area.  She stated she wants to make the resources available and acknowledge that we realize these people are struggling and she wants to make the information available to the people who need it. 

 

            Mrs. Sanders stated being in the school system she has seen this problem and people don’t realize there is this issue in Pickerington.  Mr. Barletta suggested Ms Morrow contact the Pickerington Food Pantry director and perhaps she could coordinate a visit when they have open hours and she could meet with the people and talk with them.  Ms Morrow stated one of her representatives does work closely with the food pantry and has come to the food pantry and the schools.  She stated she does work closely with the food pantries so this information is available when people come in. 

 

3.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mayor O’Brien closed the Council Work Session closed at 7:33 P.M., November 2, 2010. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

______________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk

 

ATTEST:

 

 

_______________________________

Mitch O’Brien, Mayor