It's been about four months since Columbia area shelter Room at the Inn turned from a winter warming shelter to a permanent year round homeless shelter. KBIA's Harshawn Ratanpal spoke with executive director John Trapp about how the transition has been going and the current state of homelessness in Columbia.
"They're people just like you and I - there's good ones, there's bad ones. You know, they're just people and a lot of them are just having a tough time and just need a little bit of a hand up to get back on their feet."
RATANPAL: So, it's been four months since Room at the Inn opened as a year round shelter. Could you talk about how that's been going?
TRAPP: It's been going relatively well. We're going through growing pains - which we expected. Our volunteer base has dropped off in the last couple of years since we're not based out of churches anymore. So, that's an ongoing issue that we're trying to resolve. We're doing outreach to the churches - I think we just fell off their radar. So I think it's just a matter of getting their attention and letting them know we're still here. But overall, things are going well.
RATANPAL: And beyond the challenges, you said, it's been a relative success. Could you talk about some of the big successes and what you're most proud of over the last four months?
TRAPP: Well, we have 85 cots. So on the coldest nights, we have 85 people that we're getting out of the cold. We generally - you know, being an emergency shelter - we count our success by nobody freezing to death. We did have at least one and possibly two people froze to death during the cold spell. So, we kind of failed in that respect. But everybody else has all their fingers and toes, so that's a success in our book.
RATANPAL: Overall, beyond and including Room at the Inn, how would you characterize the state of homelessness in Columbia?
TRAPP: More resources than ever are being thrown at the issue. Homelessness is increasing, and our social services is increasing, but probably not as fast as the homeless population is. Shelters and day centers - those are Band-Aids for a bigger problem, which is lack of housing. That's the real solution to homelessness is building housing, and there isn't a lot of movement in that regard.
RATANPAL: What sort of solutions do you see there?
TRAPP: I believe that, being a liberal, successful city, we're just like every other successful liberal city: we have a housing crisis. So it's a national issue, but there's local solutions, which is easing zoning and cutting back some regulations and allowing more development and infill.
RATANPAL: What do you wish the general public knew more about the homeless community in Colombia?
TRAPP: There is community backlash against the unhoused population. There's Facebook groups that - they do nothing but document problems, and those are real problems, but it's also, I'm afraid, setting up the situation where violence could happen. We've got a small vocal community who represent the homeless as being saints who are just misunderstood and have had some bad luck, and that's probably the majority of them. But we also have another vocal minority which says they're all bad, they're all strung out on drugs and waiting to steal your stuff. And neither of those caricatures are true. You know, they're people just like you and I - there's good ones, there's bad ones. You know, they're just people and a lot of them are just having a tough time and just need a little bit of a hand up to get back on their feet.