January 1 – October 31, 2015
1,547 unique clients that resulted in:
- 3,000+ assessment/follow up meetings
- 5,700+ rides
- 258 assisted w/housing
- 136 assisted w/detox or treatment
- 50 assisted with court
- 28 outreach calls (looking for someone)
The previous numbers do not include the Bodhi House Respite program, which provided: 86 total men, with 104 stays, for a total of 2,111 nights of housing.
The stays resulted in the men moving on toward getting off the street 85% of the time with:
- 10 currently residing there
- 35 moving to transitional or long-term living (including 3 in nursing homes)
- 20 moving in with family or friends
- 17 entering detox or treatment
- 4 admitted to hospitals or shelters
- 2 enrolled in youth programs
Most of our interactions occur at:
- Hospitals (1,518)
- Treatment facilities (938)
- Transitional Living facilities (718)
- Shelters (472)
- Nursing Homes (492)
- Jails (126)
- Other (647)*
* represents motels, one time venues and some jails
In October, 2015 the 100th person entered a nursing home through the Save Our Seniors program.
Program Evaluation
Read the academic evaluation of Artists Helping the Homeless.
2012 Year in Review
Read the Artists Helping the Homeless Year in Review for 2012.
Be the Change Program
The volume and diversity of demand for services has far exceeded our expectations.
- By the end of June 2014, we had taken 35,000 trips to deliver services to over 4,000 individuals.
- 75% of the trips involved providing over 250,000 miles of transportation to our clients. These individuals came in significant numbers from every section of the homeless population, including chronic homeless, families, battered women and at-risk youth. Our intervention model involves referrals from community hospitals, organizations or the public at large, followed by transportation to a partner organization that provides an appropriate service. We also provide follow-up care after placement.
When necessary the Be the Change program provides emergency intervention stays to our unsheltered friends in order to create a seamless transition of services.
- Through the end of June 2014, we facilitated over over 45,000 bed nights for over 2,000 individuals.
- We provided another 8,000 nights of emergency intervention shelter.
Statistical Highlights from February 2010 through June 2014
- 35,000 van trips to work with 4,000 individuals
- Helped shelter over 2,000 people for over 50,000 nights
- 45,000 nights arranged with partner
- 8,000 nights provided
- Enrolled over 600 individuals in detox services
- Assisted over 400 chronic homeless and young adults into full or transitional reintegration
- $7,500,000 saved in ambulance, hospital, police, and judicial fees. [$5+ saved for every $1 invested.]
Meal Program
Over 120,416 meals served
Kato House Project
Number of Shelter Nights provided by AHH Directly thru End of June 2013
| Population | Nights of Shelter | Value of Shelter | # of Individuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth | 5735 | $172,050 | 44 |
| Chronic | 945 | $8,350 | 45 |
| Women | 45 | $1,350 | 10 |
| Families | 223 | $6,690 | 17 |
| Special Occasions | 76 | $2,280 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 7,024 | $210,720 | 120 |
Aged Out Youth Program
Total AHH Rides & Nights Provided to Youth as of End of June 2013
Rides
Number of Youth: 145
Number of Rides Including Follow Ups: 6,533
Nights
Transitional/Treatment Nights Provided: 5,268 nights of shelter provided
How is homelessness defined?
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines a homeless person as someone who is:
- sleeping in an emergency shelter
- sleeping in places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, or abandoned or condemned buildings
- spending a short time (30 consecutive days or less) in a hospital or other institution, but ordinarily sleeping in the types of places mentioned above
- living in transitional/supportive housing but having come from streets or emergency shelters
- being evicted within a week from a private dwelling unit and having no subsequent residence identified and lacking the resources and support networks needed to obtain access to housing
- being discharged from an institution and having no subsequent residence identified and lacking the resources and support networks needed to obtain access to housing
Homelessness is caused by a number of factors, including:
- Poverty and the lack of affordable housing: current levels of housing costs, coupled with low-wage jobs and the recent economic downturn, push even the working poor out of their homes
- Divorce, domestic violence and lack of family support
- Chronic health problems
- Mental illness
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Natural disasters
How many people are homeless in the U.S.?
Due to the circumstances of homelessness, it is very difficult to come up with a reliable number of people who experience homelessness. According to the Alliance’s most recent estimate, approximately 744,000 people are homeless on any given night. Read more in Homelessness Counts. Information on the last annual estimate of 2.5 to 3.5 millions people experience homelessness per year, is available in Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve.
Resource data from National Alliance to End Homelessness
The Cost of Doing Nothing
- It costs Kansas City taxpayers $5,390 each time a homeless person requires emergency services.
- Eliminating just one emergency a day would save the city over $1.9 million annually.
- In the Plaza area, emergency room visits by homeless cost of over $3 million annually.
- Add to that, MAST charges total $340,000 annually for just ten individuals.
- Only an estimated 20% of Emergency Room visits by homeless are considered a real emergency.
Local Homeless Populations
VETERANS
Homelessness has become a challenge in the veteran community. About 1800 homeless veterans live in the Kansas City area. About 87 percent of homeless veterans suffer from a mental illness or substance abuse. Nationally, veterans make up 11 percent of the adult U. S. population, but they make up 25 percent of the homeless, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. – Jennifer Mann
SUBURBAN
“There are homeless in Johnson County, Olathe and Shawnee, except they are more hidden. There are at least 14,000.00 homeless people in the Kansas City area.”
Cynthia Larcom, Executive director of the Homeless Services Coalition of Greater Kansas City
YOUTH
- More than 2,000 young people in Greater Kansas City are homeless at any given time.
- Traditional homeless shelters don’t accept unaccompanied youth under 18.
- For the past five years, lack of space at Synergy House—which provides 60% of the beds available to the metro’s homeless youth—has forced Synergy to turn away one youth for every one that is served.
National statistics are representative of our experiences locally in serving youth:
- Most youth become homeless because of problems in the home.
- Nearly half experienced physical or sexual abuse at home.
- Nearly half report their parents had been treated for substance abuse or mental health issues.
- Nearly half have witnessed domestic violence in the home.
- 12-17 year olds are at greater risk for being homeless than are adults.
- One in seven youth between the ages of 10 and 17 will experience being homeless at least once during that time period.
- 40% report being abused or thrown out because of their sexual orientation.
- 50% were told to leave by their parents, or parents knew they were leaving and didn’t care.
Children
- 1,500 children die every year from child abuse and neglect. That is just over four fatalities every day. 79% of the children killed are younger than age four.
- 80% of young adults who had been abused met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at the age of 21 (including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, & post-traumatic stress disorder)
- Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy
- Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.
- Children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely develop alcohol abuse and 3.8 times more likely to develop drug addictions.
- Synergy’s Children’s Center housed 110 children last year.
- 19% of the children served by Synergy’s children’s shelter are under one year old. 61% are under six years old.
Youth
- More than 2,000 young people in Greater Kansas City are homeless at any given time.
- Traditional homeless shelters don’t accept unaccompanied youth under 18.
- For the past five years, lack of space at Synergy House—which provides 60% of the beds available to the metro’s homeless youth—has forced Synergy to turn away one youth for every one that is served.
- 43% of homeless youth report being beaten by a caretaker.
- 40% of homeless youth report being gay and abused in their schools and homes for their orientation.
- 44% of homeless youth report that one or both of their parents had at some point received treatment for alcohol, drug or psychological problems.
- 314 young people were sheltered at Synergy House in 2007.
- The Street Outreach Services program served 1,630 youth on the street and distributed 19,923 items including food, water, clothing and blankets.
Women
- One in three women will be abused in her lifetime.
- 2,880 women are beaten daily.
- 40% of all 911 calls are domestic violence related.
- SafeHaven, Synergy’s domestic violence shelter, provided shelter to 304 Women and 225 children last year.
- Synergy’s Women’s Center hotline received 3,011 calls in 2007.
Bullying
- More than 500,000 “attacks, shakedowns and robberies” occur every month in secondary schools (National School Safety Center)
- An estimated 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students (National Education Association)
- 81% of boys and 72% of girls will be seriously impacted by bullying during their school career (National Journal of School Counseling)
- Almost 16,000 young people attended Synergy’s violence prevention programs last year. Statistic source: Synergy Services