Shownotes
What were the pivotal steps in forming the Central Ohio Stable Housing Network (COSHN), and how has its mission evolved in response to the housing crisis in Columbus?
In this episode, we'll explore the collaborative efforts that started The Central Ohio Stable Housing Network, or COSHN. It's vital role of emergency rental assistance in averting evictions and the importance of agencies like COAAA in stabilizing housing for vulnerable populations.
You'll hear from Grant Ames, Government and Community Relations Coordinator with COAAA, and Terence Toone, Community Relations Coordinator at COAAA.
Top Takeaways
COSHN was created through combined efforts in Columbus to address pressing housing issues, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The network received emergency rental assistance dollars intended to prevent homelessness and eviction, underscoring the importance of immediate, crisis-focused support in times of need.
Terence Toone brought his expertise in elder advocacy, discussing the challenges older adults face in securing stable housing and the importance of services that address their unique needs, such as physical limitations and fixed incomes.
The COSHN implements a two-level screening process to determine qualification for assistance and financial support, highlighting the importance of targeted and fair distribution of resources.
Grant Ames noted that many retirees do not live stable lives owing homes, revealing persistent poverty among aging populations and the compounded issues they face.
The agency's commitment to addressing not only housing but also broader health and social issues demonstrates a holistic approach to supporting vulnerable populations.
Addressing rumors and misinformation about housing programs (e.g., free rent for the elderly), the importance of clear, proactive community engagement and education was a key point made by Terence Toone.
Terence emphasizes identifying the available resources for homeless individuals, like insurance and care managers, to ensure comprehensive support.
Both Grant and Katie emphasized the need for a preventative strategy in addressing homelessness, focusing on early intervention and holistic care to improve individuals' health and well-being.
The discussion highlighted efforts to standardize identification and intake screening across 25 agencies involved in the COSHN, aiming for more efficient and consistent support for older adults and people with disabilities facing housing challenges.
Key Moments
00:00 Columbus history of collaborative housing assistance.
09:41 Valuable partnership in aging homeless population growth.
12:06 Advocating for aging and disability services, HUD.
15:41 Discussion on current senior living options and care.
19:07 Serving community, relationships, homeless qualifications, housing assistance.
23:10 Supporting homeless individuals through prevention and mobilization.
24:39 Preventative measures needed for population housing issues.
28:37 Inquiring about homeless lifestyle, needs, and support.
32:18 Supportive of early intervention to prevent homelessness.
39:39 Terence's great work supports rehousing efforts.
42:06 Lead conversations on aging, push for change.
Let me know what you think of this podcast, as well as any ideas you have for an episode. Email me at kwhite@coaaa.org!
Copyright 2024 Central Ohio Area Agency On Aging
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
Welcome to Pretend I Know Nothing About. I'm Katie White, your host, administrator of COAAA. Today, we're learning about the Central Ohio Stable Housing Network or COSHN. We are joined by Terence Toone, Community Relations Coordinator, and Grant Ames, Government and Community Relations Manager. Let's get into it. Well, welcome, guys. Thanks for being on today. We are going to be talking about housing.
Katie White [:So this is housing part 2. And let's start with introductions. You wanna let us know your name and your role?
Grant Ames [:Yeah. This is Grant Ames, government and community relations coordinator with COAAA.
Terence Toone [:My name is Terence Toon. I'm the community relations coordinator here at the COAAA.
Katie White [:Great. Thank you both for being on. So in our first episode about housing, we talked about our housing assistance program and really about that one time payment for individuals experiencing, a difficult need and the different requirements for eligibility for that program. Today, we're gonna be talking about a new program, not only to COAAA, but to to the city and to the region, and that is COSHN, the Central Ohio Stable Housing Network. So let's start a little bit with the history, Grant. Give us the history of COSHN and kinda how it came about and why.
Grant Ames [:So, the history came about because Columbus is one of the most collaborative, communities around this issue of housing in the country. We were one of the first communities to have a shelter board that manages all of the shelters, streamlines all of the funding through one organization that then is distributed out to the other specific shelters around the community. In in other places, you'll see where each individual shelter is applying for their own funds. They're competing for funds. They're it it just isn't a good system for individuals, and it kind of creates barriers where they don't necessarily need to be. So Kosham was kind of born out of that, born out of this collaborative mindset, around supporting folks that are experiencing homelessness and experiencing that, and getting them back housed as quickly as possible, whether that's preventing them from experiencing homelessness at all or rehousing them as quickly as possible. How the funding came about is Columbus was one of the best, cities in the country that was received emergency rental assistance dollars. We got it out faster than anyone else.
Grant Ames [:We got it in the hands of individuals that desperately needed it. And when the federal government said, okay, we're taking this money back. We other folks haven't spent it. We're gonna redistribute it. They gave it to Columbus to use for this network and to create this program.
Katie White [:And these are ARPA dollars
Grant Ames [:These are
Katie White [:related to COVID?
Grant Ames [:So they were specifically for emergency rental assistance. So it was something that the Biden administration did during COVID, to prevent unnecessary evictions of individuals and keep them safe from, displacement, knowing that the numbers of COVID 19 transmission were significant for individuals that had experienced homelessness. So Okay. Really trying to keep folks sheltered in place as best as possible. Those emergency rental assistance dollars weren't necessarily ARPA dollars. I think they were more in relation in relation to the CARES Act, I think, honestly, is where they came from originally. But, that was just a way for them to, keep they were specifically focused on housing and specifically focused on keeping people housed, to keep them safe from COVID. And specifically focused on keeping people housed, to keep them safe from COVID.
Katie White [:Okay. So this funding comes in. There's already a lot of work and collaboration going on in Central Ohio, and then they come together and they say we're gonna form this new network whose ultimate goal is to prevent homelessness. Right? Yes. So they create COSHN, and they end up, contracting with 25 agencies. Yes. And COAAA is one of them, which is awesome. So Grant really spearheaded us getting that funding, which then allowed us the opportunity to, be able to bring on Terence, which was awesome.
Katie White [:So, Terence, since you haven't been on the podcast before, tell us a little bit about your background, then I'm gonna ask you about coaching.
Terence Toone [:Oh, for sure. Well, I started out in aging. I'm gonna say it was, like, 2013,
Katie White [:and
Terence Toone [:I started as an ombudsman. And that gay that opened the door to advocacy for me and the understanding of the need in the elder community. Right? And I kinda got waken up to it even being a thing. And as an ombudsman, the majority of the job is to advocate for elders in any and every way. So housing was one of the pieces that I dealt with via advocacy. A lot of it was more systemic based in how to change the quality of life from the top down in nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, in any institution that housed elders that were receiving Medicaid. So, yeah, that was a thing for me for a while. I really liked it a lot.
Terence Toone [:I went on and had a son, so I had to stop for a little minute and do life. But when I thought about COVID happening, all those things as well, but as I'm thinking about getting back into the workforce, I'm thinking about what I was good at. Right? And that was one of the things that I knew I kind of had a knack for. It wasn't hard for me to communicate with people. You know, I'm a pretty good deescalator of nerves, so that always helped, but, yeah, no. I reached out to the COAAA. I saw saw that you guys had an opening for a housing resource specialist, and, you know, it it the the description of the job just it just fit too perfect.
Katie White [:That's great. If I recall, you're specially trained in de escalation. Is
Terence Toone [:that right? I guess if I went a little further back in my professional history, I I started out working with delinquent kids right after college.
Grant Ames [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:So a lot of, residential programs. I worked in a residential program here in Columbus. I started an emergency shelter care unit. And part of that, requirement from Franklin County was that there be a verbal de escalation training. Right? And they sent 3 or 4 people up to Michigan to get the training. I was one of those 3 people. So when I come back, I'm now the trainer for verbal de escalation. And it ended up being the best thing for me because practically, I mean, we all verbally deescalate somebody at some point in life.
Terence Toone [:Right?
Katie White [:Sure do.
Terence Toone [:So to put some parameters around it and kind of give you a small rule book, you know, it just it just helped me guide me professionally for a long time.
Katie White [:Time. And to have that baseline of de escalation when you're working in really complicated emotional crisis situations, I'm sure it's just a really great foundation to to how you interact with people.
Terence Toone [:For sure. Yeah. It keeps things calm. I mean, you know you have something to lean back on and, you know, it's almost like a practice. Right?
Katie White [:Yeah. Definitely. Okay. So I love learning how people come here because I feel like there's all these pieces and skills and experiences that people come that then enrich what we do at COAAA. So okay. So you come to CO Triple A at the beginning of sort of standing up this coaching network. So what does that look like? How are things started? How often are you meeting? Before we get into, like, your daily job now, what was that start up like for you?
Terence Toone [:I would I'll I'll say this. The CO triple a gave me a good briefing
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:On, you know, what what our goals were Okay. In terms of supporting the demographic that we serve. Kochen, on the other hand, they they they have a a layout too of how they want things to be run. Okay. And for me, it was just learning what their layout was, understanding what their parameters, what they wanted, you know, out of a housing resource specialist, and and how that fit into our mission here at the COAAA.
Katie White [:Okay. So essentially, they're working on standardizing sort of the identification and intake screening process. Then they roll that out to these 25 different agencies so that anyone experiencing imminent homelessness or is homeless can enter the network through these 25 agencies. They're all screening the same way. And then there's a coordinated effort to help folks. Am I getting that right? Correct.
Terence Toone [:Yeah.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:Yes.
Katie White [:Okay. So one more question before we get into the day to day. So, Grant, from your side of things, you you helped get the funding to come in. You helped build the network. And then what types of things had to be done? I mean, do was it a contract? Is it an MOU? What sort of, macro level things went on to get us in this network?
Grant Ames [:Yeah. So I'll I'll back up a little bit and say kind of the the purpose of us wanting to get involved I think it really stems in wanting c o triple a and the aging population to be part of these conversations. We wanna make sure that our folks and the individuals that we serve, while they might not necessarily be top of mind for a lot of these organizations and specifically, the the folks that are addressing homelessness in our community. They certainly are experiencing homelessness, and we need to provide that voice at the table to represent older adults and people with disabilities as they navigate this process. And so I'm really excited to have Terence here to be that voice in the room, to be that person that's standing on the table for older adults when they're talking about new assistance programs and they're not considering, that population as a need area. Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:It
Grant Ames [:really isn't it really isn't valuable for us to be in that space, and I'm really excited for Terence to be here and be part of that network. I'll say, as we went through putting it together, I mean, this was an application process, but from the beginning, I think that, my conversations with the individuals that were setting up the network, they really saw the value in the area agency on aging being part of it. They saw that we could be a really valuable partner in not only bringing our lens of knowing the, the ins and outs of the experience of aging, but certainly, our connection with a number of older adult consumers and individuals in the community that might be experiencing this. And so I think our nexus of poverty and aging was really a valuable space for us to to step in here and have really, really a potent I would say, I'm biased, but I would say that we're one of the stronger partners in the network. I really think that we, have helped guide it as this pilot kind of takes off to, to meet the demands of the community that we serve. We know that homelessness among older adults is growing. We know that the population of, homeless individuals is growing older. It's actually the fastest growing population of individuals entering into shelter right now.
Grant Ames [:So really understanding those statistics and taking a step toward, providing that support in a more holistic way and not only thinking it and what assistance can we provide to keep them to keep them stably housed. But, really, what Terence does, and I know he'll go into this in a little bit more detail, is he has a real world, conversation with them about what assets they have available, what strengths do they have to help them through this process. And I think that, he'll speak to it a little bit more, but I just think it's invaluable for that asset to be here at our in our agency.
Katie White [:Yeah. I agree. Yeah. Well and so you mentioned that the older adult population that is homeless is growing and that the homeless population is aging. And so there's a lot of national trends that are also occurring locally. And then there's something that occurs every year in every city across the US called the point in time count. It happens in January of every year where you're literally going out. You get your volunteers and you count individuals in the shelter and who are sheltering on the land.
Katie White [:I participated in this point in time count the last couple of years and granted last year. And it's just a really important experience to to be out there and to make sure that we are keeping top of mind the reality of, the challenges. But then also to continue to show up in rooms where maybe aging and disability services hadn't been for a long time. So, aging and older adults aren't even a focus area for many homeless shelters and and regional networks. And, actually, HUD, who requires a point in time count, they just started, counting the 60 plus group as a specialty group in 2023. So really trying to keep a trend on that. And so, albeit a challenge, I'm glad we're at the forefront of pushing ourselves into this conversation, improving the concept that not only we should be focusing on older adults and people with disabilities, but c o triple a, the area agency on aging, is that voice and is that agency. So okay.
Katie White [:Now, here we go. Terence, tell us about your role sort of generally speaking a day or a week in the life. What are you doing? What is it like step by step?
Terence Toone [:For sure. So I walk I walk into the office on a Monday and open my computer. The first thing I'm checking is my emails. So the system that we operate now, has me pulling referrals from, I would say, 3 different places.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:So there's an e mail box that or a voice mail box that we have here at the central Ohio area, and we have housing calls forwarded to it. Any and everybody who has a housing issue, that's forwarded to that box. And these people are only calling the COAAA because they know that we serve that population.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:They may not know about coaching and the housing network. They're just calling because they're older, and they're looking for some some type of housing assistance. And they just you know, they feel like their age goes with this place.
Katie White [:K.
Terence Toone [:So you have those people. Then you have your COSION network referrals. And they're coming from maybe, like, an outside like, a helping hands, or even even so a case manager here.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:Yeah. It could be an internal referral. That's a separate voicemail box that comes directly to me. Most of those people have my direct line.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:So a lot of answering phone calls. I get phone calls, and I and, I'm returning voice mails. Yeah. So when I return a voice mail, I'm having a conversation with that person initially. Hi, Katie. How are you? You know, I heard you have a housing issue. Talk to me about it. Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:Right? So I'd give that person the floor to tell me everything that's going on under the sun. And then from there, I'm trying to find the points that would either remedy the situation or maybe they're in, where is the breakdown. Right? So really just a lot of listening and investigating the problem. After we hear what that problem is, we start finding out the things we can do to make that problem disappear. That's not always the case. Sometimes, it's just as simple as, giving somebody education and information. Right? You don't always have to walk them through the whole process. Prime example is, somebody will call and say, hey, I want my mother out of the house.
Terence Toone [:She lives with me now. She's 80 years old. I don't know where to put her. Okay. You know, she makes x amount of dollars a month. She could afford to have her own apartment, but I don't know if her physical capabilities are gonna lend to that. Sure. What are the what are her options?
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:Right. So, I mean, I lay all those out, everything from living in an apartment and receiving services via senior options or the waiver program or what it looks like to admit into an assisted living facility. Right? Or I'd ask a question as simple as when has she had a level of care done. You know, finding out more of the now of what's going on. People are are good at calling you and telling you about the past. They can even tell you about their plan for the future. But if you're gonna ask them normally when I say, okay, so what's your plan right now today for this situation? That's the part where you always have to have a conversation about. Okay.
Terence Toone [:So just in real time, asking people what the plan is like, will we have to take a step, you know, and the things that led up to this point, although they are important, they're they're not always helping us take the next step forward. Right? So, I I try to keep it as as realistic as possible. I mean, don't get me wrong. I hear you out. You know, I empathize with whatever happened as much as I can, but I try to stay on point.
Katie White [:Sure.
Terence Toone [:If that makes sense. A lot of people, you know, when they're older and going through these situations, initially, their their their their, their initial reaction is just feeling and, taking advantage of.
Katie White [:Yeah.
Terence Toone [:Right? This is unjust.
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:Why is my rent going up? You know, why are they giving me a notice? I'm an older person. Are there no agencies out here to help me when I'm in this situation? Why is this happening to me? Yeah. And they'll get so caught up in that that they won't pay attention that your move out date is the 5th.
Katie White [:Okay. So they get a little stuck, and then you have to really say, hey. I like, I hear where you're coming from, but we have got to start making some moves. Yes. Okay.
Terence Toone [:Yes. And I and I think that at the end of the day, that's always the crux. I mean, I and even with other organizations who refer me. You know, I they'll come to me and be in the same whirlwind as the client in regards to all the things that are making this be as opposed to saying, okay. Well, what can the next steps
Katie White [:be? Yeah.
Terence Toone [:You know, to keep us from, like you Grant was saying, becoming homeless.
Katie White [:Right.
Terence Toone [:You know?
Katie White [:And that injustice is real. I mean, the being on a fixed income, retiring on fixed income, whether it's high or low, and then all of these external factors of cost that are going up, and you don't have a way to increase your income to keep up with it. That is unjust. Right? And so it's like you totally understand. But we also know if you don't start making plans and you don't start making moves, then it's worse off.
Terence Toone [:For sure.
Katie White [:So, there's 3 qualifications that I assume you're sort of listening for in terms of entering someone into the COSHA network? What are those three qualifications?
Terence Toone [:It's it's probably gonna be your income. It's gonna mean a lot.
Katie White [:Oh, I was thinking about these. Sorry. I probably asked that wrong.
Terence Toone [:No. But this isn't these aren't wrong. I mean, there's imminent risk of homelessness is the number one thing.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:Right? Are you homeless right now tonight, or is it going to be in 15 days, or do you have 60 days to look?
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:That matters
Katie White [:a
Terence Toone [:lot, you know, in how we interact. And, yeah, like, the currently homeless, those are definitely those go into that, you know, that that risk of homelessness. Right? Are you homeless right now or not? And the the biggest piece I would have to say is, understanding what prospective housing you do have. Mhmm. You know, because it it that's part of the job too. Absolutely. That part of my daily after making those calls and doing what I do with the people, if I have any downtime at all, it's going to be spent calling a property manager.
Grant Ames [:Okay. I want
Terence Toone [:to know if you have anything available. Do you understand that I serve this community and I could be kicking you people every month? If if that's the case, you know, what does our relationship look like with the people who are actually the product? Okay. So I I think that's very, very important. When when you talk about qualifications for the coaching network, though, you're homeless. You're homeless. You're homeless. You know what I mean? Like, you're homeless or you're imminent risk of being homeless. Right? Like, how fast can I get you housed, or what can we do to get that eviction notice to go away? Can we talk to your property manager about getting caught up with rent so that you can stay there?
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:So like Grant touched on, it's just really to prevent homelessness. That's where we focus.
Katie White [:So then when you feel like someone is or they express that they're imminently, at risk of being homeless or they're currently homeless, that's when you go into that standardized screening as well. Right? And it kinda gives you a score on the other end.
Terence Toone [:Okay. So there's there's 2 points of screening. One one gives a score and one doesn't. The initial screening is just to see if they meet the qualifications for the COSHA network.
Katie White [:Right?
Terence Toone [:Are you of a certain age? Are you at imminent risk of homelessness? La la la. Like, that's okay. Now you're in KOSHA. That's fine.
Katie White [:I gotcha.
Terence Toone [:Right? There's another screening for your financial assistance. Mhmm. So if you're 3 months behind on your rent, I run you through a screener, a coaching built screener, and it'll populate you a score at the bottom. And, whatever that score says notates where what type of assistance you'll get, whether it be short term or long term.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:I'm sorry. Midterm is what they call it. Mid midterm assistance is I'm giving you assistance, but I might have to do a little more follow-up with you case management wise just to make sure you're you moved in, you know, you're sustainable. You have sustainable income. It's just a little bit more case management to it. Where short term is, hey. I need to get caught up with my rent, and I'm fine after that.
Katie White [:Okay.
Terence Toone [:Right? So, if if your score and your score is gonna tell us what that is. Okay. I'm not making that decision. But that that that information gets put with their data and sent over to the city, and they also look at that. They they're actually the people who make the determination whether short term or long term.
Katie White [:Okay. So a little bit different than our HAP program where, you know, both programs, era slash COSION and HAP, We're doing a screening. We're seeing what you're qualified for and what's going on there. But we make the determination for HAP. The city makes the determination for COSION.
Terence Toone [:Correct.
Katie White [:So then that brings me back to Grant. When we were setting this up, there was a lot around the data sharing and the forming of a system coaching network has access to that system. Right?
Terence Toone [:Yes.
Katie White [:Okay. And that in and of itself is pretty huge. I mean, part of the challenge with being such a a data driven, you know, just everything in human services is everyone wants to keep their systems separate. And then you run into a lot of hurdles and gaps in care, whereas this forming of caution and this shared network is pretty huge. Right?
Grant Ames [:Yeah. I think that I think that's the real key to the value of this. I see and that that's why I was so excited about us being part of it and getting involved is I really think that homelessness isn't an issue that, folks can feel. There's any population that is free from risk of it. Right? We have folks that are showing up to, a food pantry and might not might be there for food, but might be qualify for this network and get connected with homeless and get connected with prevention services. We might have folks that just do walk ins to a community center, a library, things like that that might be just looking for something and they can't find anything. And so this network is a is a space for all these different agencies. We all serve different populations.
Grant Ames [:We all think about this issue and the issue of poverty in different ways. And it's a way for us to come together and really think about this housing issue in a more holistic community wide way.
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Grant Ames [:We're not thinking about it. And and we're we're mobilizing when there are things that are going on that require mobilization, right? And we have individuals that can't afford that rent and need to move, this network is really a way for us to to put energy behind those cases and those situations and to provide that support that's desperately needed. I think the prevention piece is another really key to this entire network. I think that, for years, homelessness we think about it as you enter into shelter, and that was the that was kind of our only intervention to address the experience of homelessness was we're gonna we'll get you a bed for a few days, get you back on your hopefully, get you to somewhere else, but we're seeing that chronic homelessness and other things like that are are starting to come into play. I also think that, especially for our population, the the consequences of homelessness are devastating. Mhmm. Even a week, even a few days of experiencing unsheltered homelessness can lead to significant health declines, significant decline in functioning, significant mental health concerns. We see that, there's more individuals that are experiencing homelessness have a higher unmet caregiver need than the general population that we serve.
Grant Ames [:So those type of risk factors and those things that we know specifically for our population are a concern is the reason that we need to get more into this preventative space and to start to get in touch with folks before they're just showing up to shelter and we get them a bed and then we're trying to rehouse them. What can we do on the front end here to keep them housed? Mhmm. That's the most important thing that we can do right now. While the shelters will always be there and we always are gonna need that backbone for the emergency emergency crisis situations, If we can start to push more upstream and start to address these issues on the front end or come up with solutions, and that's Terence does problem solving with folks all day, every day. He's thinking through it with them. And I think that's well, most of the time we think about these type of networks are just prevention is just funding. Right? Same with HAP. Like, we're just putting money into the situation where I we're trying to see and make sure that they're sustainable with it, and it works.
Grant Ames [:It keeps people housed, but sometimes we don't necessarily need to throw money at a problem to solve it. And I think that's really the value of what Terence does is he he thinks through the situation. He thinks about what strengths and and opportunities are available to that individual while they're in crisis. They might not be thinking about things that that could come to mind and and could and could support them through this process. And I think that that's another big piece of this prevention is people are strong enough to find their own solutions, and we can just help them through that process.
Katie White [:Yeah. Coming alongside them and thinking about you're experiencing a crisis, and that's not gonna allow you most likely to be able to think through all of these different possibilities. Right? Because it's a whole body experience.
Grant Ames [:A strong
Katie White [:thing. But we can be that specialized approach and partner in validating what they're going through, supporting them and also guiding them along the way. So, Terence, talk to me about someone who is literally homeless and older. Do you tell them to call the homeless hotline, the shelter hotline?
Terence Toone [:I do not. Okay. Tell me why. I probably could. But my ideology behind that is somebody told you to call me. So I wouldn't morally feel okay to tell you to then go call someone else. Right? And it's put you through the ringer, like Grant was speaking to, you know, and this this wasn't something that anybody told me to do. But I just you know, in practice, I I want them to talk to me about what's going on.
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:Right? You know, we might be able to talk through this, and you might give me an answer to your own problem. You know? But because you haven't had anyone sitting here listening to you and asking you the proper questions, like you were just speaking to, a lot of people just don't think through the things when they're in crisis. And, you know, giving me a homeless person that is, at a certain age, I'm I'm talking to that person about what their lifestyle is right now. You know? Are you disabled? Are you ambulatory? Like, can you walk and go to the restroom, or do you have medical issues? And, normally, some elder has some issue that they either haven't attended to or, you know, they just haven't been checked in a while. And some people don't have any medical issues at all. And maybe it's a financial like, you need a payee. Right? And you just don't know about that service being available to you. You know, this it's all it's all subjective to the person and their lifestyle.
Terence Toone [:Right? So, you know, I I would wanna know your lifestyle. Do you have a dog? Are you alcoholic? You know, felons. Like, do you have any felonies on your record? You know? I just wanna know about your lifestyle. That helps me narrow down the search in a sense. Right? So if you if you have a felony within the last 7 years, I know we're not to go look for you.
Katie White [:Right. Right. Right. Let us not allow that won't allow individuals.
Terence Toone [:Same thing with an animal or a pet. Right? You know? If you have a pet, then I know there's this many people that I can't we're not even gonna waste our time with.
Katie White [:Yeah.
Terence Toone [:Right? So you're homeless. I wanna know what your lifestyle is like. I mean, are you self sufficient? Can you do you have a job? Like, what are you doing with your money? Like, what does your day to day look like? If you're a person who, you know, doesn't do much of anything, you're just kinda just laying around a house, and you might have some medical complications and what have you, I I wouldn't be quick to put you in a fair market situation where you're living in some townhome and nobody's coming to check on you in that part. But if I Right. If I see that you fit the script for maybe a senior community, right, and waiver services, you know, I wanna know what have you like, who's your who's your insurance? That's a good question. Right? Like, when's the last time you talked to your insurance company about the package that you have? Like, what benefits do you have?
Katie White [:Yeah.
Terence Toone [:And a lot of times, they don't know. Yeah. You know? So just just informing them of all every single option at the table. And then, another thing too, like, if I have a homeless person and you're and you're older, I wanna know if you have a care manager. Like, who are the hands that we can bring on deck in this situation? Because there's not just me that knows about this that's in charge of your care.
Katie White [:Yeah. You
Terence Toone [:know, at this point. So where where is your doctor? Who's your who's your case manager? What have you? You know, some people don't have any of these things in place.
Katie White [:Right.
Terence Toone [:You know? And that's a part 2. I mean, so then where do you go from there? Do we start getting these things in place?
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:Of course, we're always prioritizing you not living under a bridge.
Katie White [:Right.
Terence Toone [:And that's where my mind goes. Mhmm.
Katie White [:But I like that strengths based approach. So when you're saying, do you have a pet? I know what you're getting at. There are some places, complexes that won't allow a pet. But also, if you are thinking about shelter, you can't bring your pet into a shelter. Do you need assistance with activities of daily living? Not only are you thinking through options that might be able to help that. But again, if you need assistance with activities of daily living, you are also not allowed to go into shelters here. So I like that you're having this conversation in this way where you're just learning about them, but in your mind kind of whittling down, certain options to not say, well, you can't do this and you can't do this. But you're just already kinda right sizing it.
Katie White [:I heard, Shannon Isom, the CEO of Community Shelter Board, say one time that her goal is not to add and open more shelters. Her goal is to not need shelters at all. You know, in a dream world, she'd be shutting them all down because her goal is to eliminate homelessness. And it was just such a good reframe for me because we do need more beds, essentially, in specialized beds if I if I could go in my soapbox for older people and people with disabilities to meet the current need. But really, when you're thinking about that big overarching goal, the goal is to shut down all the shelters because the goal is to have real housing options available for everybody.
Terence Toone [:Alright.
Grant Ames [:I think that I think that Columbus has been while we are certainly experiencing a housing market shift and we're certainly seeing, the constraints of what our housing is capable of as our we're lucky. We're lucky that we're not Portland, Oregon, or Seattle, Washington Oh, Georgia. Or in or Austin, Texas. And we are building more shelters. They're they're putting initiatives on the ballot right now to to buy land and to to build 2 new shelters in Portland in the next 3 years. And so, I think it's I think the the beautiful part of Columbus is that we do have this collaborative nature to our community. We're able to bring this network of individuals and organizations together that can start to think about this issue in a more preventative way. Well, to your point about not needing shelters anymore.
Grant Ames [:If we could if we could build up this system and meet the demand that's out there and capture everyone that's in need, absolutely. I'm I'm all for not needing shelters. And I think that this is a good step forward in the right direction that the further upstream that we get, the earlier that we are catching these kind of, like, areas where we're we're maybe someone is paying more of their income to rent ratio than they actually should be, or maybe they are 1, crisis, whether that's a medical crisis, a loss of a family member away from homelessness or losing stability in their housing. What are the types of things that we can start to be predictive around that, can get us out in front of this? Those shelters, I I'm all for it. I believe where she's at. I think we're always gonna need that safety net. But would I be I mean, I remember I have a friend that, works in a hospital system and where they built a brand new cancer hospital. We used to be the tuberculosis clinic.
Grant Ames [:And they were standing in front of it as they're opening up the new hospital, and they're like, this the hospital that was here was obsolete because we beat that disease. And I hope someday that this hospital is also trouble because we no longer need to provide the care that we need. And so someday, hopefully, we can get to a place where our community is stable and we don't experience homelessness. And I I agree with her vision. I think it'd be it would be wonderful for us to get to that point.
Katie White [:Yeah. And I think, you know, it's important for c o triple a to be involved in these conversations for a number of reasons. You know, we are a regional agency. That's our federal mandate. We need to be in these conversations. We need to be leading the way in the ideas and the advocacy. We've got the specialized dedicated staff, which I just, you know, I could go on and on bragging about how great our staff is. But also, we're not afraid to try new things.
Katie White [:And so, whether it's HAP, the housing assistance program, that's only 5 years old. COSHN is a 2 year pilot project. We're working on a shallow subsidy rental housing project, which we'll have to have another podcast on. But we need to start trying these different, programs and ideas, and we need to evaluate their impact to see, is it working? If so, let's keep going. Is it not? What do we need to do to tweak it? But we have to continue to try different things because the numbers are outpacing anything that we're doing now. So okay. Any last thoughts on that or anything else you wanna make sure people know about COSHN, about ERA, about HRS?
Terence Toone [:Yes. Yes. There is a just in from experience, Right? Working in this social field, this social work. Right? The people that we and you might get to cut this out, but no. Just, seriously though, there there we have to I I think it's great. I feel so blessed working with us because we we're not blind to the now Mhmm. If that makes sense. Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:And to me, the way that translates, it is really helpful, because the work I do being so directly connected to the people in the community, I get to hear the rumors firsthand.
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:Right? So when 3 people call me and say, hey, man. We heard you're giving out free rent. I'm like, oh, that's a bus stop conversation. Right? Like Yeah. Let me explain to you what our program is, what you need to qualify, blah blah blah blah blah. So there's an undertone of us being out there.
Katie White [:Mhmm.
Terence Toone [:For what though is, I think, what we always have the influence to change. Yeah. Right? And being conscious and aware of that, like, not only do these organizations need to know, but more so that people have to have a clear understanding of what we do and why. I think they get a lot of that when they do call in. Right. But it always starts as a rumor first. It always starts as, oh, I heard I get you get free rent. If you're over 55 and you have your photo ID, there's gonna be this guy named Terence that answers the phone.
Terence Toone [:You know what I mean? And you can tell that just in conversation. So I'm I'm I'm always interested. Like, you know, you see those movies where airplanes fly over and drop flyers out all over the city. You know what I mean? Like, a version of that for us, a more realistic version where we're actually reaching out to the physical people.
Katie White [:Yeah.
Terence Toone [:And maybe that'd be it through an agency like a like a southeast or someone who's seeing people more regularly off the streets. Right? For them to understand, hey. I can call these people for x, y, and z. You know? And and I just feel like that's and if anything, our housing growth is gonna be very dependent on that. Yeah. If that makes sense. Because it's gonna be the people that are using these resources and their understanding of how to use them and why to use them has to be clear. Yeah.
Terence Toone [:So
Katie White [:And you bring a lot to this position, but you also bring a lot to the agency. And I've so enjoyed learning more about you and your vision around. So you grew up in Columbus. And so knowing, like you said, the bus stop rumors in terms of the challenges, but also your network of friends and family and colleagues and people you've known over the years that you might be able to tap into for different, needs or, apartments or things like that. But also your vision around getting out into the community, into places that might not know COAAA, that need to know us, and getting at the forefront of that education piece. Right? And so that if and when someone calls us, that we can actually help them with. So I just so appreciate that vision, and I'm excited to put that into place.
Terence Toone [:Right on.
Katie White [:Yeah. Grant, any last thoughts on
Grant Ames [:I'll just say that I'm really proud of our agency for stepping into this space. It's it's an uncomfortable one that we haven't been in before, addressing housing issues and trying to get at while we've always provided assistance like Heap and PIP and other services and access to those programs, really, this is the on the ground, like, we're in it with folks. And we are that way with our case management and waiver programs, but I think as we see housing challenges continuing to expand and we see, crisis situations that are impacting 15, 20, 30 people at one time, we didn't have the capacity to deal with the situation like that 3 years ago. Right. We were not in a place that we could mobilize a staff member, multiple staff members to get ahead of that situation, provide those folks the support that they need, and redirect them to somewhere where they could feel stable.
Katie White [:Yeah.
Grant Ames [:We've seen recently apartment complex. I won't name specific apartment complex, but, we just saw an apartment complex, evict a large number of older adult tenants that had, that had market rate rent, but the market rate rent was at a certain level that it was affordable. It was, naturally occurring affordable housing. As that goes away, these individuals were stuck. They were paying $500 a month. Their check is $900 a month. That's they could afford that. When it goes up to a1000, they can't do that anymore.
Grant Ames [:So, we were able to get Terence because of Terence's great work and the network's great work. We were able to get the majority of those folks rehoused that were experiencing that situation, getting them connected with new apartments. And if need be, and I think a lot of cases, the beauty of this happening here is we're also able to get them connected with all of the other great things that I do. And I think that while a lot of other agencies are getting folks reconnected with housing and they're doing very similar things, we have the beauty of these other bigger programs that can be supportive and be more than just a housing resource to them. And I think that that's really the value in where we're at, and I'm really excited to see what the next the next iteration of what we're doing as much as I'm hey. If we can get to the point where we're never doing it again, I'm all for it, but I don't see the future being that way. I see us having to pull up our boots and get to work. And I think that we're moving in that direction.
Katie White [:Yeah. And, you know, this would be it's a big major not going away, growing fast problem that we could run away from. Quite honestly, we could. Right? Somebody else can do this, whatever. They're not talking about older adults. Let it be. Mhmm. But we're not.
Katie White [:We are absolutely running towards it. We are saying this isn't gonna be easy. It's gonna be really difficult for staff. It's emotional. It's hard work. It there's no easy answers, but we're running towards it because that's a responsibility that we have to take on and that we will take on. So the last thing I wanna know is one thing that you would change or add about COAAA.
Terence Toone [:Alright. What could I change about the COAAA?
Katie White [:Or add.
Terence Toone [:Or add. It would probably be a add for a change if I just had to I don't know. But I don't know. To to add on, I think we're doing a great job now. Just being open minded at what is in front of us and, you know, I mean, there isn't anything we can add. I guess we could have more reach, I guess. Like, we can reach out and, be able to when I say have more reach, I guess, like, put have our hands in different pots, I guess, regarding the community and what's going on. With homelessness being at forethought, yeah, I don't I don't even know if that was a good answer.
Katie White [:It was a good answer. Getting out into places that were not already. Yeah. Absolutely. Fair enough. Right?
Terence Toone [:Yeah. Yeah.
Katie White [:Alright. Grant, anything?
Grant Ames [:Well, especially in this space, I think that we are taking a leadership position and I see us in the next few years continuing to not only step in and partner and help to create a network like COSHN, but that we can start to take the lead and have these conversations and not not be just in the room raising our hand when older adults are left out of the conversation, but really start to push this issue forward. And it not just be something that we're we're reminding people that exists, but we're in the forefront of saying, hey, this is this is a real reality, and we need resources and support from all of you to start to address this. And I think that, we can get to that point. I really think that we're already taking those steps in that direction. But I think that where where we're going is gonna need us to stand up a little even more than we are now and and bang pots and pans and get people's attention and wave our arms because, I think that, I just think that we were up against the classic trope of what aging looks like.
Katie White [:Right.
Grant Ames [:We're always kind of constantly fighting back against that. Retirees living a stable life and a home that they own, and they have everything that they need, and they're in a good shape. But because I think that that's not the reality for the majority of the folks that we serve. And I think the I think that the issues that come with poverty don't go away when you hit 60 or 55. They're they they keep going and they actually get worse
Katie White [:as as we lose focus. Disadvantage.
Grant Ames [:Right? And so I think that we have we have a responsibility, to take on our role as an area agency on aging to to push for these type of things. We're always involved in what health care looks like and things like that, but I think these social issues are gonna be ones that we're gonna be moving the needle on more than anything else.
Katie White [:We'll do what we always do, which is identify an unmet need. Instead of stepping in and telling people how to do it, we'll step in and learn it, learn how to do it, and we'll do it.
Terence Toone [:Yeah. For sure.
Katie White [:Yeah. For sure.
Terence Toone [:I mean, in the piggyback real quick off what Grant said, I think a lot of what I do now at some of these other meetings is that, like, hey. Don't forget elders are a part of the homeless demographic. Right? Like, I I feel like it's always a hand raising thing. Mhmm. And I would like to get to a point where, like you were saying, like, that is the first, is one of the first priorities. Like, you think homeless, you think pregnant women and elders.
Katie White [:That's right.
Grant Ames [:Right?
Katie White [:That's right. Well, thank you both so much.
Terence Toone [:Thank you. Oh, thank you so much.
Katie White [:I hope now you know something about the Central Ohio Stable Housing Network.
