Homelessness Increasing in Oxford

BY MARIEL PADILLA | Miami University Journalism Student

The homeless population has nearly doubled in Oxford to date this year, the most since the 2008 recession, officials said.

Oxford has more than 50 households considered homeless by the federal government, which is significantly higher than the previous average of 25 households.

The surge is fueled by a lack of affordable housing and an increase in drug use, said Missy Thompson, client services supervisor at The Family Resource Center. The FRC is the lead agency, which responds to the Oxford community’s needs. There are three full-time staff members, one part-time staff member and many volunteers who serve the low-income community.

“We’re seeing people at their worst. I’ve never seen this level of despair with people. Families are stressed and stretched,” Thompson said.

Thompson pointed to changes at a local mobile home park and Miami University’s new hiring process as possible contributors as well.

This year, for the first time, the FRC received $20,000 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide solely for the homeless. This year HUD gave $78 million in federal funding to Butler County to support local housing and service programs.

In previous years, all the federal money allocated for Butler County went to one agency, The Community Development Professionals, in Hamilton. If a homeless person needed help, they had to go to Hamilton. Last year the countywide homeless coalition went regional so the money was allocated to different areas, including Oxford, according to the FRC’s Executive Director Diane Ruther-Vierling.

The Family Resource Center, Oxford’s main social service agency, serves an average of 500 low-income families annually. According to Ruther-Vierling, social service programs look at a family’s gross household income, the federal poverty guidelines and the number of individuals in the household to determine need.

The homeless population is 10 percent of all FRC’s clients, but Thompson said she spends one-third of her time focusing on the needs of that population, she said.

Limited Housing
This is the first year that the FRC has had difficulty finding affordable housing for people in Oxford. The vacancy rates of affordable apartments went from approximately 30 percent to 10 percent, Thompson said.

In Fall 2015, 4,002 freshmen enrolled at Miami becoming the largest class in the school's history. Due to limited on-campus housing, Miami University contracted with off-campus apartment complexes to house approximately 280 students, thus reducing the availability of affordable housing in Oxford.

The student population constitutes about half of Oxford’s total population and nearly half of the student population is living off campus in rental houses or apartments.

Thompson also attributes the spike to a change in ownership of two local mobile home parks. When local owners of the parks, which provided affordable housing to many, sold to a national company many residents were evicted, she said.

Additionally, the Butler Metro Housing Authority announced it was putting a temporary freeze on public housing applications in Hamilton and Middletown. According to their website, the BMHA has provided affordable rental housing to low-income households for over 70 years.

Effective on July 1, 2016, people could not put their names on a waiting list for public housing in Hamilton and Middletown until they could decrease the list size. BMHA will reopen the list for applicants on Nov. 1, 2016.

Drug Use Increases
Thompson estimates that approximately one third of the FRC’s homeless clients have drug related issues as well, based on a survey. Ruther-Vierling also said she thinks heroin is a big part of the homeless problem.

In 2014, Oxford police first noted an increase in opiate use. In 2015, the Butler County coroner office recorded 47 percent of all deaths were drug overdoses, which is an increase from 44 percent the previous year.

According to the Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix, drug overdoses are the leading cause of death in Butler County. In the past three years, more than 150 people have died from heroin overdoses, according to the Butler County Coroner.

“It’s been very alarming this year. Everybody’s been affected by this drug issue, it seems, whether it’s their personal habit with it or a family member,” Thompson said.

Community Response
The FRC helps people find jobs, apply for food assistance, sign up for Medicaid, get to a shelter, provide financial coaching and even mental health care. Because there’s no homeless shelter in Oxford, the FRC steps up to help out.

“We’re the conscience of the community. When people find someone with problems or in trouble, they send them to us. We do a lot to help people who are struggling,” Ruther-Vierling said. “If we weren’t here, some of them would fall through the cracks.”

Photo: a row of houses in one of Oxford's mobile home parks --Photo by Mariel Padilla