FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – James Birt lived homeless in Asheville, North Carolina in 2017, and spent the rest of that year hopping freight trains on the West Coast.
When he returned to Southern West Virginia he wanted to take the knowledge he gained on the road to make a positive impact in his community. Birt says there’s a severe lack of services here.
“They might have access to their immediate needs like shelter, food, some clothes, place to stay for a night or two,” said Housed-Up, Inc. Founder/President/CEO Birt. “But they don’t have that link to try to get them to their permanent housing or income.”
According to the community advocate, a lack of funding is the challenge. Only about half have overlapping, co-occurring substance abuse or mental health issues, but that needs to be collectively addressed.
“When you’re talking to several different service providers and have several different appointments you have to go to for several different things, and you don’t have any transportation (or) anywhere to store your documentation,” Birt said. “What’s hurting people here the most is even when they’ve secured most of those things, there’s such a lack of decent, safe, and affordable housing in this state.”
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“The explosion of short-term rentals in the area has exacerbated housing prices,” said Birt. “It’s really hard for people struggling to make it in those conditions.”
The Housed-Up CEO says many he’s talked to have the attitude it’s an ‘easy fix,’ these people just have to get a job. Birt adds that what got them in their situation is a compounding of factors that crashed down and they don’t have a support system to help them get out.
“So just telling them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps is not helping,” he said. “We should be telling our local leaders and legislators we need to address the affordable housing issue for us to have safe, decent, affordable housing. That’s the underlying issue — it’s not being funded.”
To all those affected, Birt says register to vote.
“So you can engage your local legislators and politicians and let them know we need housing options,” he said. “You guys need housing options.”
The community advocate welcomes you to reach out to him directly at 304-860-0298.
“If you know somebody experiencing homelessness in Fayette or Raleigh County — because Housed-Up covers Fayette and Raleigh — let me know and we’ll do what we can to connect them to services, whatever is out there and available,” said Birt.
TO LEARN MORE
https://www.facebook.com/housedupinc
For those interested in the Point-in-Time count in Fayette County, visit https://wvceh.org/pit
* You must register on the site to volunteer and sign the PIT volunteer release form. There is also an informational video that explains this event and the US app used during the time of the count, which starts on January 29 at 4 pm and ends on January 30 at 4 pm.