W.Va. homeless ranks rise, study reports

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The number of homeless people increased in West Virginia between January 2005 and January 2007 more quickly than almost anywhere in the nation, according to a study released Monday by a Washington, D.C.-based group.

Homelessness in the Mountain State rose by 58 percent, according to the new report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Only Kentucky had a higher rate, with a 63 percent increase.

The state had 2,409 homeless people in January 2007, according to the report. West Virginia was one of 18 states where the number of homeless increased.

Kanawha, Putnam, Boone and Clay counties had 325 homeless people in January 2007, a 19 percent decline over the previous two years.

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones has made attractive and affordable housing a priority of his administration, said mayoral assistant Rod Blackstone.

In 2005, Jones reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to redevelop Spring Hill.

"The Spring Hill Apartments, now Vista View, was headed for foreclosure," Deputy Mayor Rod Blackstone said on Monday. "We prevented what would have been a housing crisis if Spring Hill had been foreclosed and people sent out to the streets.

"We made it much more attractive and increased the number of people who live up there," he said. "And we have provided about 100 other new units in places like the Patrick Street townhouses, Orchard Manor and Washington Manor."

But 331 homeless people in the Huntington area, including Cabell and Wayne counties, represent a 6 percent increase over those two years, according to the study. And 118 homeless people in the Wheeling-Weirton area represented a 19 percent increase.

Corey Ingram, a development assistant with the Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless, said conditions have been improving and the number of homeless in the area has dropped to 280.

"Chronically homeless people are 15 percent of the homeless population," Ingram said. "But they consume the most resources in emergency room visits, jail costs, detoxification centers. That costs taxpayers a lot of money.