Yokefellow serves homeless at new facility

Jan. 5—LENOIR — Yokefellow has decided to discontinue residential services and increase their existing homeless services at their new building.

LEOS (Lenoir Emergency Outreach Shelter) was born in the Lenoir High School gym the winter of 2011-2012. Up until that time, Caldwell County was the only county in the area that did not provide any emergency shelter to its unhoused residents. LEOS operated an emergency shelter in the gym from Dec. 1 through the last day of March for three years. When LEOS discontinued shelter services in the LHS at the end of March 2014, the construction of the current LEOS began. Yokefellow raised $162,708 for this renovation project. LEOS opened its doors on Jan. 4, 2015, one of the coldest days that winter, and completely debt-free.

Since January 2015, LEOS has operated 24/7, providing wrap-around case management services to 746 local homeless individuals. The rates of successful transitions into independent housing have ranged from 37% to 63% over the years. LEOS has provided 97,583 nutritious meals. Up until the pandemic, volunteers shared 48,648 hours of service. Yokefellow has funded the entire operating budget of LEOS from 2015 through 2022, totaling $623,446. LEOS payroll, also funded through Yokefellow's general operating budget from 2015 through 2022, totals $490,332. The residents of LEOS have presented with medical, dental, and transitional housing needs, all of which have been completely underwritten by the Yokefellow general operating fund totaling $20,273. Since opening in 2015, the city of Lenoir has provided Yokefellow regular maintenance support and has underwritten all the monthly utilities including power, natural gas, and water.

Yokefellow is proud that, along with the continued support of local businesses, foundations, churches and individuals, transformative and compassionate services have been shared with this vulnerable population. During the pandemic, LEOS experienced the loss of well-trained volunteers, with only three original volunteers remaining. Coupled with the loss of volunteers and critical staffing challenges (including two staff deaths during COVID), LEOS struggles to have sufficient staffing to operate 24/7.

During the past two or three years, the "face" of our homeless neighbors has changed. LEOS residents have become less interested in transformative, case management support. Like communities across the U.S., Caldwell County has seen an increase in panhandling and individuals building encampments on public and private properties. Contrary to rumors, there is no evidence that there are buses bringing additional homeless individuals into Caldwell County. There are transient homeless who travel about, town to town, and state to state. Yokefellow does not provide full shelter services to anyone who is not a resident of Caldwell County. However, in 2022 alone, Yokefellow spent more than $5,000 in Greyhound tickets to send homeless individuals as far as Wyoming, Florida, Rhode Island, California, Georgia, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Ohio to reunite them with the families and communities from which they came and where they can receive the support they need.

Last winter, Yokefellow created a written resource guide, now in its second printing, that gives the unsheltered the locations of daily food sources, the three choices of shelter services at LEOS, and the provision of basic needs at Yokefellow.

The rapid increase of drug addiction, growing numbers of individuals with untreated mental illness, combined with the lack of adequate addiction detox, recovery and mental health services, and the absence of affordable housing and public transportation, has made the case management component of LEOS next to impossible. LEOS is not alone. Many N.C. shelters are opening and closing each evening with empty beds, all while the numbers of unsheltered homeless climb higher each year. Yokefellow has said many times, "We cannot gather these folks and make them come indoors."

LEOS maintains an occupancy capacity of 16. In years past, the shelter stayed at full with a lengthy waiting list. In November 2021, basic walk-in emergency shelter was made available every day. Safe-Site parking was also created for those living in their vehicles, providing safe, undisturbed spaces to park at LEOS.

With these additional "no barrier" services, shelter numbers continue to remain low. The week of Christmas, there were only five individuals in residence, and one in Safe-Site parking. It became apparent that it was possible and more economical to place these five residents in alternative shelter. Yokefellow did not receive emergency communications about the severe weather predictions or requesting the availability of warming shelter beds. Therefore, current LEOS residents were placed in supervised housing for the holiday weekend.

Given the ongoing challenges, this week, Yokefellow presented written notice to the city of Lenoir that the organization will be providing homeless services from their location at 202 Harper Ave, thus discontinuing residential services at LEOS on West Avenue. The bulk of homeless people needing services and care are unsheltered, and Yokefellow has been active in providing daily meals, clothing, weather provisions, and support and outreach services since moving into their new facility in January 2020.

Yokefellow/LEOS will provide every effort to provide access to emergency shelter until the end of winter, the last day of March 2023.

Yokefellow participated in discussions and meetings in October regarding the county-wide homeless situation and the availability of $4 million earmarked for homeless services. This fund is currently held by the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG) to develop an overall strategy for providing homeless solutions and services in Caldwell and neighboring counties.

"Yokefellow is the longest-serving agency provider to this marginalized population and will continue to support this county-wide effort to serve the community in the best way possible," said Executive Director Sharon Harmon. "The community-at-large has been an integral partner in the successes of LEOS. Yokefellow values the ongoing support as we move forward with additional programs and services at 202 Harper Ave. If any member of the community needs to discuss this shift in service, Yokefellow will be more than happy to come to your location or invite you to visit our 202 Harper Ave location and have a more in-depth conversation."

"This has been a difficult decision for the Yokefellow, and we appreciate your support."