Regional homelessness coalition outlines local counts, HUD limits and volunteer needs

Don Scott, the homeless systems navigator with FLAGLER by way of Saint Joseph’s Villa, and Crater Area Coalition on Homelessness Director Shaska Weathers told the Petersburg City Council on May 6 that regional coordination is expanding efforts to prevent and end homelessness in Petersburg and surrounding localities.

The presenters said the coalition (CASH) operates under HUD rules and collects figures that meet HUD’s strict definition of homelessness — people living in shelters, on the street, or in places not meant for human habitation — and therefore do not include unstably housed people who are “couch surfing” or paying for hotel stays. Katie Clon (presented as Katie Clan), the coalition data lead, said the system showed roughly 330 households and about 555 people served in Petersburg in the last fiscal year; of those, Clon said, about 215 were minors…