According to the Wilder Foundation’s latest count in 2006, a total of 9,200 individuals in Minnesota were without a home, and the projection is that in 2010, that number will go up to 140,000.

In the Cambridge-Isanti-North Branch area of the five-county Region 7-E, families without shelter have a place to go to spend the night and have a hot meal.   Unlike some communities outside the Twin Cities Metro area, 17 churches in the Cambridge-Isanti-North Branch area are organized through New Pathways to provide homeless families with a place to stay overnight.

The program is modeled after the  National Interfaith Hospitality Network Program called Family Promise.

New Pathways, approaching its 10^th year in the Cambridge area, has solicited 17 churches who each take four weeks during the year to harbor homeless families with children overnight, feed them dinner and breakfast, pack a lunch and send them to a Day Care Center.

At the Center, they stay and get help from an educator and a caseworker, all designed to get them shelter and employment.  The average stay of the 36 families per year at New Pathways is 59 days; only five percent come back.

There is a similar program in the Brainerd area, but other communities should be aware that there are “hidden homeless” who need help.

In general, outside the urban areas, the “hidden homeless” are “couch hopping,” moving one family to another, specifically young single people and those whose homes were lost through foreclosure. Few counties have urban-type shelters, which explains why they do not gather for shelter.

In the Elk River area, a program modeled after the New Pathways is being organized, but more churches are needed. The city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority has made exploring homelessness as one of its goals for next year. Sherburne County officials report that during the past year 170 families have had issues with housing and being without shelter

Anoka County officials report that there are 1,004 people experiencing homelessness.   One non-profit shelter reports Stepping Stone Emergency shelter is licensed to serve 16 adults with a structured program.  Since April, 35 to 40 people consistently are on the waiting list.

In Mille Lacs, Morrison, Dakota and Washington counties, there’s more couch hopping and rarely do people have to sleep in cars and under a bridge.

During these difficult economic times, it behooves communities to provide shelter for the hidden homeless people.

A shelter in each community, perhaps modeled after the successful New Pathways model, would be a welcome year-long gift for individuals unable to find shelter in their communities. – DON HEINZMAN