Oswego County has witnessed a 79% increase in homeless people in the last year, according to a public housing and homelessness forum sponsored by the Richard S. Shineman Foundation on Oct. 3 in the city of Oswego. This increase reflects a state and national trend of an ever-growing crisis that not only affects the homeless, but has spillover effects into the lives of the general population as well. 

Megan Stuart, director of the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York, stated that the number of homeless people in Oswego County rose from 76 in 2022 to 136 this year. Using 2019 as a benchmark, this number has increased by 161%. 

Stuart elaborated on different misconceptions regarding homelessness at the forum. 

“This is not the population that you may think of, [those] in a tent living outside for years,” Stuart said. “That really is the minority. Only 5% of people on that night were what we consider chronically homeless, which means they have experienced homelessness four times in the past three years.”

Stuart suggested that homelessness is a much broader issue than most people assume it to be. “We’re looking at people working down on their luck who just need to get back into permanent housing,” Stuart said. 

At the forum, members of the community who attended were asked as groups to brainstorm ideas on how to combat the rising trend of homelessness. The groups each came up with a list of currently available resources, unmet needs of the community and potential solutions to the ongoing issue.

One solution the groups created was the expansion of shelters for housing vulnerable individuals. The development of additional transitional housing and shelters specialized to take youths aged 18 to 24 is seen as a necessity, as Stuart reported that 10% of Oswego County’s homeless population was under the age of 25.

A lack of community education on the issue of homelessness was also discussed as an unmet need. The attendees suggested the formation of a community group to advocate for awareness and funding toward the issue of homelessness.

At the forum, Mike, a 27-year-old Oswego County resident who only identified himself by his first name,  shared his story of the different struggles he had faced as a youth. Mike, who experienced homelessness firsthand, attributed his family life, law enforcement, drug abuse and financial troubles to his past situation. Mike urged the crowd to look into the root causes of homelessness rather than taking it on the surface.

“Homelessness is not just the absence of shelter, but it’s a manifestation of deep seeded societal issues,” Mike said. “It can result from a variety of factors, including economic hardships like job loss, low wages and a high cost of living, which can force individuals and families into homelessness.”

Through the use of resources such as Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and halfway houses, Mike made a recovery and has been sober since 2018 along with owning his own apartment for the past two years. 

“Homelessness is a challenge that affects us all,” Mike said. “It’s a resolution that requires a collective effort. And by understanding the root causes, recognizing the consequences, and supporting effective solutions, we can move closer to a world where homelessness is a thing of the past.” 

Dr. David Lehmann, medical director and co-founder of “HouseCalls for the Homeless” program offered through SUNY Upstate, highlighted the stigmatization that homeless individuals face in a medical setting. 

“They come in and they got all these other social issues, and it’s a lot of psychiatric issues, et cetera, and they can be tough patients in that setting,” Lehmann said. “But what people don’t see is all this monstrous stuff behind that makes people a tough patient, right?…So what happens is that they’ll get stigmatized. They all are going to be labeled as a drug addict, no matter if they are or not.”

According to the official website of Upstate Medical Center, “‘HouseCalls for the Homeless’ is a ‘street medicine’ program that provides medical, psychiatric, and addiction care services for men and women experiencing homelessness in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Street medicine aims to create relationships with individuals on the streets and sleeping at shelters to help them live healthier lives.” 

This stigmatization in the medical world has added to the everyday challenges of being chronically homeless. Lehmann, having observed this negative outlook in person, decided to make a change by stepping away from his clinical role as a hospitalist and focusing on helping those who were out on the streets. 

The issue of homelessness in rural areas is tough because of how hidden it is. While in urban areas homeless people will be seen on the streets, in rural areas homeless people revert to staying in private areas. It is common for homeless people in rural areas to “couch surf,” the act of living in other people’s homes as they do not have their own living area. The nature of homelessness in rural areas thus makes it less obvious, in turn making it seem like a smaller issue. 

“People don’t view it as a problem and therefore will sometimes reject solutions to that homelessness,” Mike Borge, executive director of the Rural Housing Coalition of New York, said. “What’s afflicting… Oswego County and the City of Oswego is a shortage of affordable housing, growth of short term rentals, displacing long term residents, and just the lack of new construction.” 

According to CaringWorks, a non-profit agency with the goal of ending nationwide homelessness, “homelessness… has a ripple effect throughout the community. It impacts the availability of healthcare resources, crime and safety, the workforce and the use of tax dollars.” 

The reduction of homelessness is thus a primary objective for communities looking to improve their standards of living, especially rural ones such as Oswego where opportunities of socioeconomic growth are limited.