“In Greensboro, the poverty rate is just sitting at 20 percent,” said Lamar Gibson, director of development at the Interactive Resource Center (IRC). “For one in five people, poverty is real. It’s their daily experience.”

Homelessness exists everywhere, and, according to homeless advocates in the Greensboro community, there are people on the streets who need help. Help manifests itself in the form of a hot meal at Greensboro Urban Ministry, clothes for children from the Salvation Army, a bed to sleep in at the Servant Center, or job training at the IRC.

These agencies work to help homeless people in Greensboro and High Point. Ruth deButts is a sophomore Bonner scholar and project coordinator for Pathways Tutoring and Enrichment Program, a housing program based out of Greensboro Urban Ministry which provides families with a safe housing option until they find more permanent and secure housing.

Tutoring at Pathways is definitely a worthwhile and meaningful experience for deButts, but it poses challenges.

“The worst part is not knowing where the kids end up when the families move into more stable housing,” said deButts.

Partners Ending Homelessness, an alliance of government agencies and non-profit groups that had its monthly Provider Coalition Meeting on Oct. 13, is working to end homelessness in Guilford County. They are taking part in a 10-year plan to end homelessness. The plan was implemented on June 4, 2007, according to their website.

According to Partners Ending Homelessness, Guilford County has cut homelessness rates in half since 2007.

“We’re going to operate in honesty and integrity in everything we do,” said Darryl Kosciak, executive director of Partners Ending Homelessness.

However, when viewing homelessness from a local perspective, the issue can appear much more severe.

“With the worsening of the economic situation, the numbers of homeless folks have increased, and what haven’t increased in relation to that are the services available to these people,” said Gibson.

Indeed, funds for homeless shelters continue to be cut, a residual impact of the deteriorating economy.

“Homelessness is worse than it was three years ago, and many have lost the sense of urgency,” said Liz Seymour, executive director of the IRC. “The current poverty rate is just seen as the new normal.”

“We operate by raising money from the public,” said Clyde Fitzgerald, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank. “In the economic situation that we find ourselves, it’s been much more difficult because foundations and individuals have been so hard hit.”

Second Harvest Food Bank provides food to those in need in an effort to combat the growing issues of hunger and food insecurity.

According to Second Harvest Food Bank, someone who is food insecure is defined as not knowing where their next meal will come from. In Guilford County, 19.2 percent of residents are food insecure, 39 percent of whom are unable to qualify for federal aid based on income. Additionally, one out of every three people suffering from food insecurity in Guilford County is a child under the age of 18.

“Guilford County was rated fourth-worst in the country for food insecurity among all individuals,” said Fitzgerald. “During this period of economic recession, the people that we serve are the first to get hit and the last to benefit from any recovery.”

Fitzgerald points to education as a contributing factor.

“There is a multi-generational education deficit in North Carolina,” said Fitzgerald. “According to the U.S. Department of Education, 14 percent of adults (nationally) do not have a high school degree or G.E.D. equivalent. Based on North Carolina government numbers, that number jumps to 30 percent. Furthermore, among adults in this state who need food assistance, this number jumps to 41 percent, nearly triple the national average.”

There is something to ascertain from the myriad of voices shattering the shell around this issue: homelessness is not all about numbers or ratios. It is about capable people pushed to the outskirts of society.

“I think one of the big issues is getting along with the community,” said one homeless man at the IRC. “Homeless people are here and we don’t have anywhere to go. You can only sweep under the rug so long before you start to see the hump.”

The necessity of community acceptance seems to be a driving factor in the pursuit of a solution to this problem.

“One thing I have not seen change is human resilience,” said Seymour. “The best part of how people respond has not changed.”

Organizations are not blind to the problem of homelessness and are eager to raise awareness in the greater Greensboro community. On Oct. 23, Greensboro Urban Ministry held its thirty-first annual Crop Hunger Walk. In the past, the walk has raised over $200,000 and donated over $53,000 to the Potter’s House Community Kitchen.

The Crop Walk website provides statistics about hunger worldwide, but simply reading statistics does not solve the problems that we all see firsthand.

“What all of this data points to is that the problem of hunger as well as homelessness is persistent, pervasive, serious, and … growing,” said Fitzgerald. “Only about 10 percent of the problem is highly visible. The bigger problem is the other 90 percent, the middle America now caught in this economic morass, who are in a position they’ve never been in before, who need help that they’ve never needed before.”