CLEVELAND — After four men experiencing homelessness died in a matter of weeks in Cleveland, local organizations are sharing more about the challenges faced by the homeless community.
On Monday night, the four men who died were remembered in a ceremony. Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) executive director Chris Knestrick was there.
“That feels particularly worrisome and speaks to the humanitarian crisis and the public health crisis,” he told 3News of the deaths.
Knestrick said the four men who died recently did not freeze to death, though he said that has happened in Cleveland in the past.
PREVIOUSLY: Community members raise concerns after 4 homeless men die in Cleveland within matter of weeks
3News reached out to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office to learn more about the number of people experiencing homeless who die in the county every year. 3News was told it can be hard to track this kind of data because they will not always know who is currently homelessness, as people may have an address attached to them that was a prior residence, where they no longer live.
However, data of deaths of confirmed homeless persons from 2010 through 2022 indicates that the most deaths per year were seven, with the lowest number of deaths in a year being one. Last year, the data shows five people experiencing homelessness died.
Knestrick said there are about 250 people sleeping on the streets currently in Cuyahoga County, a number which does not include the number of people sleeping in shelters.
“At NEOCH, I think what we’re most concerned right now about is the rising number of families experiencing homelessness in our community,” he said. “It’s one of the first times we’ve seen families sleeping outside on a regular basis, trying to get access to shelter.”
He said more families are coming into homelessness as they lose extra benefits and emergency funds that were available during the pandemic.
Dean Roff, founder of Homeless Hookup CLE said he wants to see more permanent solutions for those experiencing homelessness.
“They walk away from us with a sleeping bag, and no solution,” Roff said. “A lunch, and nothing past that.”
Roff, who experienced homelessness himself, does regular outreach to support the homeless community, distributing supplies and meals. Recently, he said he handed out 63 lunches, the highest amount he can remember giving out in one outing.
David Merriman, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services, said he hopes that anyone who knows someone who is unsheltered will encourage them to go to shelters. He said the men’s shelter on Lakeside Avenue in Cleveland has capacity for 365, plus overflow. Yesterday, he said they had 327 people staying in the shelter.
Merriman said the county bought the building next door to the existing shelter at 2100 Lakeside in order to deconcentrate the shelter.
“The reality is those bunkbeds meet residents’ basic needs, but that’s not the most stable environment for someone who’s really struggling,” Merriman said. “So what we’re doing is we are expanding the services and quality of services in our shelter system. We’re actually not going to increase the number of beds, we will still have 365 beds, but what we’ll be doing is offering room-like settings for residents that are having this experience to have a little more dignity, to have a more stable environment.”
Merriman said the hope is that renovations on the new building will be completed by the end of this month. Merriman said after the renovations on the new building are completed, the original shelter building will also undergo renovations to the tune of about $4 million.
“Our belief is that that will be an environment that more people will feel comfortable utilizing,” he said. “And as they utilize it and as they become more stable, they’ll be prepared for housing. Because at the end of the day, the solution to homelessness is not shelters, it’s housing.”
Merriman also said the Office of Homeless Services is working with community partners to create an unsheltered housing plan, which he said will be released in the near future.
"This is something we're concerned about, and we're taking a hard look at," he said.