FLORENCE COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released an estimate of homeless people across America.
While those numbers of homeless people have declined nationally by 11%, in South Carolina the numbers instead rose by 6%.
According to a point in time count in January there are nearly 400 people across the Pee Dee who are homeless.
The Whosoever Community Church of God is an emergency shelter in Florence County. The shelter opened two years ago and offers those who are homeless food, clothes and a place to stay.
68 year-old Charles Planter has been a victim of homelessness for more than 10 years. But he’s been coming to the Whosoever Community Church for the past year.
“I walked these streets here for months, that’s the truth, by this building and didn’t know what it was,” mentioned Planter.
According to HUD, veteran, family, and chronic homelessness has dropped nationwide.
In South Carolina there are more than 5,000 people who have experienced homelessness, a twenty percent increase since 2010.
In fact from 2010 to 2015 veteran homelessness rose to 11%, family homelessness rose to 8% and those homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years rose to 36%.
Stew brown is a resident at the shelter too, he moved to Florence County a week ago from West Virginia.
“Everybody closed their doors except for this place here,” said Brown
Brown has been staying at the facility since he got there. He hopes to start a new life.
“Things are tough all over so when you get here and there’s limited opportunity and someone takes you in like this, rather than being homeless it really gets you. So that was my Thanksgiving and spirit of Thanksgiving. I’m grateful,” Brown said.
The Administrative Director David Lucas say the shelter serves dinner seven days a week starting at 6:30 p.m.
