County to start support circles for homeless

Orange County community members hope a new support system will help homeless people get back on their feet.

The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness will hold a summit Friday morning at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church to inform the community of a new support circles program based on a Wake County program that has already shown some success.

The support circles will be made up of eight to 10 volunteers from the community who will help individuals transition from a homeless shelter to permanent housing and independent living.

Jamie Rohe, homelessness program coordinator for the partnership, said the transition process is especially difficult within the first year.

While there are existing Orange County programs to aid the homeless, there are obvious gaps which the support circles are helping to fill, said Bernadette Pelissier, the chairwoman of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness and the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

“Support circles are just one component being added to the effort. They don’t stand alone,” she said.

The summit, which will have 70 participants, will cover how to set up a support circle team, said event coordinator Tish Galu.

Circles will help people in the transition process with financial and practical support, such as helping furnish a new house, taking them to appointments or managing a budget.

“We have a wide variety of people attending, and it’s more than I expected,” Galu said.

“We contacted a couple hundred churches in Orange County. Then there are people from schools and neighboring communities.”

Galu said the training summit is only the beginning of what Orange County hopes to accomplish with the support circles.

“Support circles are a best-practiced model that is being implemented across the country, mostly by faith-based groups,” Rohe said. “They are very effective, and these groups feel like they’re really contributing to a larger coordinated effort.”

Pelissier said the circles are key in helping former homeless people sustain independence.

“It’s all about establishing direct connections with individuals in the community,” she said. “Knowing there is a person you can call really helps you overcome major issues.”

Rohe said the program benefits more than just the homeless — it benefits the community, too.

“The support circles are educating people, and that is huge,” she said. “The difference between someone who becomes homeless and someone who doesn’t is a support system.”

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