Homelessness In Cincinnati: Discussing The Consumer, Community Members, And Social Service Agencies

Today one out of every five residents in Cincinnati is living in poverty, one out of every three kids. Linking people to each other so that they may learn and be encouraged will change lives and the City of Cincinnati and this necessity lies in the acknowledgment of an infrastructure that taps into the resources of Cincinnati’s thousands of individual volunteers, social service organizations/agencies and faith based programs.The purpose of this research is to explore the social service needs of the city of Cincinnati. This research used a case study approach to explore the poverty/social service relationships of the city of Cincinnati. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with consumers, non profits providers, government officials, and citizens.The research concluded that there are certain factors that are preventing the wide spread acceptance of a universal social service entity and that the majority of the issues are not primarily of prejudice of the homeless but rather financially driven reasons of aversion by the provider. Other issues of resistance arise in the form of gentrification and overall ignorance of the homeless population of Cincinnati.The findings of this research support the need for programs to provide increased intercultural awareness training for providers, and government officials and agencies and to have more involvement from consumers and community members in the planning process. Most importantly, providers and their programs need to emphasize the need for quality partnership and cross agency relationships.