FRANKLIN — Booming Warren County seems like an unlikely place to find homeless people.

        The area midway between Cincinnati and Dayton includes some of Greater Cincinnati's wealthiest communities, and it's more rural than urban.

Franklin resident Linda Schneider (left) and daughter Cheyenne now have an apartment after being left homeless earlier this year, thanks in part to the Warren County homeless aid program Transitions. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “They're not visible,” says Mary Gilbert, director of the Warren Metropolitan Housing Authority.

        But they do exist. The Warren Metropolitan Housing Authority gets more than 300 calls a year from residents who don't have a place to call home, Debbie Groves says.

        Ms. Groves is director of Transitions, a housing authority program that helps families find and keep housing for two years. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development renewed the program's funding this week to the tune of $1.7 million.

        The program, which can accommodate 50 to 80 families at a time, has helped 448 families since 1993, according to Ms. Groves. To qualify for Transitions, residents must currently be homeless and have children.

        Half are victims of domestic abuse, she says — often referred by the Abuse and Rape Crisis Center of Warren County.

        Franklin resident Linda Schneider credits Transitions with helping her reassemble her life after a bad relationship left her and her toddler without a home.

        They lived in Middletown's Hope House for a month before Transitions helped them get a two-bedroom apartment in May.

        “I kind of got in a bind,” Ms. Schneider, 30, says as 2-year-old Cheyenne plays nearby. “Now I have a roof over her head.”

        Transitions found free furniture for Ms. Schneider's apartment through local charities and will help her get medical assisting training at the Warren County Career Center starting in January.

        The program also can help clients with expenses such as child care and car repairs.

        “They didn't get in this shape overnight, and they won't get out of it overnight,” Ms. Groves says. “And it's not a free ride.”

        Clients must contribute toward the rent, attend life-skills classes and stay drug-free.

        Ms. Schneider, who is working two jobs, is willing to do whatever it takes.

        “I was self-sufficient before,” she says. “I want to get back there.”
       

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