By Shauna Scott Rhone
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Being homeless is tough. Especially at this time of year, especially for a family.

Donald and Christine Kornegay of Covington and their four children know how it feels. Last month, a housing violation forced them to leave their rent-controlled apartment.

After sending their 16-year-old son to live with relatives, they and their three younger children sought housing help from the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati.

HELP FOR THE HOMELESS

• Agencies that help the homeless • Churches in the Interfaith Hospitality Network

The network helped Mrs. Kornegay, 36, find a part-time job and is assisting in continuing medical care for Mr. Kornegay, 39, who suffered a job-related injury and has applied for disability. The network provides the family with temporary housing with host churches while they look for a permanent place to live.

This holiday season finds the Kornegays still with a roof over their heads and good reason to hope for more.

"My 4-year-old daughter said to me, `We don't have a home,' " says Mrs. Kornegay. "I told her `Yes, we do because we're still together. Home is in your heart.' "

Network case manager Eve Bolton says of the network: "Our sole motivation, when families cross our threshold, is to help them cross the threshold of their new home."

The hospitality networks of Greater Cincinnati and of Northern Kentucky (based in Covington)specialize in helping homeless families. The Cincinnati offices opened in Lower Price Hill in 1991; the Covington location opened in 1993.

Special case

Jerry Eddins and his two children were one of the families in the Greater Cincinnati network last summer. This year, they celebrated Christmas in their own apartment.

The 31-year-old single father says he had special difficulties bringing his family off the homeless rolls.

"I'm thankful the Interfaith Hospitality Network was there to help me," says Mr. Eddins. "There aren't a lot of options for single fathers. It seemed (agencies) were treating men differently" if they had children with them.

He and his son Jerry, 5, and daughter Brianna, 7, spent two month's in church housing, and he spent his days at the Price Hill hospitality network offices, using the phone and the computer, looking for a more permanent place for them.

"I got most of my housing opportunities off the Internet. I couldn't get any housing" through the city.

When he finally located a downtown apartment, the hospitality network helped him with the deposit, provided assistance for storage and utility bills and helped him get a job at a Mount Airy restaurant.

He says the center also taught him money management skills, and "I will teach my kids how to manage their money better so they won't have to learn the way I did."

He also credits his children for helping him through the strain of getting back on his feet.

"I knew if I gave up, they'd give up," says Mr. Eddins.

He also says the camaraderie with other families both in the center and the supporting congregations spurred him to ask about volunteering at a host church or at the network offices.

Constant search for help

Like Mr. Eddins, many of the parents who benefit from the hospitality network come back to volunteer their time or to encourage others who have entered the program. The Interfaith Hospitality Networks on both sides of the river are always looking for more churches, organizations and individuals seeking to help. The staffs are dedicated but feel the anxiety of not being able to help everyone who needs it.

"Our staff understands we could easily be sitting on the other side of the desk," says Juwanna Spencer, executive director of Northern Kentucky's network. "It's a `there but for the grace of God' kind of thing."

She says most of the parents who come to the network are working, but "their hourly wage is lower, and that indicates why affordable housing is hard to come by."

The next all-network meetings will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 14 at 336 W. Ninth St. in Covingtonand 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at 2104 St. Michael St. in Lower Price Hill. Interested people are invited to learn more about the organizations.

"I can't say enough about our congregations," says Bob Moore, the Cincinnati network's executive director. "They are the heart and backbone of this effort."

"Don't discredit the small amount you think you have to give," says Ms. Spencer. "You think it doesn't make a difference, but the time (volunteers) spend with the families makes an incredible difference. The parents tell us they're better families for having been with us."

Homeless rate rising

According to a survey by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, the number of area homeless people has increased by almost 200 percent in the last 15 years to more than 25,000. That number includes those in shelters, on the streets or living temporarily with a friend or relative.

Although single men account for the highest number of homeless, the coalition reports almost one-third of the homeless are children. Sixty-eight percent of the homeless found in the survey were African-American.

The Cincinnati-based hospitality network serves an average of 85 families a year and finds housing for nearly all of them, Mr. Moore says. Ms. Spencer says the Covington-based network serves an average of 90 families a year.

"We're strongly committed to the family unit," she says.

The importance of family is the networks' keystone. The faith-based outreach program started in New York City in 1981. The Cincinnati network includes 18 churches that take turns housing up to 10 families a week, and 31 supporting congregations that donate food, assistance and supplies.

Ten churches rotate responsibility for the families in the Northern Kentucky network; 26 other churches serve as supporters of the program. More than 900 volunteers from these churches, as well as volunteers from the community, contribute to the network.

These organizations are two of three in Greater Cincinnati that provide emergency housing for families with teenage boys. Hope House in Middletown also shelters families, but does not always allow them to stay together because they separate by gender.

Although the average family stay in the Cincinnati network is 30 days, the Covington network allows families to stay "as long as they are working toward independence," says Ms. Spencer. "We recognize that each family is unique, and those with children who come to us are going through difficult times. Plus, we know a two-parent family has the advantage (in finding more permanent housing) when both are employable."

The centers strive to create a "camp-like experience" for children, but the stress of homelessness is especially hard on them."

Ms. Spencer offers an anecdote she says is typical of what homeless children go through at this time of year.

"I got a letter addressed to Santa," she says, "it said, `What I want for Christmas is a home, Your friend, Joey.' "

Happy ending

John and Lady Davis and their 7-month-old son, John Simeon, are an example of a network success story.

In September , the Camp Washington family became homeless.

"Being homeless was something we never anticipated," says Mr. Davis, 50.

The Davises lived with relatives for a month after black mold caused by flooding drove them from their Loveland home. They didn't anticipate having to pay weekly for a cramped hotel room for an additional month.

"We drained our savings on the hotel costs," says Mrs. Davis, 28.

Both had jobs as musicians at a local restaurant, but their housing crisis left them feeling cash-strapped, frustrated and desperate.

"You feel like it's the end of your life," says Mr. Davis.

Running out of time and money, they started making phone calls to area agencies for help. A call to the Interfaith Hospitality Network started to turn things around. Ms. Bolton told the Davises the center was at capacity but encouraged them to call back in a few days.

"For every person we bring in," says Ms. Bolton, "I know we turn away between 10 and 14 people."

Within a week after the call, the Davises were sitting in Ms. Bolton's office, discussing the network's ground rules. Another family had just found housing and left the program, so they were in.

Two months later, John Davis couldn't hide his smile as he held two shiny silver keys tightly in one hand and shook his new landlord's hand with the other. They had been in a church, but now they had their own apartment.

The Davises celebrated this Christmas in their new home.

E-mail srhone@enquirer.com