CINCINNATI — Rising rental prices are leaving some homeless and creating new challenges for people who have served time in prison and the agencies trying to help.
Julius Beamon works security in downtown Cincinnati. He’s been making sure homeless people aren’t sleeping on private property, but he said last year, he was the one who was homeless.
“I was staying with a female, and then her landlord didn’t want me to be there because I wasn’t on the lease. I broke down crying because I’d never been homeless,” said Beamon.
He said he was living in the streets for months, still working security, but he said it wasn’t enough to afford his own place, so he did something he didn’t want to do.
“I don’t wanna be at my job, knowing that I gotta live at my job where people don’t know I’m here, or me staying over just so I have a roof over my head,” said Beamon.
When a sheriff’s deputy noticed him working late just to have a place to stay, that’s when Hamilton County’s Office of Reentry stepped in and helped him get into a homeless shelter.
“Everything everybody (has) done for me, they didn’t have to do, but they took a chance,” said Beamon.
It’s a different kind of case for Trina Jackson, the director at the re-entry office. Her office normally only helps former inmates after they’ve served time in prison, but she said the housing problem is still the same.
“It’s extremely challenging and discouraging for our clients as well,” said Jackson.
She said it’s challenging because of the rental prices.
According to new numbers from rent.com, the average price for a one-bedroom rental in Cincinnati is close to $1,400. That’s up more than 38% compared to last year’s prices—the prices that someone fresh out of prison can’t always afford. Jackson said they’re trying to help.
“The housing choice voucher would be a great option for them, Hamilton County also has allocated dollars for re-entry housing so we can develop housing for our clients,” said Jackson.
Beamon never had to serve any time behind bars but he got help getting back on his feet. He’s now out of the shelter, in his own place, working to afford it.
“Always stay positive, no matter what,” said Beamon.
