# data[].attributes.body
Claim ~ Why Mr. Rebel is getting phased out.
Support ~ "Last year Boone County High School's Site-Based Decision Making Council – which includes faculty and parent representation – decided to enact a policy stating the school would phase out using the Mr. Rebel logo."
Type of Evidence ~ Pathos

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FLORENCE - The Mr. Rebel image, part of Boone County High School for 60 years, is getting phased out.

Mr. Rebel is a Confederate general who stands tall in a light blue uniform, feathered cap, and English mustache.

Principal Timothy Schlotman said the decision has nothing to do with nationwide efforts to remove symbols of the Confederacy.

Those nationwide movements amped up after a June 2015 mass shooting at an Emanuel AME Church Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina. Soon after the killing of nine black worshippers, a photograph of the shooter, Dylann Roof, was circulated showing Roof waving a Confederate flag.

Calls to remove Confederate statues and other symbols have intensified after this month's deadly car attack at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Here in Kentucky, the city of Lexington voted unanimously Aug. 17 to remove two Confederate statues, pending approval by the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission.

At Boone County High School, the removal of Mr. Rebel has been a local decision that is considerably more low-key.

Last year Boone County High School's Site-Based Decision Making Council - which includes faculty and parent representation - decided to enact a policy stating the school would phase out using the Mr. Rebel logo.

Schlotman approached the council with the idea "because (the logo) did not fit with the global community of our building and the unity we were embracing."

Schlotman said the idea grew heavy on his heart in July of last year. He belonged to a group that hung flags representing 37 nationalities of students the Florence high school had at that time.

"Personally, I felt that the messages the flags sent did not coincide with the message some may think of with the Mr. Rebel logo," he said. "That logo just did not capture the image portrayed in the school."

The new "Rebels" logo at Boone County High School replaces the Confederate character mascot. (Photo: Provided/Boone County High Schools)

A student-created logo - featuring the letter "B" for Boone with "Rebels" in smaller letters and at a right angle inside the "B" - has replaced the Mr. Rebel image. Schlotman said the school has changed its letterhead, business cards and some signage in the building.

"We are replacing things as quickly as possible," the principal said.

The gym floor was also redone prior to last school year and the Mr. Rebel logo was removed. Schlotman said the administration is eliminating the logo as it can considering the costs of replacing items. Some signage was originally provided by outside companies through sponsorship contracts and are not as easy to quickly replace.

"It is a process," Schlotman said. "The areas we can fix quickly we are, some others just will take a bit more time. With a school that has been here since 1955, it will take some time to make that transition."

According to Schlotman, there has not been much feedback from students, parents or alums.

"We did get some feedback worrying we were changing our name Rebels, which we are not planning on doing. We can have that nickname and our school colors not associated with a Mr. Rebel-type mascot."

But Chad Ely, 39, of Hebron, said he doesn't believe there is anything offensive about the Mr. Rebel image.

"My grandmother was part of the first graduating class that chose this mascot and there is no reason at all to change it," he said. It's part of the heritage of our community. There's no negative racial connotation with it. They were literally in a meeting about it when the principal yelled at them that they are all just a bunch of rebels ... and it stuck."

Schlotman confirmed the history and said: "Story is, it was after the James Dean movie 'Rebel Without a Cause.'" A New York Times critic called the 1955 film release "a violent, brutal and disturbing picture of modern teenagers."

Ely said that Mr. Rebel, the mascot, is a character only. His great-uncle actually wore the mascot suit for decades during games.

Brandy Denny, 30, of Walton, called the Mr. Rebel mascot "iconic, like Tony the Tiger is to Frosted Flakes.

"I look at it this way, it's all a part of our history and what could make us stronger as a nation. He could stand as a reminder that we are strong as athletic teams but also as a piece of history. Reminders of what we went through to get where we are now," Denny said.

According to Schlotman, there are no plans to replace the mascot, however, the costume won't be used.

Schlotman, who is going into his second year as principal, starting his 33rd year at the high school, said he "feels a strong connection to this school and our history but also understands we are a school representative of a global community."

That global community continues to grow, he said, with 40 flags now hanging in the commons area. This global pride is seen, he said, standing strong among the students. Every year, during senior exit interviews, Schlotman said the administration consistently hears the best thing about the school has been its diversity.

"Students like meeting people from around the world and learning about their customs and cultures and how to get along," he said.

"Our school community embraces our diversity and appreciates the character our global community brings to our school," Schlotman said. "We celebrate that and welcome all students from around the globe to a great, caring and understanding place to learn."

Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/2xmpUDj

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New 'Rebels' logo replaces Confederate mascot at Boone Co. High School

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FLORENCE - The Mr. Rebel image, part of Boone County High School for 60 years, is getting phased out. Mr. Rebel is a Confederate general who stands tall in a light blue uniform, feathered cap, and English mustache. Principal Timothy Schlotman said the decision has nothing to do with nationwide efforts to remove symbols of the Confederacy.

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Claim ~ College students should not have to pay so much money for food and housing.
Support ~ "Of those 61 people, Revlett said seven — himself included — are doing a complete strike and consuming only water, with exceptions made for certain medical necessities, until UK administrators meet their demands. Other participants are striking in different ways, such as by committing to eat only one meal per day."
Support ~ "Food and housing insecurity is a big problem for UK students, he noted."
Type of Evidence ~ Pathos

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More than 60 University of Kentucky students joined a hunger strike this week meant to pressure school leaders to take specific steps to reduce food and housing insecurity among the student body.

The hunger strike was announced Wednesday evening and began in earnest on Thursday, according to Beau Revlett, a senior and philosophy major at UK who joined the strike.

Twenty-one students were originally part of the strike, but that number grew to 50 overnight and had reached 61 students by Thursday afternoon.

Of those 61 people, Revlett said seven - himself included - are doing a complete strike and consuming only water, with exceptions made for certain medical necessities, until UK administrators meet their demands. Other participants are striking in different ways, such as by committing to eat only one meal per day.

Related: Tuition or food? How college kids use food pantries to help food insecurity

They want UK President Eli Capilouto's administration to commit to taking the following actions:

Establish a Basic Needs Center at the university focused on helping students with housing and food-related challenges

Form a Basic Needs Fund, which would make small financial grants to students

Create a full-time position dedicated to addressing students' food and housing needs

Revlett, who is from Georgetown, said a Basic Needs Center is meant to be a central resource for students who are struggling to cover the costs of adequate food and housing. The full-time staffer would be a point person students could go to for help, and the center could provide case management assistance as well as small grants to UK students in need of help finding and paying for affordable food and housing options.

He noted that the hunger strikers' requests originally were recommendations made by the UK Food and Housing Security Workgroup, which the university hasn't adopted.

Revlett said he and other students decided to launch a hunger strike because they felt they had exhausted their other options. They hope to hear from UK's leaders quickly, he added.

"It would be best for not only the students who are hunger striking ... but more importantly, it would be best for all the students who can't pay for food and housing," he said.

Read this: Can indoor farming fix food deserts? These Louisville students think so

During his freshman year, Revlett joined a student organization called SSTOP Hunger (Sustainable Solutions to Overcome Poverty), which helped organize the Basic Needs Campaign in January to advocate for creating a Basic Needs Center that can offer better, more centralized resources to the campus community.

The organization has submitted a detailed proposal to university leaders and expect the requested actions could be funded with a budget of as little as $100,000 per year, Revlett said. Food and housing insecurity is a big problem for UK students, he noted.

In a message Capilouto prepared Thursday for UK's campus community, the university's president said he and members of his senior team have been meeting with a group of "passionate, committed students" about food insecurity issues, although they don't agree on every aspect of how to address such challenges.

"But while we may disagree in some of our specific approaches, we will never disrespect the concerns that have been raised or those who have raised them," Capilouto wrote. "Last night, a handful of students began a hunger strike. They say they will remain on the strike until specific steps are taken. We have reached out to them to show our concern for their wellness during this time and to assist them in any way we can."

Capilouto went on to describe various ways in which the university is already working to address students' financial challenges in terms of paying for food and other necessities.

"All of our students - their health, their wellness, and their success - are central to everything that we do. They are why we are here. To that end, students who have immediate needs can access support by contacting our six full-time employees focused on these issues," he wrote.

More coverage: Louisville has a fresh food problem. Can we fix it?

He mentioned that the university reduced the cost of its most popular meal plan by about 13 percent this academic year so that each dining hall entry costs under $5. Additionally, it is expanding the operating hours of its food pantry on campus to 48 hours per week and is raising money for an emergency fund that is meant to help address students' immediate needs, among other efforts.

"These next steps are a beginning, not an end. This is a journey we are on - as a campus community and as compassionate, caring citizens in a larger world," Capilouto concluded. "After all, we share the same goal - a commitment to making progress in ways that ensure the health and wellness of our students as we prepare them for lives of meaning and purpose."

Research conducted at UK in fall 2017 showed that 43 percent of the students who were surveyed had experienced some degree of food insecurity in the past year, while 8 percent indicated they had experienced some form of housing insecurity during that time period, according to a September 2018 workgroup presentation.

"Since the launch of the Campaign, students of the Basic Needs Campaign have had two meetings with UK President Eli Capilouto and other administrators," a news release announcing the students' hunger strike said. "In both meetings, administrators declined to support the campaign, and cast doubt on UK faculty-led, peer-reviewed research on student food and housing insecurity at UK."

Higher education: Kentucky colleges have 'spidey sense' for meddling parents

Revlett said there are organizations on UK's campus that provide mental health and other resources for students, but none that are specifically focused on food and housing-related missions. And organizations in the Lexington area don't have the capacity to fully support students in need, either.

"I've had experiences where about half a dozen students this year have texted me saying, 'Hey, I'm about to be homeless, can you help connect me with resources?'" he said, adding that community and campus organizations also have referred people to him for help even though he is a student himself.
Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @morganwatkins26. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/morganw.
Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2019/03/28/university-of-kentucky-students-go-hunger-strike-over-food-insecurity/3299878002/

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Kentucky students can't afford food. Dozens on hunger strike until school fixes it

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More than 60 University of Kentucky students joined a hunger strike this week meant to pressure school leaders to take specific steps to reduce food and housing insecurity among the student body. The hunger strike was announced Wednesday evening and began in earnest on Thursday, according to Beau Revlett, a senior and philosophy major at UK who joined the strike.

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Claim ~ Homelessness is a big problem in the NKY area.
Support ~ "Northern Kentucky school districts counted 2,939 students as homeless during the 2016-17 school year."
Support ~ "The figure includes students in Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton and Pendleton counties."

Type of Evidence ~ Logos

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COVINGTON, Ky. -- Tessa Bowling and Zander Hughes never thought of themselves as homeless.

But when Bowling looks back at the nearly two years she lived in a youth shelter, and Hughes looks back at the time he was a runaway staying with friends, they realize they technically were.

"I was still a teenager when I was kicked out of my uncle's house," said Hughes, now 19. He was 17 when he ran away from his father. "I didn't have anywhere to go. I called around, needed a couch to crash on and went from place to place."

Bowling, who is now 18, was 16 and a half when she went to the shelter after living with her aunt didn't work out.

"I always had a roof over my head," she said. "When I went to the shelter, I didn't want people to know I was there. I wanted to stay below the radar because nobody wants to go out and say they're homeless."

That stigma, along with a lack of reliable data on homelessness in Northern Kentucky, leaves children and youth who experience homelessness there largely invisible.

Shelley Werner

But a group of 40 people from 19 different organizations has been working to shine a spotlight on youth homelessness in the region to help the community understand just how big it is. They're especially focused on getting the word out now because it's National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week from Nov. 11 through Nov. 19.

"It's a huge problem in our community," said Shelley Werner, the families in transition coordinator for the Erlanger Elsmere School District. "Once you lose your housing it kind of gets into this vicious cycle where you're just trying to keep up all the time, and it affects everything down the line."

Northern Kentucky school districts counted 2,939 students as homeless during the 2016-17 school year. That's a 26 percent increase over just two years, Werner said. The figure includes students in Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton and Pendleton counties.

The increase has come in the number of school-age children who have no place to call home. The vast majority are not living on the street, in cars or even in shelters, like Bowling did. They're staying with friends or other family members or in low-cost hotels.

"Parents will do almost anything to make sure that their children are taken care of, so they're not going to go on the street," Werner said.
No emergency shelters for families
But as noble as that is, those families and their children don't qualify for help from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD funding for the homeless can only be used to serve people who are on the street or in a shelter or who are fleeing domestic violence, said Kevin Finn, CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness in Cincinnati.

Strategies focuses its work in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. But the organization has been trying to help the Northern Kentucky group and estimates there are at least 2,400 people a year who are on the streets or in shelters in Northern Kentucky, Finn said.

That doesn't include children and families who are doubled up with friends and relatives or living in hotels, however. Cincinnati and Hamilton County have some "shelter diversion" programs that can help those families that are doubled up or "precariously housed," Finn said. But there are no shelter diversion programs in Northern Kentucky, and there are no emergency shelters there either.

It leaves school district employees like Werner scrambling to help families and children in need with few resources or options.

"Not only are we trying to deal with the doubled up families, if they're moving a lot we have the added responsibility to get them academically stable," said Lori Eifert, the Project Home coordinator for Covington Independent Public Schools.

A group of educators and service providers has been meeting regularly in Northern Kentucky to figure out ways to address childhood homelessness.

That requires coordinating transportation to keep students in the schools where they have started the school year so they have some academic stability in their lives.

"It could mean one day we're sending a cab to Newport, then we find out at 4 o'clock on a Friday that we need to go to Erlanger," Eifert said.

That makes coordination critical among school districts in Northern Kentucky and in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, she said.

But as difficult as that work is for school district staff such as Eifert and Werner, they know the problem is toughest on the children experiencing homelessness, whether they call it that or not.
'Just trying to stay afloat'
In all the time Bowling spent at the youth shelter, she saw lots of younger children come and go. The shelter was designed for kids between the ages of 11 and 18. But younger children sometimes were allowed to stay there, too, if they had older siblings in the shelter and would be alone without them.

"There was this one little girl there, and she was scared. I asked her if she wanted to sleep with one of my stuffed bunnies," Bowling said.

She told the little girl that the bunny was very important to her and that it got scared sleeping alone. The little girl got so attached to the toy that Bowling let her keep it, she said.

"It was kind of hard to see little kids going through that situation," she said. "Going through things they didn't understand."

It was hard for Bowling, too, of course. She ended up failing three classes her junior year in high school because of all the upheaval of moving to the shelter. She made up two of them over the summer and took the other one her senior year.

Hughes was in the midst of completing high school online when he ran away. He had to return the tablet he used for classes but ended up completing his high school requirements through a program in Boone County.

These purple ribbons are for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

Now he's working late-night shifts at a factory job, earning enough to pay rent to a friend in East Price Hill and save up for a car. He's hoping to get his own place and then get enrolled in college, first at Cincinnati State and then University of Cincinnati.

Bowling graduated from high school and is going to college at Gateway Community and Technical College. She advocates for other youth as a member of the First Lady's Youth Leadership Council in Kentucky. She has her own apartment, and she's mending her relationships with her family.

Still, there are plenty of challenges.

"Honestly, I'm just trying to stay afloat," she said. "Being in the shelter kind of cut me off from some of the normal adult skills I would have learned from my parents. And it can be kind of lonely going from living in a group home to living by yourself."
'We don't teach people how to speak out'
Bowling said she would like to see more mentorship programs for foster youth or kids experiencing homelessness who lack stability at home.

She has a mentor who is teaching her how to cook, she said, and seeing that person every week means the world to her.

Hughes agreed, adding that he is trying to mentor some younger friends on his own. Hughes helps them with money when he can and listens when they need someone to do that.

As someone who has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, Hughes has leaned on Bowling, too, even though she's younger.

He never sought help through government programs because he didn't want to get sent home and didn't know how to advocate for himself, he said.

"We don't teach people how to speak out," he said. "That's why a lot of people don't catch it."

Werner said there are many other ways to help, too:

* Adults can volunteer for programs such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters and can sign up to be "lunch buddies" who eat lunch with students each week.

* Schools need adults willing to tutor students who fall behind in their studies because they're moving around so much.

* School district programs that help homeless youth can take cash donations to provide families with what they need.

* And concerned citizens can write to their U.S. Representatives and Senators and ask them to approve legislation that would pave the way for HUD dollars to help families that are doubled up but are not literally without a place to stay.

But the first step is understanding that Northern Kentucky has thousands of homeless children and youth, Werner said, and then wanting to do more.

"They've been there all along," said Kim Webb, executive director of the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky, which serves adult men and women. "We just haven't counted them."

And everyone working to raise awareness in Northern Kentucky agrees that young people like Bowling and Hughes should count.

Zander Hughes, right, sometimes refers to Tessa Bowling as his "mom" because she has been such a supportive friend.

Lucy May writes about the people, places and issues that define our region - to celebrate what makes the Tri-State great and shine a spotlight on issues we need to address. Childhood poverty is an important focus for her and for WCPO. To read more stories about childhood poverty, go to www.wcpo.com/poverty. To read more stories by Lucy, go to www.wcpo.com/may. To reach her, email lucy.may@wcpo.com. Follow her on Twitter @LucyMayCincy.

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Nearly 3,000 homeless students in Northern Kentucky are hiding in plain sight

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COVINGTON, Ky. -- Tessa Bowling and Zander Hughes never thought of themselves as homeless. But when Bowling looks back at the nearly two years she lived in a youth shelter, and Hughes looks back at the time he was a runaway staying with friends, they realize they technically were.

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Milwaukee police officers, photographed by Brian Reed

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Cops See It Differently - Part One - This American Life

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CINCINNATI - Arianna Jones was 17 years old and about to start her senior year when she became homeless.

"I was kicked out of the house," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "I didn't really have so much support there, except for one person."

Jones stayed off the streets and out of homeless shelters as she finished high school. She spent her nights with friends, sleeping on couches or wherever they had space, and got her own apartment when she was 19.

"The emotional stress, the physical stress, the, just, mental stress was just very overwhelming for me," she said. "It wasn't the best experience, but it was the best experience for me to see and live in the worst way possible."

Now Jones is using that experience to try to help others. She's part of the team behind a plan called KEYS to a Future Without Homelessness that aims to reduce youth homelessness in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The plan is scheduled to launch March 4. Its goals are to:

Prevent youth homelessness before it occurs

Provide safe and appropriate shelter to homeless youth that want -- but don't have -- shelter

Reduce the amount of time young people are homeless

Ensure that young people leaving the homeless system have the support they need so they don't become homeless again

And encourage innovation and change within the system that works to prevent and reduce homelessness in Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Arianna Jones, 19, inside her apartment in downtown Cincinnati. Emily Maxwell | WCPO

The KEYS plan aims to cut that number in half by 2020 and continue to reduce it from there, she said.

To reach those goals, the plan is focused on the specific needs of young adults and how they differ from the needs of older people experiencing homelessness, Campbell said.
'I feel that pain all over again'
"This population is out there kind of with no one who's helping them develop, who's helping them make those decisions, who's picking them up when they're falling," Campbell said. "If we end their homeless episode now, then we've not only impacted youth homelessness, we've impacted adult homelessness - period."

The KEYS plan has been in the works for years.

However, the most important members of the team are young people like Jones who have experienced homelessness themselves, Campbell said.

Lighthouse Sheakley Center for Youth is one of the few shelters for young people in Cincinnati. Emily Maxwell | WCPO

"Not a decision was made without young people being at the table saying, 'This is what we think will work for us,'" she said.

Jones and other members of the Lighthouse Youth Advisory Council talked frankly about what they needed as homeless youth and how the system could have helped them more.

After spending about $100,000 on research and planning, Strategies to End Homelessness, Lighthouse and their partners have the rest of the grant money to implement the plan over the next two years, said Kevin Finn, the CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness.

The total cost over the next two years includes the federal funds and local matching dollars for a total of roughly $4.75 million, he said.

One of the biggest innovations to come out of the KEYS plan is the creation of a Youth Dedicated Services Team. The team of case managers will work with young people one-on-one for up to 24 months to help connect them with whatever services they need and try to ensure they never become homeless again.

Arianna Jones attends meetings for KEYS to a Future Without Homelessness weekly at the Lighthouse Sheakley Center for Youth. Emily Maxwell | WCPO

"We're building this really expert-level of service providers that can provide the best practices for serving youth in a consistent way across the system, no matter where the youth decides to access services from," said Jamie Hummer, program department director for Strategies to End Homelessness.

Having someone as a single point of contact will reduce the number of times homeless youths have to tell their stories to strangers and build trust during a time of crisis, Jones said.

"Having multiple case managers to talk to would be so overwhelming. One caseworker knows this, the other knows this," she said. "My situation happened almost about three years ago, and me talking about it every time, I feel that pain all over again."

The Youth Dedicated Services Team should reduce the amount of trauma young people endure as they interact with the system that's working to help them, Finn said.
Ending youth homelessness
"Hopefully they get what they need much more quickly and get out of homelessness much more quickly," he said, "all of which will reduce what they end up experiencing while they're homeless or at risk of being homeless."

The dashboard also has demographic information about homeless youth in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, including their race, gender and whether they are raising children themselves.

More than a dozen people were intsrumental in constructing the plan for KEYS to a Future Without Homelessness. Emily Maxwell | WCPO

For example, the dashboard shows that Hamilton County had 598 homeless youth between the ages of 18 and 24 last year. Fifty-nine of those young people were raising a total of 91 children.

"A part of this population is essentially kids with kids," Finn said.

"We're making sure that families that are living in shelter have access to quality care," she said, "even families that aren't necessarily connected to shelters and don't identify as homeless but are."

The center will have a staff attorney at the Lighthouse Sheakley Center for Youth homeless shelter several days a week to help caseworkers and young people directly, said Acena Beck, the Children's Law Center executive director.

Arianna Jones has lived in her own apartment for more than a year. She hopes to help other young people like her through this new program. Emily Maxwell | WCPO

The center will do monthly presentations on topics such as clearing up a fine to get a driver's license, sealing or expunging juvenile court records and avoiding eviction, she said.

"Let's say they're living with a family member who is in public housing, and they're facing something that could cause the whole family to be evicted," Beck said. "Sometimes we're able to work with the landlord or public housing authority to negotiate a second chance kind of contract."

Jones said it's all about giving homeless youth the help they need and are ready to accept and then sticking with them as they work to rebuild their lives.

"If this was around when I was going through what I was going through, I would have been OK," she said. "Some people are only going to get so far based on them. Whenever you're ready, we're ready. But we're not going to leave you. We're going to be there until the end. That's the very, very end."

The ultimate goal is to end youth homelessness, Campbell said, although everyone involved in KEYS knows it will never be gone completely.

"To end youth homelessness basically means that every young person knows that there is a place that they can access services and that they can quickly end their homeless episode," Campbell said. "There will unfortunately probably be a situation where a young person needs access to a safe place. We want to make sure we have that available for them but that they can quickly leave."
The full KEYS to a Future Without Homelessness plan is available online. TheData Dashboard that is part of the plan is online, too. Lucy May writes about the people, places and issues that define our region - to celebrate what makes the Tri-State great and shine a spotlight on issues we need to address. Poverty is an important focus for her and for WCPO. To reach Lucy, email lucy.may@wcpo.com. Follow her on Twitter @LucyMayCincy.

The quicker the better.

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How will Cincinnati get young people off the streets?

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CINCINNATI - Arianna Jones was 17 years old and about to start her senior year when she became homeless. "I was kicked out of the house," she said, her eyes welling with tears. "I didn't really have so much support there, except for one person."

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Tarps draped over tree limbs, purple Crocs in the mud. A bag of Grippo's, two old mattresses and a toppled yellow mustard container are strewn in a clearing of a woods in Newport. Muddy coolers, broken furniture. A neatly hung grocery bag for trash.

No one was at the haphazard campsite Wednesday when Jarrett Spisak of the Brighton Center and his volunteers walked up. He figured as much. People usually head out into the streets, go to libraries, soup kitchens, benches and parks by day.

Spisak and his crew, homeless- and crisis-shelter workers and dozens of others counted the homeless in Northern Kentucky on Wednesday. Others did the same in Hamilton County the day before. They went where homeless people live, having scoped out locations in advance. They tallied shelter guests and counted emergency transitional housing residents.

The count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It provides an idea of homeless populations, gathered in a 24-hour period. The counts help determine funding for services for this transient group and to work on a plan to end homelessness. The 2016 numbers won't be in for a while.

Buy Photo

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016: Ryle High School juniors Selma Cikaric, left, and Maura Cox, walk beneath an underpass in Newport, where homeless people are known to sleep. The girls, who are part of the Boone County Youth Cabinet, were among those helping with a 24-hour homeless count. (Photo: The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran)

"It's a snapshot of one day," said Marianne Scott, human services specialist at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, which coordinates the region's program. "It's not an exhaustive count." Calling homelessness "precarious," she added, "anyone could be homeless tomorrow."

Even so, Scott said, "I think it can be really illuminating as to what kind of services we can offer."

Kevin Finn, president and CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness in Cincinnati, said annual, cumulative counts are best. In Hamilton County in 2014, there were 7,810 homeless according to the annual count. The point-in-time survey in 2015 ended with 1,063.

Emily Hunt, an outreach specialist with the Veterans Affairs Department, was out with a core group in Cincinnati from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 3:30 a.m. Wednesday counting. She says the work can be instantly valuable for those on the streets.

"It's very, very effective,' Hunt said. "I know personally, from working with homeless veterans, I've met a lot of them this way. We've been able to help them with housing." Even for the night, she said, the outreach workers have succeeded in getting people into a shelter immediately.

Finn said that, especially in regions with fewer services for the homeless, such as Northern Kentucky, the counts capture a slice of the issue.

Counting the people of the streets

Jeff Henke, 55, who makes Covington streets his home, welcomed the counting volunteers but said he doesn't see any value to their work for people like him and his friends.

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Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016: Jeff Henke, 55, stands outside of the Parish Kitchen in Covington on the day of the homeless count. "I've watched all my best friends die," he said. (Photo: The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran)

"I've watched all my best friends die," he said, pulling out a prayer card for a deceased buddy.

He said the heroin epidemic has brought with it more homeless people.

Spisak agreed: "I would say we are still seeing an uptick (in homeless residents). Years ago it was the recession, but now, a lot of it is heroin. Parents are getting locked up or dying and their kids are becoming homeless. Or people are spending everything and sleeping outside to get the drug."

Still, Henke said many are willing to help people who live on the streets and under the bridges in Covington.

"If you're homeless, this is a good place to live."

Kelley Pate of Alexandria said he wasn't counted when he was homeless in 2009-10 after experiencing years of financial instability.

"I don't think it's possible to get an accurate count," he said. "I know where a lot of camps are that not even outreaches know about or go near. So I know they won't be counted."

Regular folks reach out to the homeless

Now a 47-year-old farmer whose living situation has been stable for six years, Pate walks the streets to find and help for those who remain homeless.

"I just head out, either in Covington or in Cincinnati or in Florence," Pate said. "I just try to make friends with them and get their trust. The main focus for me is to get them an identity back, so they can get off the streets."

He and Nicole Dietrich of West Chester, who also helps in Northern Kentucky, have managed to help a few men find employment, a home or both.

Kelley Pate (left) of Alexandria, continues to help Bob Haggard, formerly homeless, with transportation and other needs. Tate worked with West Chester resident Nicole Rump Dietrich to get Haggard off the streets and into senior housing. (Photo: Provided)

Together they worked with Bob Haggard, 62, who was homeless in Covington about a year ago. Dietrich learned that Haggard was a senior, and she helped make appointments, fill out paperwork and get him a Social Security card so that he could qualify for housing help. He lives in a senior living complex in Covington now. Pate still helps Haggard get around, taking him to medical appointments.

Dietrich started working with the homeless in Northern Kentucky during the 2013-14 winter. She wanted to find a way that her four daughters, could help people in need. So with her girls and a host of social media friends who have taken it upon themselves to serve the area, Dietrich has been able to provide hot coffee, blankets, hats, gloves, jeans and more.

For her, outreach in Northern Kentucky makes sense because the region has "too few resources," she said, and she grew up in Independence. "I followed my heart back home."

Nicole Rump Dietrich (far right) of West Chester, wanted her daughters (L to R) McKinnley, Maisey, Morgan and Maigan to help folks, so they started a homeless outreach in Covington. They still help the homeless but not at a specific site at all times. (Photo: Provided)

Assistance determined by where they live

Finn said HUD uses a day in late January for the point-in-time counts because it helps ensure more homeless people will be found.

"The vast majority of homeless people are under roof somewhere at this time," he said.

It's easier in Hamilton County to count, Finn said. There are more trained outreach services and more shelters. Northern Kentucky presents unique problems, with the lack of adequate shelter space the greatest of these, he said.

Hamilton County has roughly 600 beds on any given night at several shelters. That can grow to nearly 800 on the coldest nights. The area also has more homeless people, and about 1 in 20 - or 5 percent - at any given time are Northern Kentucky residents.

In 2015, the 24-hour homeless count in Hamilton County consisted of 50 on the streets, 707 in shelters and 306 in transitional housing.

In Northern Kentucky's Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties last year, 327 homeless individuals were counted.

The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky in Covington has 62 beds for above-32-degree nights, but, executive director Kim Webb said that when the temperature dips below freezing, "we make space for everyone."

"We have mats and cots for the guests," she said. The shelter also has an overflow site, with First Church of Christ in Burlington, which offers space for 12.

Even so, Webb agreed with Finn: Northern Kentucky needs more space.

On Tuesday evening the Northern Kentucky shelter eagerly awaited the guests, because it meant that they would be among those counted, rendered visible and, ultimately, be helped.

"I am thrilled that the temperature is below freezing," Webb said hours before the count. "We can't count them unless they show up."

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Taking a snapshot of our region's homeless

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Tarps draped over tree limbs, purple Crocs in the mud. A bag of Grippo's, two old mattresses and a toppled yellow mustard container are strewn in a clearing of a woods in Newport. Muddy coolers, broken furniture. A neatly hung grocery bag for trash.