For the past several months, the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation (SCNTR) has partnered with the Alabama Rural Coalition for the Homeless (ARCH) to host a series of roundtable discussions aimed at tackling homelessness in Selma and the surrounding area.

The next meeting will take place Friday at 10 a.m. at the Walton Theater where organizers, supporters and concerned citizens will take a deeper dive into the needs of the Queen City.

“When we talk about ending homelessness, there is always something that we need – more money, more housing, more training,” said ARCH Executive Director Felicia Jackson in an email. “When we advocate for change in order to get some of the things we need, it is critical that we are clear and have data to support our requests.”

There are four categories of homelessness – category four homelessness is defined as someone fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence without an alternate residence or support network; category three homelessness is defined as someone under 25 or a family with children and youth facing housing instability; category two homelessness is defined as someone at imminent risk of being homeless and category one is a person without a residence.

In order to serve people in categories one, two and four, Jackson theorizes that Selma needs two units of permanent supportive housing, six units of rapid rehousing with intensive case management and $37,000 of in-kind matches of food, services, funds and more.

Additionally, Jackson noted that Selma continues to have eight people in emergency shelter, 36 households that are homeless, chronically homeless or in rental arrears and three people living in places not meant for habitation or fleeing domestic violence.

While the informal group is looking to address and define the problem in the region, it is also tackling concerns of funding and resources.

“[An] analogy that I have come to love involves knowing the limitations of what different funding can do,” Jackson said. “ARCH funding is like a hammer. It does one thing very well. Based on our data, we need more of it to continue to serve those most vulnerable in Selma. But a hammer is not a screwdriver. And there are some needs that cannot be and should not be met by a hammer. We need additional funding and resources to address those needs.”

Locally, SCNTR AmeriCorps Vista Mary Carter says the initiative is important beyond its work to solve homelessness in the area – it also forces people to reconsider preconceived notions of homelessness and those suffering from it.

“I see that there’s a big need in Selma,” Carter said. “There’s more people that are homeless than I realized before.”

Carter noted that she previously held incorrect notions of people suffering from homelessness – that they are all drug addicts or alcoholics and the like – but her work and recent conversations with people struggling to survive have changed her mind.

“I have expectations of Selma now that I never thought I would,” Carter said.