GEORGETOWN, Del. - Homelessness remains a growing concern in Georgetown, with a local nonprofit urging county leaders to take a more unified approach.
Springboard Delaware operates the Pallet Village off Pepper Street, which opened in 2023. The site includes 40 cabins and typically serves between 40 and 46 people at a time. Since opening, it has helped more than 200 people, with over 40 percent moving into independent living.
"Others have made their way into a higher level of care, and in others, unfortunately, the program didn't work, and they returned to unsheltered homelessness, but that number has been dropping," Judsone Malone, executive director of Springboard Delaware, said.
Malone is scheduled to speak before the Sussex County Council at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, where he plans to focus on gaps in coordination across the county.
"The problem is we don't have a county governing structure that helps to coordinate our response. We only have the state, or we have local municipalities, which have very limited resources. So I want to point out that things are changing," Malone explained.
He stressed the issue extends beyond any single town and requires a shared response.
"We do have a homeless crisis, but it is a chance for the community at large and all our leadership at all levels to come together and see it together as a problem and work together to solve the problem. We can no longer say it's Georgetown's problem," Malone added.
Malone pointed to the need for more individualized solutions.
"Each person became homeless for a certain reason or a combination of reasons. They're all unique to each individual, and we can't just have a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all program to get them back on their feet, which is what a lot of normal traditional emergency shelters and help organizations have done in the past," Malone noted.
Housing availability, he said, remains a major factor.
"For every 100 renters, there are only 20 or 30 units that are available. So that's one of the biggest reasons we have a rising homeless population," Malone said.
He also highlighted challenges faced by towns across Sussex County.
"The problem is municipalities are ill-equipped to respond to this in any positive way, and so their response is, although entirely logical, they tend to be along the lines of trying to make the problem go away, and unfortunately, that is not an option. All we're doing is moving the problem around. All of our localities, Georgetown, Rehoboth, and Seaford, they all have issues with homelessness, and they all typically feel like it's a unique problem in their community," Malone added.
