GEORGETOWN, Del. - Georgetown’s Supportive Housing Committee met for the second time Thursday to assess how the town is using its housing resources and identify where services fall short, particularly for people experiencing homelessness, addiction recovery, and reintegration for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Committee Chairperson Linda Dennis said the group is revisiting findings from a 2012 task force report on transitional and supportive housing. “We’re looking at where we are from the 2012 task force report, which was pretty comprehensive,” she said.
A Housing Continuum chart from Research Gate.
Much of the discussion focused on the “housing continuum” a model outlining steps from homelessness to market-rate housing. “What the continuum does, it lays out all of the options that should be available,” Dennis said. “We’re looking at, well, where do we have these options... where we don’t have them, do we want them?”
Committee member Dennis Winzenreid noted that while resources like recovery houses and the Pallet Village exist, many residents still fall through the cracks. “The issue is the people that aren’t getting into those programs,” he said.
He also emphasized the value of the continuum model in visualizing solutions. “It spells out from homelessness to shelters, supportive housing, social housing, affordable rentals... and then into market value,” Winzenreid said.
Chairperson Dennis added that a key role of the committee is educating the public. “It’s a matter of providing clear information to people so that they can make an intelligent assessment of what’s here,” she said.
The committee plans to continue reviewing Georgetown’s housing needs and explore potential policy changes to address gaps in the system. The next meeting is scheduled for November 13.