Rumor has it…wrong

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — There are approximately 2,000 homeless individuals in the Cape Fear area. One rumor is that the majority is bussed here from South Carolina.

“No, that’s not true there. That’s not true there, ’cause a lot of people is from round here, they ain’t from South Carolina.” James Bostic has been going to Good Shepherd since he lost his home and family in 1989.

Katrina Knight is the Executive Director, and said her numbers prove that rumor wrong. “Year after year, when we look at our data, the vast majority of the folks that we see who are homeless, men, women, families and children, are right here from our Cape Fear community.”

Knight said the rumor is ironic because there are congregations in Wilmington who bus homeless individuals back to their original communities and families or to bigger cities with more job opportunities.

“Homeless people are people. We move around. They’re not a different class of human being. They move for job opportunities, they move for family reasons and other kinds of things. So it’s not that homeless people don’t move from time to time,” said Knight.

Most of the homeless guests at Good Shepherd and other area shelters are locals who once had homes but experienced job loss, an unexpected medical crisis, a family break-up or maybe have a mental illness or addiction.

“A lot of people is going through a bad time, just got the wrong deal,” said Bostic.