ETV to offer 'Shelter' all week

Documentary goes in-depth on homeless

ETV focused its lens on the homeless, zooming in beyond the stereotypical street panhandler.

Producers of a series called "Give Me Shelter," which begins airing today and runs through Saturday, captured homelessness on urban streets, but Juan Singleton, ETV advance producer director, panned the camera around the rural Lowcountry and found dilapidated trailers and cars there too.

"A lot of people don't think of rural communities having a large number of homeless," Singleton said. "We do."

Singleton produced "Lowcountry in Focus," which will be broadcast at 6 p.m. today. Columbia's troubles finding a permanent shelter sparked "Give Me Shelter," which grew as other ETV offices examined homelessness in their towns.

Most of the homeless Singleton encountered ended up that way after being released from prison or succumbing to substance abuse. But those weren't the only reasons. Almost anyone, Singleton said, would find themselves in the same situation after missing a paycheck or three. An expert in Singleton's panel discussion said the average age of a homeless person is 9.

"That was shocking," Singleton said.

Beryl Dakers, ETV director of cultural programming in Columbia, took to the streets and was surprised to find that half of the homeless are women.

Veterans such as Leon Scott Jr., 57, who was lying under the shade of a palmetto tree in Marion Square on Friday, represent another subpopulation of the estimated 5,066 homeless in the tri-county area.

The man wearing two coats over a sweatshirt paints on small cards to make money. He said he traveled the world during a stint in the Navy and now he just sleeps at night wherever he finds himself.

"I find plenty of houses suitable for what I do," Scott said.

ETV's series will feature just one show on homelessness in Charleston, "Who Among Us," first broadcast in 2004.

According to the 2005 census, 50,000 people, including 17,000 children, in Charleston County lived in poverty. For a family of three, that meant an annual income of less than $16,090. "Does that kind of explain the problem?" said Becky Van Wie, associate director of the Lowcountry Continuum of Care Partnership.

Reach Jessica Johnson at jjohnson@postandcourier.com or 937-5921.