SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Since May, the Codington County Welfare agency has tracked homeless persons who ask for help from the agency.

In six months, 44 persons who identified as homeless contacted the agency, said welfare director Sara Foust. Foust said the tracking was completed through software from the Helpline Center and they were double-checked.

“We know the numbers are accurate,” Foust said.

The numbers supported what the county welfare agency and other entities in Watertown have known for several years: the community needed some type of housing to help with homeless persons, Foust said.

Several entities who had been discussing needs in the Watertown community formed a partnership non-profit called Watertown Cares which led to a plan to convert an existing eight-unit apartment complex called 612 Flats into housing for the homeless. Six units will be for housing and two will be converted for case management offices.

“It happened in one of the most amazing meetings of my life,” Foust said of the homeless housing project.

The group heard from the South Dakota Housing Development Authority about a grant available to establish housing for the homeless. Members decided to apply for a grant and pursue the 612 Flats project.

Foust said the roughly $1.2 million grant is a one-time grant and its divided into two parts. One piece is for the welfare agency to buy the property. The second part covers case management services.

Funding will go through Watertown Cares, Foust said.

“It’s been a long time coming. This is something the community has needed for a long time,” said Dawn Sikkink, the executive director of the Beacon Center and the president of Watertown Cares. The Beacon Center specifically works with victims and survivors of domestic violence and has a shelter for those persons.

Although the Beacon Center can’t serve those who fall outside of its mission, it still gets requests from homeless persons, Sikkink said.

As of now, homeless persons are being helped with a one-night stay in a motel, often provided by the Salvation Army or the county welfare agency.

The Watertown plan is to house persons in individual units for short term stays while they receive needed services to help them achieve permanent housing.

Sikkink said homeless persons may have a variety of challenges that can require case management such as financial counseling, medical needs, or mental health needs.

“If there is not a place for them to stay at night for restful sleep, (people) are not able to handle anything,” Sikkink said. The priority for homeless persons is finding a safe place to stay, she said.

Case management is a key part of the planned homeless housing, Sikkink and Foust said.

(The county) tried for period of time to have an emergency apartment that people could stay in, but we recognized really quickly that without some on-site case management, that the needs were too intense and too big for what we could provide. So it’s absolutely crucial that we have on-site case management that can have daily interactions with the people that are staying there,” Foust said.

Watertown Cares is developing policies for the housing but it’s likely one requirement will be that those staying cannot use alcohol or illegal substances on the site, Foust and Sikkink said.

A person with an addiction or substance abuse issues can’t simply stop overnight, Sikkink said, so individuals would be able to stay if they had been or are using away from the housing.

That would be an example of how case management and the housing can meet people where they are at and help address their needs, Sikkink said. If a person has a safe place to stay, they can then focus on being healthy and other needs, she said.

Case management and the individuals can develop objectives and goals that will “help establish themselves back into the community,” Sikkink said.

Fousing said the plan is to close on the property purchase in February and to open the housing in April. The apartment is in good shape but there are some ADA requirements to meet, she said.

Because the grant is one-time funding, the group will need to secure additional money to sustain the project, Foust said. She’s confident the Watertown community will help financially support the project. And the group will also continue to seek and apply for other grants.