MARTINSBURG -- The head of a nonprofit that provides shelter to men, women and children said the issue of homelessness must be included in any discussions of poverty in the Eastern Panhandle.

“Sometimes the Eastern Panhandle is seen as the rich part of West Virginia. But poor is still poor, and we have people who cannot afford a place to live,” said Glenda S. Helman, executive director of the Martinsburg-based Community Networks Inc.

Homelessness will be the focus Nov. 6 when the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and the Family Resource Network of the Panhandle sponsor a forum at the Berkeley County Department of Health and Human Resources headquarters in Martinsburg.

The event’s featured speaker will be Alan Banks of the National Coalition for Homelessness, a man whose expertise comes first-hand, Helman said.

Banks, a native of Washington, D.C., served in the U.S. Air Force and worked in corrections and as a security guard for the Smithsonian Institution. But he began to struggle in 1993 after the death of his father. Diagnosed with depression, Banks lost his job, got divorced after nearly 20 years of marriage and found himself homeless.

After years of living on the street, Banks got help at the Community for Creative Nonviolence, one of the nation’s largest shelters and his home to this day. Besides traveling to speak about the issues tied to homelessness, Banks also is working to find full-time employment through a program that helps to place veterans back into jobs.

Helman said the two-hour program, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., will include a look at statistics on poverty and homelessness, a video highlighting the growing problem of hate crimes against homeless people and information about local programs that offer help to those struggling for shelter and food.

“The last three years, we’ve seen a huge rise in the number of people in the Eastern Panhandle who are requesting help,” Helman said.

“We’ve had manufacturing plants like Royal Vendors and AB&C Group begin to shut down or downsize. So many people have had their hours cut, and they just can’t afford the basics of food and shelter on what they’re making now.”

The end of the housing boom also has had a major effect in the Panhandle.

“There for a long stretch, we were enjoying a lot of economic prosperity, and it looked like we just couldn’t build houses fast enough,” she said. “And then suddenly it all stops, and so many of the local workers who make their livelihoods in the building trades found themselves having to travel into D.C. or Baltimore to find work. It’s definitely gotten difficult for a lot of folks.”