USICH Highlights Success in the Southeast - Chattanooga, TN

Click here to read about Chattanooga's success in ending homelessness!

Mary Simons, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, is featured in USICH's newsletter and discusses how Chattanooga has been able to produce dramatic results in ending homelessness.

She also participated as a panelist at the Innovations Forum (Feb 2012) in Atlanta, GA.

High Success Rates with Adopt-A-Family - Palm Beach, FL

by Rachel Hans

Adopt- A- Family of the Palm Beaches provides services to low-income and at risk families in Palm Beach. The organization helps families to self-sufficiency through services like housing, rental assistance, support services and a homeless resource center. Deputy Director Mathew Constantine oversees 117 units of housing designated to homeless and low-income populations. Constantine explained how they pay attention to the behaviors of the families and how this helps them to maintain their permanent housing for over 6 months or a year. “I have no doubt that this has had a huge impact on family homelessness in Palm Beach.”  The results so far are promising; 75 percent have maintained permanent housing for a year and 80 percent for 6 months.  Read more here!

Atlanta's Own Named White House "Champion for Change" in the Fight Against Youth Homelessness

As Director of Project Community Connections Inc., Margaret Schuelke oversees an organization that connects people with homes. PCCI assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness with permanent housing placements and connections to mainstream resources.

The White House has recognized her as a "Champion of Change" for her innovative efforts in building the DeKalb KidsHome Collaborative to help end youth homelessness in Atlanta, GA!

Find out more here!

Self-Sufficiency is a Success in South Carolina - Dr. Michael Chesser

by Pharren Adams

Dr. Michael Chesser is Executive Director of the Upstate Homeless Coalition of South Carolina with over 100 service providers offering assistance to those experiencing homelessness. Dr. Chesser has more than 20 years of experience in direct practice helping people get out of homelessness. He has been involved with local and state advocacy groups, and participations in national forums.

The Home At Last (H.A.L.) program offers immediate assistance to homeless people to help them off the street and get into their own apartments, allowing them to be self sufficient and in charge of themselves.  They are then connected to numerous resources that enable them to get jobs, go to school, or overcome feats which were not possible while they were homeless.

Dr. Chesser says through the work of the Upstate Homeless Coalition of South Carolina, “we have demonstrated that people can come in, can stay housed, and govern themselves.”

Check out their website to read more about their programs! There are even audio success stories you can listen to!

 http://www.upstatehomeless.com/pages/contact_admin.html

Southern Collaborative On the Move! - Durham, NC

Lloyd Schmeidler, Project Manager for the Department of Community Development for the City of Durham in North Carolina, recently engaged the Southern Collaborative in discussion around a potential regional effort. He noticed a strong interest in Durham for adopting the Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT), so he organized a conference call to gauge interest in organizing a training for the Southeast region.

Some people feel the VAT is a more objective and complete assessment than the 100K Homes Campaigns Vulnerability Index Assessment (VI), which focuses mostly on medical vulnerability.

There were more than 10 participants on the call from the following cities:

• Greensboro, Chapel Hill, Greenville, and Durham, NC
• Savannah, GA

Two representatives from Seattle’s DESC, the organization that created the VAT, presented a brief overview of the development of the tool and their training methods. The rest of the call was spent with questions about the use of the tool itself and about how we would potentially run a training in the Southeast.

“There are a lot of best practices to reduce and end homelessness being implemented throughout the Southeast and the nation. The Southern Collaborative enables us to easily share information with one another, to take advantage of learning opportunities in the region, and to encourage one another in the difficult work that we are doing.”

Currently Schmeidler is waiting for approval on his proposal to sponsor a VAT training.

Are you interested in learning more about VAT and participating in a training? Let us know your thoughts! Comment and share here!

100,000 New Leases on Life, Greater Triangle, NC

Stan Holt is Vice President of Regional Initiatives at United Way of the Greater Triangle. His work across the four county region of the Triangle area of North Carolina has improved the financial stability of low-income, working households by using a framework that focuses on increasing household income, accessing affordable housing, and improving household financial management skills.

In January, the Triangle completed Registry week for the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a national initiative aimed at eradicating chronic homelessness. The model was developed based on best practices used by communities that have experienced success in reducing the size of their chronically homeless population and includes:

·         Bringing together local supporters from across the community to form an action-oriented team

·         Holding a “registry” event to identify those most vulnerable to dying on the streets

·         Lining up the supply of housing units

·         Moving vulnerable individuals into housing and providing them with the supports they need to stay housed

United Way of the Greater Triangle, in North Carolina, is one of many agencies involved in the Campaign. According to Holt, the agency mobilized 120 volunteers to participate in a community registry event earlier this year. Using a tool called the Vulnerability Index, volunteers surveyed homeless individuals to determine the 40 most vulnerable individuals in their community. The data gathered will be used to tailor services specifically to fit their needs.

“Housing is a difficult resource to obtain and it is our greatest challenge,” said Holt. “It’s going to take innovation, creative thinking, and collaboration to find a solution.”

To learn more about the 100,000 Homes Campaign, visit http://100khomes.org/the-model

Helping People Go Home, Nashville, TN

by Rebecca Stoll

Welcome Home Ministries is a Nashville faith-based organization which operates transitional and permanent supportive housing programs for men overcoming substance addiction. They will celebrate 20 years of serving chronically homeless men with a history of substance addiction in December of this year.  With the opening of two new recovery homes, the agency increased its capacity to serve by 62% in 2012. One of these homes is dedicated to serving veterans and is the first of its kind in the state.

The agency recognized that treatment programs were a crucial first step on the road to recovery from a lifetime of addiction. Welcome Home provides specific long-term recovery support services for clients’ needs in an effort to support progress made on their recovery journey towards sustainable sobriety, self-sustainability and spiritual wholeness. Welcome Home’s recovery residences ingredients for success include:

• A faith-based approach that incorporates the 12 –Step model of support
• Close relationships with healthcare professionals and mental health treatment facilities in Middle Tennessee to assist clients with physical and mental healthcare needs
• Eligibility for independent living in a sober-living community of permanent supportive housing for clients who graduate from an alcohol and drug recovery support program
• New permanent supportive housing residents must be “voted in” by current residents, maintain a healthy sobriety and demonstrate self-sustainability

“It is powerful to see the progress of men who become whole again after 15, 20, 25 years of living with addiction,” says Kyle Duvall, Director of Operational Advancement. “We are able to help guide and support them through the process of recovery during their journey towards wholeness.”

The agency’s primary challenge is raising awareness around the issue and the programs designed to help individuals in need of recovery from alcohol, drugs and a destructive way of life.