Southern California - The Ventura Homeless 2 Home Program. February 2. 01. 4This article was written by Christin Davis and originally published on the New Frontier Chronicle. When the California Highway Patrol recently called The Salvation Army, Alicia Morales headed for the freeway. A homeless camp there received an eviction notice and the CHP invited the Army to be there with services for those in need.
Morales, as the clinical director for The Salvation Army Transitional Living Center and Homeless 2 Home programs in Ventura, Calif., had plenty to offer.“We found a woman who had dug stairs to get to her camp, created her own fence, had a rug on the floor, a basket for her shoes, and a flower in a vase on the table,” Morales said. And in Ventura, service providers are taking a new approach.“We don’t want well- meaning charitable giving to help people maintain a chronic homeless lifestyle,” said Rob Orth, director of social services for The Salvation Army in Ventura County.
We no longer do that,” said Orth, who spent 2. The Salvation Army in 2. It’s a very tailored, individual approach but it has a system to it.”At monthly team meetings, Morales said the street outreach workers from each agency collaborate on those each has been in contact with that month, what services were provided and what approaches could be tried. They use engagement cards, modeled after the police field interview cards, to track the chronically homeless. The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) changed its funding requirements in 2. Communities—including Ventura—that proactively adopted these changes have already seen a decline in chronic homeless numbers. According to the Ventura County 2.
Homeless Count and Subpopulation Survey, 1,7. Since 2. 01. 2, the Ventura County and City of Oxnard Homeless Services Continuum of Care systems began implementing a Housing First and Rapid Re- housing approach, and successfully developed over 1.
There are 1. 2 shelters and 1. The Salvation Army in Ventura operates a transitional living center downtown with 5. In the past two years, Orth said the Army has moved roughly 2. That’s where Amy Luoma, The Salvation Army’s Homeless 2 Home Housing Specialist, comes in.“Ending homelessness can’t just rest on the shoulders of social service agencies; we need businesses to step up and employ those who are challenging to employ and we need landlords to take a risk on someone who has tarnished credit and a more colorful background,” Luoma said. According to government data, the rate of poverty is about 1. Americans living below the poverty line of $2.
POSITION DESCRIPTION POSITION TITLE: Program Aide GRADE: 2 (Non.
The Ventura Homeless 2 Home Program. The Army’s street outreach team of four is assigned to Ventura areas that match police districts. The Salvation Army Mission Statement.
In January, The Salvation Army signed on to work with Catholic Charities USA, Feeding America, Save the Children, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Lutheran Services of America, United Way, and The Alliance for Children and Families to support poverty- reduction initiatives.“It’s easy to meet an immediate need, but our challenge is to take a more long- term view to get people home,” Orth said. When we provide social services to the masses, a whole bunch of people are fed for the day but then tomorrow comes. They make repeated contact with people in the same area, and get to know law enforcement assigned there as well.
Program options include Case Management Services, Housing Placement, Living Skills Classes. Barnabas Center conducts Street Outreach Activities six days each week, promoting services offered by The Salvation Army. Salvation Army Street Outreach, PO Box 266, Midland, ON L4R 4K8. Denis Laurin, Outreach Worker/ program coordinator, ph:(Cell. Special and Holiday Events within the Salvation Army Heat with Heart . Right now far too many Australians are looking into the cold face of a harsh. Street Outreach Truck provides food.
The team also works through a criminal intervention program to offer assistance to someone with repeated minor offenses.“It’s a process; someone who has been chronically homeless for 1. Orth said. As a member of the continuum of care, Orth and roughly 5. Another group of local agency executive directors, Ventura County Together, meets to focus on how to reduce poverty. Back on the side of the freeway, Morales set up an interview for the woman at the Transitional Living Center. She came 3. 0 minutes early, ready to be housed.
In the days that followed, a case manager helped her get a Social Security card and ID, and the woman found permanent housing within five days.“She was a mother and had a home, and was going back to what she knew without the members around her; she was holding on to the family she used to have,” Morales said.