Day shelter, Residential Recovery Program, and Housing Case Management

Day services include access to hot showers, restroom facilities, hot coffee and cold water, local and long distance telephone services, mail service, and fax service. Also available to homeless clients are job and housing referrals, assistance filling out food stamp and disability claims, assistance acquiring birth certificates, and identification letters for regular clients.

St. John Center professional staff is available to clients every day. By engaging them and providing an initial needs assessment, staff begins to develop relationships that support and encourage clients to seek further mental health counseling or substance abuse rehabilitation. Because St. John is open every day and relationships are built on trust and encouragement, clients are offered consistent opportunities to move along a continuum of care from crisis to stability, from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

St. John Center has discovered during 20 years of operation that providing shelter, food, clothing, medical care, education, job training/placement and even housing will not by itself end homelessness. Much time and energy was spent in the beginning helping people get jobs, housing and other services, only to see them lose it all due to the lack of long-term, professional help addressing their underlying chemical dependency and/or mental illness.

St. John Center provides that help. One of the most effective ways in which St. John Center has made a lasting difference in the lives of its guests is through the Residential Recovery Program.

But in July, Darrell came to Sister Jeanne’s office and sat down. Disheveled and hungry, he said, “I’m tired. I’m ready.”

He started JADAC the next day. He has hope. 

Program proves successful for the chronically homeless

St. John Center is part of a collaborative Residential Recovery Program including partners Phoenix Health Center, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Volunteers of America of Kentucky, and JADAC (Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center).

According to the comprehensive annual Point in Time survey conducted by The Coalition for the Homeless, 44% of homeless adults report that they became homeless because of their addiction to alcohol or drugs. St. John Center estimates that 40% of its guests are mentally ill, and many are dually-diagnosed with mental illness and alcoholism. This population requires significant support through the case management services of a counselor/social work along with stable housing in order to maintain recovery and regain a life of self-sufficiency.

This cost-effective, cooperative program allows St. John Center to streamline the substance abuse services we provide to our clients and leverage community resources already in existence. It is designed to combine substance abuse treatment, housing, and counseling to arrive at success for the client. St. John Center funds ten participants at a time who receive:

    * inpatient residential treatment at JADAC;

    * transitional housing (up to 24 months) at St. Vincent de Paul’s Ozanam Inn;

    * transitional housing (up to 24 months) at St. Vincent de Paul’s Ozanam Inn;

    * educational classes regarding recovery dynamics and relapse prevention;

    * case management to help the client improve financial stability and independent living such as GED classes and job training, social security and disability claims, and assistance finding safe and affordable housing;

    * mental health counseling and medical support;

    * monthly TARC passes and a stipend for living expenses.

Social services staff from all four agencies meet monthly to review each client’s recovery process. Clients greatly benefit from having a support network that helps address integrated medical and recovery needs as well as housing and financial stability.

 
Housing and support: critical element to long term success       

   

^{After 9 years on the streets, Michael Norman leaves St. John Center to move into his apartment.  Shown with St. John Center’s housing case manager Heidi Solarz-Kutz and John Brown from Phoenix Health Center’s Mental Health Outreach Team.}

The housing case manager at St. John Center is charged with helping homeless men access housing subsidies available to them such as Section 8, public housing, Shelter Plus Care, or a new Safe Haven program funded through state government. Because there is a waiting list for every publicly-funded housing subsidy, the case manager is also currently meeting with apartment owners to create alternatives to subsidies but still ensure the client has safe, affordable, stable housing.