Posted on April 13, 2010
The crisis of homelessness in America incurs many quantifiable costs. These costs include the money that it takes to place people experiencing homelessness in shelters, emergency rooms, jails and prisons, etc.
Perhaps the least examined and talked about cost of the crisis of homelessness in America is the loss of future productivity. In basic economic terms, loss of future productivity is an “opportunity cost”: the benefits which would have been received if a different course of action was taken.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness explains the concept of lost future productivity in the article The Cost of Homelessness.
“Decreased health and more time spent in jails or prisons, means that homeless people have more obstacles to contributing to society through their work and creativity. Homeless children also face barriers to education.”
One VSH client, James Trent* of Roanoke Va., found himself unable to work because of his severe health conditions. James had a bad knee and was in serious need of heart bypass surgery. After running out of money, he found himself on the streets.
Through a local shelter organization, James heard about VSH and contacted them about housing. He was finally able to receive bypass surgery, he qualified and received housing through VSH and is looking forward to beginning his new job soon.
“It’s a good feeling,” James said about his housing and ability to work again. New Clay House provides him with “privacy” and makes him “very happy” in his every day life.
By working to end homelessness instead of provide temporary solutions to the crisis, VSH hopes to provide an opportunity for people like James who, by having a place to live, will be able to contribute what they have to offer to society.
*Name was changed to protect participant’s privacy.
Posted on April 7, 2010
I have asked Allison Bogdanovic, VSH’s Director of Housing Development, to write this week’s blog. Allison holds a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from University of Richmond. Prior to working with VSH, Allison was a corporate information technology consultant. Thanks, Alice
In addition to being a staff member of VSH, I am a member of the Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR) Class of 2010. My LMR project team selected bringing Internet access to New Clay House as its community service project. Our goal is to provide New Clay House with two desktop computers, software, accessories and Internet access for an estimated cost of $5,000.
Providing New Clay House tenants with Internet access will help bridge the digital divide, offering much-needed access to employment and education and connections to family, friends, and support systems.
Linda Billings’ story of hope was highlighted in the March 23rd VSH blog. Billings is a VSH client who is utilizing the internet in order to improve her life. At 58 years old, she is working on getting her GED. Now that it is possible to get a GED on the web, internet access has become an invaluable tool.
Please visit the Huffington Post to read an article about how a computer lab connects individuals experiencing homelessness with employment.
If you are interested in helping to provide Internet access to the forty-seven formerly homeless tenants of New Clay House please call me at 804.836.1052 or e-mail me ([email protected]).
Posted on February 23, 2010
At the age of 23, Lisa Spencer* found herself with no place to go, walking the streets of Richmond in search of shelter.
Spencer was experiencing homelessness as a mother of four, with her fifth child on the way. Along with her children, Spencer was caring for her teenage brother and sister as their mother’s passing had left them all on the streets.
“You could say that all the homelessness really came from my mom passing away,” said Spencer, “It was like, see my brother and sister homeless or take them in.”
As many local shelters are unable to keep families with male teenagers intact, Spencer was on a never-ending mission to find a place for her children and her brother to sleep.
“It’s hard trying to knock on somebody’s door and say ‘Can we stay with you tonight’ with 4 kids, let alone a 16 year old,” said Spencer, “That was like the biggest struggle … I would rather sleep outside with my children then to see my brother outside alone.”
After two years of moving from shelter to shelter, Spencer finally got a break. Her older sister allowed her and her five children to come and stay at her home in Florida. Spencer’s two teenage siblings were able to find homes in Richmond and care for themselves.
Spencer seized the opportunity to move to Florida with her sister and rebuild her life. That opportunity turned out to be short-lived. At 26, Lisa Spencer was diagnosed with Stage 2 cervical cancer.
“That just brought me back down to zero. Anything I ever had hoped for … just flashed before me and I thought ‘oh, I’m about to die’,” said Spencer, “My mom and my father both died from cancer, so I was really scared.”
In hopes of receiving treatment at VCU Medical Center, Spencer returned to Richmond with her children. She found temporary housing with a friend and was able to get her children back into the public school system. Spencer heard about Virginia Supportive Housing (VSH) from a guidance counselor at her children’s’ school and contacted VSH immediately.
VSH was able to assist Spencer using the new Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) funds awarded through the stimulus package. HRPR funds paid the family’s security deposit, utility deposits, and helped with a rental subsidy for the first three months. Housing staff evaluated her situation and helped her figure out the best location for her family to live and a landlord who would rent to her despite her recent rental history. Additionally, housing staff worked with the school systems to allow her children to remain in their home school (Henrico County) through the end of the school year.
Spencer completed her final cancer treatment two weeks before Christmas 2009.
Although Spencer and her children have a rough road ahead of them, it has been made easier by the presence of safe, affordable housing. The family will be reevaluated for HPRP eligibility and need every three months, and may receive a subsidy for an additional 15 months. This will give her enough time to heal and secure employment to sustain her housing once the subsidy ends.
“I can’t thank the staff at Virginia Supportive Housing enough,” said Spencer, “… the kids come home from school and they come in the door and say ‘Mom we’re home’.”
*Name was changed to protect program participant’s privacy.
Posted on February 9, 2010
that 43 percent of adults experiencing homelessness suffer from some disability*.
Today, Dan Jones** is proud to call Gosnold Apartments in Norfolk home. Before moving into Gosnold, for 15 years Dan slept outside and relied on soup kitchens for his meals. During this time, Dan did not take care of his health. In fact, he had no relationships for all of those years with any other person – friend, professional, or otherwise – until he met a homeless outreach worker who got to know him slowly and patiently. She helped to identify that Dan has a disability that impacts his interest in forming relationships and seeking out help. Eventually, she convinced him to apply for disability benefits and an apartment at Gosnold.
For many months after he moved in, he was reluctant to talk to other tenants or staff. His apartment contained only what he needed to survive – no personal comforts or means of entertainment. His appearance remained unkempt and haggard with a long beard and worn out clothing.
His new case manager at Gosnold was as patient as the outreach worker in getting to know Dan and offering assistance. He would visit Dan in his apartment regularly just to talk and to be sure that Dan had what he needed. His case manager soon heard from Social Security that the disability checks that Dan had been awarded had not been cashed. Dan had no idea what to do with the checks that were arriving. This crisis became the opportunity that his case manager needed to engage Dan more closely.
Dan allowed Jay to help him set up a bank account, go with him regularly to the grocery store, and to address some other personal needs. In February 2009, Dan was enrolled in VSH’s Mental Health Support Services program to offer intensive skills training to address some of these emerging concerns. Dan’s social skills have begun to improve, and he agreed to go to Park Place Medical Center for a physical examination. Going to a primary care physician lead to the discovery of a health condition for which he now takes daily medications.
Dan recently purchased a reclining chair for his apartment, a few new sets of clothes, and volunteered for a trip to the barber to neaten up his appearance. He has said he feels like a “new man”.
For More Information:
HUD’s 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report
* Disabled and Soaring Out of Homelessness
**”Dan Jones” is a pseudonym for a an actual VSH tenant.
Posted on February 3, 2010
National research shows us that supportive housing works. It keeps people stably housed and helps them become more independent.
Since VSH has been operating supportive housing for 18 years, we can proudly say that over 90% of the folks that we house and serve do not return to homelessness. And some of our housing options have an even higher percentage.
We believe that one of the reasons for this success is our organization’s ongoing efforts to examine ourselves critically—looking for opportunities to improve our services and programs in order to create even stronger results. We know that even though we have nearly two decades of experience, we still have countless opportunities to learn.
Here’s a very concrete example. We opened 60 supportive studio apartments in Norfolk, Gosnold Apartments and fully leased them in March of 2007. Over 80% of the individuals were chronically homeless—extensive history of homelessness and severe disability. We had never had such a high population of people in need. Many people had lived on the streets for years and had all sorts of health, mental health and substance abuse issues. They also were underemployed or not employed at all. And, they were not used to paying rent. We had one case manager to start with and then hired another to provide much needed services.
One year after we fully leased Gosnold, our success rate for keeping people in housing was not up to Virginia Supportive Housing’s high standards. We were forced to legally evict 10 people, and another 10 people left for other reasons. Nobody was happy about this, including our valued community partners.
I asked staff to work with me on a corrective action plan for Gosnold. We took a very hard look at everything we were doing there, and determined that major changes were needed in the way we were handling this new and challenging population. We replaced staff that were underpeforming, had special training for both property management and services on how to work better together and communicated our progress to our community partners on a bi-monthly basis. We established a goal of reducing negative turnover (evictions) by 10% in 2009.
I am happy to report that our negative turnover at Gosnold Apartments in 2009 was zero. That’s right—we did not evict a single person.
The main reason for this great success is that our staff, both property management and services are now better trained and are working very closely together on the joint goal of keeping people in housing. It’s a lesson we’re glad we learned. And one we’ll continue to examine, evaluate and enhance in the years ahead.
The crisis of homelessness in America incurs many quantifiable costs. These costs include the money that it takes to place people experiencing homelessness in shelters, emergency rooms, jails and prisons, etc.