Transitional Housing (Men’s/Women’s house)

This is continuing the descriptions of what I do in each of my duties.

One of the more successful services we provide for the homeless is transitional housing. This program has very specific goals in mind. We take in people that, for any reason, are homeless and are looking to move out of their current state of life. We take in people that are seeking full time employment with the goal of saving for their own place to stay. We operate a men’s and a women’s house and each can hold several people.

The guests are expected to leave the house every morning at 0815 and must return by 1900. During the day they are expected to work or look for work. We give people without jobs up to 12 weeks to find a job before we will kick them out. We provide all meals for them- breakfast in the morning, fixings for lunch, and dinner in the evening. They have their own room or share with one other person. To sum everything up, we give our transitional guests everything they need so that they can save their money for an apartment. Some of them are able to move in, get a job, save enough money, and move out within a month or two. Others take longer for whatever reason. There is no set limit to how long a guest can stay at our house, but we generally cut people off at six months.

We choose our guests through an interview process. We do an interview every day, as long as someone signs up and there is a spot for them in the house. We ask them information concerning their physical and mental health. We find out if they use or abuse alcohol or drugs. A person must be clean and sober for at least one year before we will consider them. They must fit into our general criteria of wanting a place to stay in order to save money for their own place.

Whenever the houses are open for the guests, there is a staff member present. This is for several reasons. First, we are available to the guests to talk about whatever. Each guest has a staff contact person, who helps them set goals and periodically assess progress towards those goals. We really try to help these guest out. A staff member is also present to make sure that the house rules are followed. No drinking or drug use is allowed. The guests must respect their fellow guests and the staff. They must complete daily chores satisfactorily. They must leave every morning by 0815 and be back by 1900. There are a bunch of other rules, too. The point is to give them some regularity and certainty in their lives, which many of them are missing. Any violation of the rules and the guest will receive a strike. When a guest receives three strikes, they are asked to leave. Some violations, like drug or alcohol use, are grounds for immediate dismissal.

Sometimes all this can be a challenge. There is a wide cross section of people that come into our house, and all have different needs and concerns. There are a wide array of ages that we see. The oldest guest right now is 57 and the youngest is 20. Some of them need more involvement than others. Some of them need a staff member to hound them about not spending their money on stupid stuff that doesn’t get them closer to their goals. Some need a kick in the pants to get moving. Some need watched constantly because they’ll take any opportunity to break our rules. Some don’t need anything but three square meals and a bed to sleep in.I spend two different nights doing this: Monday in the men’s house and Friday in the women’s house. There is some work involved in being the staff member on duty, but we’re mainly there for emergencies. We stay overnight and lock up the house in the morning.