Annual Homeless Count This Week/How Volunteers are Helping the Homeless

Hearts Helping the Homeless (HHH) is using Broadway House (which backs up to St. John Lutheran) to give homeless people a place to go to get warm.  There is now storage available at Archangel Institute.  A volunteer is giving haircuts every other Saturday.  Others are doing laundry for the homeless.  The annual Point in Time count will be1/24/12 PM -1/25/12 AM

If you call 911 about a homeless person who may be violent, ask for a CIT officer.  CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) officers are trained to deal with mental illness.

A Planning Counsel on Homelessness was scheduled to meet Monday, 12/12, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM at Carriage House at United Way.  Marcy Yoder a good contact for that meeting.

 

Update provided at Dec. 2, 2011 agencies luncheon by Cherie Berris, HHH/Cedars Hope.

Homeless Task Force = Hearts Helping the Homeless (HHH)

The Homeless Task Force has been renamed “Hearts Helping the Homeless” (HHH).

Update shared at December 2, 2011 agency meeting by John Zehendner, HHH.

Pathways to Success: Housing Transition for Homeless Families

Jamie Martin, Vincent Village, oversees the Pathways to Success program, through which  homeless families with children transition out of the shelter into a home.  The program provides a case manager for 18 months after they are established in a house.

Public Meeting to Share City Plans for Homelessness Reduction

There is a public meeting at the City-County Bldg on 2/7/11 at 10AM for the city to unveil their own new plan for homelessness reduction.

Update shared at January 2011 Agency Meeting
Debbie Smith, representing the Homeless Task Force

Annual Homeless Count Taken

The annual “Point in Time” Homeless Count was last Wednesday. Vincent Village stored all the donated hats and scarves, and they have many left over.  See their website for more information.

Update shared at January 2011 Agency Meeting
Debbie Smith, representing the Homeless Task Force

Various Homeless Outreach Initiatives

Homeless Outreach has recently learned of at least five different groups working among the homeless  in Fort Wayne at night. This past Wednesday, 30 people from three different church groups were all out at the same time. They distributed coats/backpacks/food/hygiene.

Homeless Outreach is looking for a storage area downtown where all the groups could leave their goods, and distribute when available.

St. John’s Lutheran has begun opening a home it owns every Friday night from 6 to 9 PM, to serve coffee to the homeless.

Update shared at January 2011 Agency Meeting

Various Staffing/Volunteering Needs at Vincent Village

There is currently an opening for an RA “floater” at Vincent Village (2nd or 3rd shift, holidays, weekends). Volunteers are also needed, at the  front desk in the shelter; they also need more volunteer organizers to help with maintenance and facility cleaning.

There is, of course, always a waiting list of homeless families needing shelter. But in March and April some people will graduate from Vincent Village’s transitional housing program, so there will be openings.

Click here to find out more about their programs or inquire about the positions needing to be filled.

Update shared at January 2011 Agency Meeting.
from Ann Helmke and Jamie Martin, representatives of Vincent Village, Inc.

Cedars HOPE: Serving Homeless Women with Mental Illness

Peggy Coburn of Cedars HOPE, W.Wayne Street joined us today.  They serve homeless women with mental illnesses.

Vincent Village: Helping Families Find Permanent Shelter

Vincent Village Pathways to Success helps families with children move from shelters to permanent housing. The program helps with the first month’s rent, deposit, utilities deposits, groceries, etc.  The program also provides case management for 6 months to a year.

Rescue Ministries Plans for Service to Youth, Young Adults

They are in the implementation phase of a program to serve youths age 18-25 at the shelter, both male and female. There may perhaps be a separate facility eventually.