Exciting things are happening at the Food and Care Coalition and Wasatch Mental Health to help the homeless in Utah County. Two weeks ago, I spoke with Ryan and learned more about the Pay It Forward Service Club (previous post) and looked forward to attending the activity last Wednesday. It more than met my expectations and I had a great time! I helped to frost Christmas cookies, met a number of individuals who lived upstairs in transitional housing and were no longer on the streets, and was able to give some architectural advice (not necessarily helpful) on building gingerbread houses. Some people were there willingly and excited about the project, and some were required to do service hours as part of living in the transitional housing units upstairs and were a bit grumbly about that… but all participated, and even some of the more grumpy ones ended up smiling! Service and thinking of others tends to do that to you—and maybe eating frosted cookies and listening to holiday music helps too as long as the music isn’t too loud.
Meet Olivia, Ryan, and Aspen. Pay It Forward Service Club
First off, I met Olivia, an 11-year old that helps her father with these activities every month, and her friend, Aspen. I first met Olivia when she was about 4 years old and would come trick or treating through our Westpark building with her dad (and sometimes her mom) on Halloween. She has grown up into a very caring and compassionate young woman. My heart skips a little when she says, “it’s good for the community to help the homeless people and bring them together. I’m helping people who don’t have as much as I do. It makes me feel good”. Aspen also attends these activities frequently and says “the activity was fun and brings meaning to the season. I like to do activities. The people are nice, even those who have struggles.” My thoughts and experiences echo those expressed by these two although I wasn’t thinking such things at their age. I’m glad that they do.
After the activity, I had the opportunity to meet and hear the stories of three formerly homeless individuals, each in a different stage of their journey. All three were very willing to share their stories and wanted to express their gratitude to the community for the help they are receiving and let people know what led them to homelessness and what helps them to get off of the streets too.
Kris was in a car accident in California eleven years ago and experienced a lot of trauma. She had had some mental health challenges before that but life got infinitely harder. She said that she became unable to deal with life afterwards and turned to drugs. She tried to get help but nothing, including medications, was working and she ended up on the streets. About a year ago, she moved to Utah with a boyfriend. She says “I wasn’t alone on the streets. I found some awesome people”.
She is now off the streets after moving into transitional housing at the Food and Care Coalition about a month ago. Kris says “I feel awesome. This is the best I’ve felt in a long time. I’m starting to feel like the person I was before the accident. The more I realize who I was, the more like me I feel”. Kris recently went to a movie for the first time in years and says that she is really glad that it turned out to be a GOOD movie. She is positive about the future and loves the Pay It Forward club and looks forward to it all month.
Bob was on the streets for 25 years and says that he has made more progress in the last five years than he ever has. Starting with a misdiagnosis 30 years ago, he feels like he has now been given the right diagnosis and treatment and is making progress. While homeless, he happened upon the Food and Care Coalition building and decided to come in to seek help although wasn’t at all sure that anyone could or would help him. He began participating in different services at the Food and Care Coalition and says that he got more attention and care than he ever expected. He has been in an apartment now for three years and is engaged to be married next year- something he never expected.
Bob says that “the first step in solving a problem is recognizing it” and he is grateful for all of the help he has gotten on his journey. He enjoys the Pay It Forward club; saying that it brings people together to do something fun and it warms the heart and helps him to get in the holiday spirit.
The third person that I met was Joseph. Joseph talks with some light and excitement about where he is in his life now. He says that his alcoholism brought him to the streets. “I was going through a divorce and was just mad! I didn’t want to live life on life’s terms and even considered suicide but just couldn’t do it”. Joseph reports watching YouTube videos to learn how to stay alive in the wilderness and took a two month supply of food and headed up to the canyons. He knew how to build a lean-to and trapped rabbits to stay alive and lived like that for some time. By chance he happened to run into Ryan (WATCH case manager) who helped him to call his mother. He began to look for services to help himself at Vocational Rehab, Community Action, and the Food and Care Coalition but it wasn’t easy. Joseph says he was miserable—didn’t want to follow rules or do anything. Something clicked for him though and he wanted to come meet with those that could help at the Food and Care Coalition. He would jump a train from Payson to come in to Provo because he didn’t want to bother anyone by requesting a ride. Luckily, he never got hurt doing that and was usually able to find a different method of getting back “home”. He eventually accepted transitional housing at the Food and Care Coalition, did well there and moved to shared housing, and then into an apartment by himself and is doing very well. He has told his story before in public and is currently applying for a job and hopes to be able to help others who are currently walking similar paths. Good luck to you Joseph!
A new program, the CABHI program (Cooperative Program to Benefit Homeless Individuals), is being implemented now to assist homeless people in the area who may not yet be willing to come into services to get help. The State of Utah applied for and was awarded federal CABHI dollars and in Utah County a CABHI team was developed to do outreach and begin to develop relationships and try to help people earlier and get them off the streets. A benefit of this program is that a “Housing First” model is used which differs from traditional service delivery systems. Eligibility is limited to the neediest and measured by a national eligibility test assessing acuity and chronicity of need. A team of professionals work together to help get the homeless into housing first, without them needing to sign up for services or show that they are participating in mental health/substance abuse treatment and staying clean and sober. Housing is contingent on eligibility and on agreeing to work with a case manager. It is hoped, and usually happens, that once survival needs are met, then a person will become much more willing to participate in treatment programs if needed. Studies have shown that this approach actually reduces the cost of homeless services overall to communities.
The biggest challenge for the program is finding rental housing with landlords willing to rent to the homeless even with case manager assistance. Affordable housing is a critical issue in all of Utah County, but especially so with the homeless or mentally ill. Occasionally a landlord will find that this is a positive experience and one landlord has decided to lease several units to individuals in the program. Currently there are 6 participants that are now in housing and the team is helping them to adjust. Time management becomes an issue as the majority of time before was just spent with survival. Several have gotten involved with doing puzzles as they work on new leisure time interests and activities. What a huge change for them! Several others are eligible for the program and eager to get off the streets as soon as housing is secured. Until then, the CABHI team continues to visit the homeless wherever they are, work to build trust and relationships– even making extra efforts to stay in touch and recognize special events such as birthdays. CABHI teams (prescriber, therapist, and or case manager) have been known to even deliver birthday cakes to those future participants that are currently living in tents and beneath underpasses.