HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/16/2001, - HOMELESS SERVICES J
September 2001
Homeless Services -
Shelter
It has been a busy month for the shelter. For the-month we averaged 17 children per'
-night. On two specific nights we had 26 children receiving.a shelter.bed—Total nights of
shelter were 2285, averaging 74 persons per night including the children. Diner and
dashers totaled 730, averaging 24 per night. It is typical for the shelter to see higher
numbers of children during the summer months as school is completed and those families
living in the north and south of the County sometimes come to the shelter:-We are
looking forward to building a playground area at the shell-ter for children and families.
We will be working with the city regarding permits and location of a play.area. .
Case Management
Case Management did an excellent job placing 10 persons into housing. One was a
family in North County consisting of a mother and 3 children. At the time of the housing
placement she was a mom with.2 children and pregnant with the 3`d. As has occurred on
other occasions, the day after the family moved into housing the mom went into labor.
Case management also placed 6 singles into housing. Some of these housing placements
are with a new program through the Homeless Outreach Program, otherwise know as
HOP. Presently HOP, managed by Transitions Inc., operates 2 homes for men, who need
a complexity of services and have mental health issues, but are not yet enrolled in mental
health services. One particular gentleman is and has been a native of San Luis Obispo.
He has struggled with years of drug use and abuse complicated by medical and mental
health issues. It is exciting to have a program locally willing to work with mental health
and substance abuse issues. CaseManagement in North County has doubled its' staff by
adding a new position funded through
the supervisor and Becthe Department of Social Services. Jody Smith is
ky is a new case manager. We are also excited to be developing a
South County Homeless Case Management position fund also by DSS through June
2002.
Prado Dav Center
The operation of the day center year round remains a crucial element of services to the
homeless. The amount of money needed to run the operations year round takes support
from community providers and private donors. The"Friends of Prado"is concerned with
the$136,783 they are being asked to contribute to the 2001 to 2002 budget for year round
operations and the money Prado will need in future years to maintain year round services.
Clearly since the be of the year when services were initiated for a 7 day a week
operation for 8 hours a day, the Prado site has been used continually and demonstrates the
need for daily services. Numbers on the weekend are just as high as during the week for
persons seeking the services of the day center. For the month of August, the daily
average of persons using services was 97. The daily average for persons receiving a meal
from People's Kitchen was 86. We are now having consecutive months where the
numbers for persons using the day center services of showers, mail, phone, laundry etc,
are higher than the number of persons seeking a meal. The noontime meal offered
through People's Kitchen is crucial to the success of the day center as well as the other
many providers serving our site.
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OCTOBER 2001 _
EOC HOMELESS SERVICES
I
SHELTER
September continued to dempnstrate large numbers of persons seeking shelter, including
rising numbers of homeless families. We were fortunate-this,-month to have-the overflow -- - -
located at Grace Church and they were able to accommodate 35 persons. Next month's
overflow will be able to-accommodate 24 people. Total number of shelter beds for the
month were 2000-which averages out to 80 people per night. Of the 2000 Shelter beds,
561 were given to children, averaging 22 children per night. One night we had 30
children using shelter services. Diner/Dashers for the month totaled 568, averagirig 23
persons per night seeking an evening meal. Clients using Shelter services totaled 2,568,
averaging 100+persons nightly. Fifty- seven requests for a shelter bed were unmet, due
to maximum capacity status.
Case Mana-gement
With 2 new Case Managers to the program, we are presently working with a full team in
San Luis Obispo,(SLO). Our South County Case Manager, Yolanda Lopez, will be
Iocated in Grover Beach providing services to families throughout South County, and
also referral services to single people. Our new North County.Sase Worker,Becky
Gonzalez, is a great addition to the Case Management team. Jody Smith has moved into
a supervisory position and will also be developing resource and referral information for
homeless individuals and families throughout North County, including the North Coastal
area.
Three singles were placed into housing this month, plus a couple with one child, totaling
6 for the month. Every person housed is an exciting event. One of the highlights was a
client named Diana Chase. She is now living in a studio apartment in SLO. A few
stories regarding some of the events in her life, and the loss of her vehicle, appeared in
the Tribune. The community support on her behalf was tremendous. Many people paid
for motel rentals; someone donated a vehicle, others donated furniture, food, household
items, and some helped with funds for her security deposit. It is always exciting to see
the community rise to meet the needs of others. It is even more wonderful when these
events are met with further success.
Prado Dav Center
The Prado Day Center(PDC) continues to serve the homeless in the County 7 days a
week. This continues to be the result of many agencies working together to provide
services and to keep the program funded. It is the desire of many to keep the center
opened, seven days a week, from 8:30 to 4:30, but funding the operation is an issue.
Number of person receiving a meal from the People's Kitchen (PK) totaled 1947,
averaging 78 persons per day. Number of persons using the services of the PDC totaled
2144, averaging 86 persons per day. Comparatively number for the weekends totaled
571 for PK, averaging 71 per day and 645 for the PDC, averaging 80 per day.
* Numbers for the month are from September V.to the 25th.
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