SHA Targeting Outreach on Downtown

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

SHA Admin Nicole Utz (pronounced "Yoots")

Salem's Homeless Rental Assistance Program (HRAP) will be able to pay for case managers and up its outreach game downtown, thanks to recent grants from Willamette Valley Community Health (formerly the regional CCO) and two local physicians.  

HRAP case managers currently are covered by a two-year grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust that ends in a few months.

Salem Housing Authority (SHA) Administrator Nicole Utz (pronounced "Yoots") told the Salem Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Monday night that she intends to use about $100,000 from the WVCH grant to hire a "housing navigator" to "fill the gap between current [HRAP] case management and those who need additional services on the street."  

The position also will be working with Lucy Briseno, outreach coordinator with The ARCHES Project, to conduct "targeted outreach" to roughly 70 individuals known to be living in Salem's downtown core (Union Street NE (north), High Street NE (east), Ferry Street NE (south), and Front Street NE (west) -- see Riverfront Downtown Urban Renewal Plan at 27).  Over the past month or so, SHA and ARCHES staff compiled a by-name list of those individuals ("preference list") as part of the area's Built for Zero initiative.  The list closed Monday, February 24, 2020.  

Everyone on the preferred list has been, or will, be assessed using the standard tool (VI-SPDAT).  Those scoring above a certain level will receive a more in-depth assessment using the VAT (see below), and referred, as appropriate, to HRAP.  Less vulnerable individuals will be referred to The ARCHES Project for housing placement in one of their programs.  The project will use funds from City's federal programs (tenant based rental assistance)(TBRA) and from HRAP, which will require an additional allocation of $200,000.  The City Manager supports the request, which is expected to go to City Council soon.  To date, HRAP has assisted 270 homeless individuals.

 

Salem's Homeless Rental Assistance Program components, courtesy SHA's Eddie Maestas

A couple of years ago, SHA, in cooperation with Salem Police and Fire Departments, created an "immediate needs station" that provides 24/7 access to basic needs items for people in crisis -- clothing, food, blankets, socks, shoes, etc.  It's used every day and donations are always needed.  They can be dropped off at the SHA Office at 360 Church Street SE during business hours (see here).

12//5/2020 update:  as with everything, the pandemic changed the plan for the outreach worker.  See Harrell, S. "Housing Authority’s navigator acts as a bridge, connecting people on the street to help." (5 December 2020, Salem Reporter.)

Recovering from Homelessness

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

A veteran's camp off Portland Road in 2016

Stephen Goins, Director of Transitional Programs for Northwest Human Services, gave a talk titled  "Homelessness, Trauma and Reintegration" at a recent meeting of Salem's Downtown Rotary Club.  The talk touched on four areas: the homeless experience (overwhelming loss, basic needs going unmet, constant danger, little if any sense of self, control, or belonging), the effects of trauma (social, emotional and cognitive impairment, often secondary to disrupted neurodevelopment), the homeless brain (abnormal processing between stimulus and response) and recovering from homelessness.  This post focuses on what Stephen had to say about the last two areas: the homeless brain and recovering from homelessness, which are relevant to an understanding the City's Homeless Rental Assistance Program.

All slides courtesy Stephen Goins

It should be said at the outset that the homeless brain that Stephen talked about is no different from the ACES brain and the PTSD brain.  The long-term effects of trauma/toxic stress on the brain are basically the same:  you're gonna find a trunk line running from sensory intake area to the amygdala, which responds before anything from the atrophied hippocampus or cortex can get through.  So, why talk about the homeless brain, specifically?  Because too many people say ignorant things like, "Why don't they just get a job?" and, "Some people choose to be homeless, you know."  As a community, we have come to understand (somewhat) that traumatized children and combat veterans need specialized care, but, for reasons discussed previously, we have been slow to apply the same scientific principles to programs serving the homeless. 

From a public policy and common sense standpoint, no one "chooses" to be repeatedly traumatized.  Stephen says about 40% of the youth coming to HOST have left home believing they will be safer in the streets than at home.  They're not, of course, but the point is, those youth are not "choosing to be homeless" in any meaningful sense, any more than a victim of domestic violence "chooses" to stay with her abuser.  So, why do so many people hold to the belief?  The same reason they say they don't believe it's possible to end homelessness.  They're uncomfortable, they don't know what to do, and they don't want to think about it.

Now, back to the homeless brain.  Eighty percent of HOAP clients need help making a phone call, Stephen told us.  Out of, say, 30 people asking to use the phone, only 5 will actually manage to put a call through.  They'll sit there, he said, anxiously staring at the phone, trying to think of what they will say, fearful of what may happen if they manage to start a conversation.  Most of the time, they can't go through with it.

"The homeless live in their mid-brain," he says, "everything is a threat."  He says he and the rest of the staff at HOAP essentially "become"  consumers' prefrontal cortex.

Persons experiencing homelessness, like children experiencing abuse and neglect, must eventually adapt to the constant need, whether actual or perceived, to protect self.  They become chronically hyper-vigilant and defensive, cease to trust anyone, and feel intense fear, guilt and shame from which they seek any relief that might be immediately available, including alcohol, drugs and sex.

What one can expect from a person in this situation is, according to Stephen, aggression and poor impulse control, fear and resistance in the context of rule enforcement, including safety rules, and coping by disengagement, avoidance and numbing.  Seemingly minor events can readily precipitate catastrophic reactions in the homeless brain.

"Complex Trauma"

Their bind, Stephen says, is that, while fearing and blaming the external world for everything that's wrong, they must depend on it completely if they are going to be able to enact any kind of positive change.  In short, they must trust, but they can't trust, so they don't move; they're "stuck."

Without intervention of some sort, whatever bonds a homeless person has with society, its structures and institutions, will, with time, begin to fade away, and eventually all that's left is whatever is needed to manage daily life, e.g., through sharing, bartering, even taking.  Instability characterizes all relationships, including employment.  Stephen describes these adaptations as the "nomadic lifestyle" and "harvesting economy."

  
The mainstream economic view that one should save when resources are scarce, not spend or lend, much less give money away, assumes one has resources to produce and conserve, and the ability to meet basic needs while doing so, which, of course, homeless people for the most part do not.  In the harvesting economy, it makes perfect sense to spend, share and consume immediately that which one cannot conserve or store, which is mostly everything.  So, Stephen seems to be saying, if you try to judge the economic actions of the homeless brain according to the standards of mainstream economic principles, you're not going to get very far in your understanding.

Stephen says that the homeless brain (or maybe we should call it the nomadic brain) also experiences time differently.  Time is perceived as cyclical (night-day, rainy season-dry season, plenty-want) versus linear.  Future or long-term planning requires linear time perception.  Life lived in cycles, on the other hand, is focused on "meeting the next need" and "the future" becomes no more than meeting the next need.  The word/concept "future" eventually ceases to have any meaning.

So, that's more or less what a person recovering from homelessness is having to deal with.  Kinda makes you realize how important relationships with other people are going to be to the process of reintegration.  Stephen says reintegration is possible, but it's not linear (see his slides on reintegration here).  He says you can think about reintegration as occurring in three phases:  first, the experience of safety, followed by a period of remembrance/mourning, then the process of reconnecting (which is not  necessarily linear).  Aside from housing, a person seeking to reintegrate is going to need structure (which produces predictability, which builds trust), pro-social relationships (more trust), the chance to be productive in some way (self-respect), and integrated and trauma-informed care/healthcare.

There are lots of different reintegration programs, but most probably include these elements.  For Stephen, it comes down to treating everyone, no matter how bad a day they are having, like he or she is a human being, which is not something the homeless get a lot of.  That, one may suppose, is what makes the strategy so successful.  

The Homeless Rental Assistance Program Takes Shape

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

courtesy Abode Services

What's being called the most ambitious housing program in Oregon history quietly got underway here in Salem last month.  Readers will know it as the program the Mayor announced at his State of the City address last February, the one that's designed to bring 100 of Salem's most vulnerable residents out of the woods and off the streets and settle them in a stable housing situation. 

You might be wondering what it is about this housing program that makes it so ambitious?  For sure, the goal of 100 in one year is ambitious, especially in this housing market.  But beyond the numbers is the program design.

The diagram above illustrates the model in use by most homeless housing programs in the area, vs. the model on which the City's Homeless Rental Assistance Program (HRAP) is based.  The "Housing Ready" model is based on certain assumptions or policies, the main one being that a person should be made to demonstrate s/he is "ready" to be housed (clean/sober, possessing basic life skills and "deserving") before being placed into permanent housing.  To do otherwise, it's thought, is to set people up for failure, so people in "Housing Ready" programs must move through a series of steps, beginning with shelter, then to so-called transitional housing, then to permanent housing. 

As long as a family or individual is capable of making that showing of "readiness", the "Housing Ready" model makes a certain amount of sense.  It ceases to be valid, however, when applied to more vulnerable populations, like the chronically homeless and the severely mentally ill, who mostly will fail, and fail repeatedly, to meet all the preconditions that constitute "housing readiness."  So, the thinking is, why not just skip those steps?

Barracks-style transitional housing

In persuading policy makers to accept this new approach, housing policy wonks like to talk about the research that shows people in programs modeled on Housing First principles remain stably housed after a year at pretty high rates (like 80% to 90%).  But at least equally persuasive has to be knowing how few people (like 26%, according to Jimmy Jones) in "Housing Ready" programs achieve housing/life stability.  We think any reasonable person looking just at the low return on investment of most "Housing Ready" programs would have to wonder whether it isn't more cost-effective, not to mention humane, to forego all that case-managed failure, and put the most vulnerable, the least likely to succeed, into housing first.  It really makes a lot of sense, if you think about it.

Apartments as transitional hsg for families

So if the City's decision to house roughly 20% of its most vulnerable residents using a Housing First approach is really just common sense, how can it also be considered "ambitious", "bold" and "courageous" (words also used to describe HRAP)?  Well, it's all those things because it goes against local convention, and there's no blueprint to follow.

In designing HRAP, Salem Housing Authority staff have had to get creative, do research, confer with to potential partners, hammer out agreements, make and remake lots of lists and develop project and contingency plans.  It's one thing to house 30-40 people who happen to come your way over the course of a year's outreach (as SHA staff have quietly been doing).  It's entirely another to commit to running a full-blown program with a hefty budget and performance expectations that depend on the support of other non-profits and the business-sector.     

Pamala Garrick addresses July EHN Mtg at UGM

Shortly after launch, SHA staff shared the history of, and thinking behind, HRAP at a meeting of the Emergency Housing Network.  Thankfully, they kept things simple.

Who is chosen?  The most vulnerable as indicated by their VI-SPDAT and VAT scores.  This necessarily means that vulnerable individuals who've not sought services or been assessed will be not be selected.  It's therefore vital to the success of the program that  highly vulnerable persons seek or be referred for assessment.

Why HRAP?  Cost.  It's far less costly to maintain someone who is ill or disabled in housing, than it is to maintain him or her on the street.  It's also more humane.

How does it work?  By integrating three components: housing, case management, and service coordination in service to the overarching goal of housing stability.  They will be assisted in developing a housing stability plan.  If they have income, they will also have a representative/payee.  They will also be offered information on achieving self-sufficiency and how to be a good tenant.  They will be assisted in applying for any benefits to which they may be entitled, including treatment for any medical or other conditions for which they wish to have treatment.  Their providers will coordinate services, rather than require the client to do so, including any needed assistance with the activities of daily living.  They will be assisted in developing their "natural supports."

Reintegration slides courtesy Stephen Goins

What is the measure of success?  Eighty percent of those housed in this first year remain stably housed after one year.  SHA will follow all program participants and periodically publish relevant aggregate data.  In addition, Salem Hospital has indicated a willingness to provide "before and after" aggregate data on frequent users of emergency services.

What is required for success?  Housing case management, outreach, intake and orientation, an integrated health service plan (IHSP), a crisis plan, a housing search, landlord engagement, lease compliance and service coordination.  

Questions?

"How long to place someone, beginning to end?"  There is already a wait list of assessed individuals, prioritized by VI-SPDAT score, from which referrals are being made to the program.  Outreach, intake and orientation takes several days.  The housing search is the biggest variable at present, because of the tight market.  The program contemplates that, following a period of stability, and hopefully within 12 months, participants will graduate to a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) (requires clients to pay up to 30% of income for housing).

"Could you put three homeless persons in a three bedroom home?"  Yes, within HRAP, but not with the HCV.  The goal is to stabilize participants in one setting, i.e., avoid moving them.  There's also the fact that moving requires another first and last month's rent.

"Thanks for this program, and for a great presentation.  It made a pretty complicated program understandable.  More of this."

"Have you identified the first 100?"  Yes, but the list will keep changing as people are referred and placed in housing and as new people are assessed.  Each set of referrals will be made from the most recent list.

"Does a person know if they've been 'SPDATed'?"  Probably, but you can always call The ARCHES Project and ask if a client is on the wait list.  ARCHES is currently doing 10 to 15 assessments per month.

"What about case management?"  All clients will have housing case management at SHA.  They will also have case management through any care/treatment service(s) they might receive.   

Then, time ran out, though the audience had a lot more questions. 

Stephen Goins on Recovering from Homelessness

The presentation was an unusual gift.  That SHA took the time and trouble to share information, and on a program that's just getting going, and is not yet a success, well, that took some courage, too.  To say nothing of the courage of HRAP participants.

Union Gospel Mission staff shared program information at the meeting as well.  They talked about their guest services and New Life Fellowship program.  The audience, being sated with lunch and the first presentation, were not as responsive, but not because there was plenty worth talking about.

Hopefully, staff from other agencies/programs will be encouraged by these presentations to share details about their work.  If any progress is to be made in this community, providers as well as the wider community have to know what others are trying to do and what kind of outcomes they're getting.  Because it's not enough anymore just to say you care, and to ask others to care.  We have to work together to give people the help they need, not the help we want to give them;  to assist the most vulnerable first, and do so in a way that is maximally likely to benefit them.  This approach will challenge some people's beliefs, but research has shown that those beliefs are not based in reality, and therefore need to challenged.  We need to acknowledge that many (though not all) of the twists and turns in "reality" illustrated above are a function of systems designed deliberately to result in failure, and we need to abandon those systems.  To learn more about reintegration after homelessness, please check out this post.        

"Least Likely to Access Services"

Revised: December 2018

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

Salem PD and Housing Authority Outreach Team

We recently asked Nicole Utz (pictured at left, wearing the backpack) of the Salem Housing Authority to help us assess this community's outreach "to unsheltered households, marketed to and accessible by those least likely to access" services, which  happens to be a HUD expectation.

We asked Nicole, because, as we've written about before, both she and Sonya Ryland (pictured above to Nicole's right) work with the Salem Police Department to build relationships with "unsheltered households" and to extend to them in the field repeated offers of services and housing. 

Below is her response in its entirety.  

To answer your question about “Street Outreach” …. SHA teamed up with Salem Police Department a little over a year ago when we were asked how many “beds” we had available by a Salem Police Sgt. We advised him that we didn’t have any emergency housing, but with our positive outlook – we were willing to help however we could in the field. It was this very informal request that has led to a long term team relationship with the downtown enforcement team to help those least likely to seek resources. We knew if we could impact just one life it would make a difference and in the course – we’ve been able to change many lives for the better.

It was truly eye opening to see how many individuals just needed a voice, a person to speak up for them, guide them in the right direction to help pave the path to a better future for them. So many just didn’t even know where to start to help themselves or they had given up hope. It definitely was not without trust building that we broke down barriers and had to show individuals that we weren’t just another social service worker telling them were to go – but we were there to pave the path for them.

We spent time educating at the camps and made follow up  appointments to those who could make it our offices. If they couldn’t come to us – we made appointments to go back out to them.  We sought donations for transportation needs, socks, gloves, protein bars, snacks, hand warmers, hand sanitizer, coats, tents and sleeping bags. Through the donations, we have built trust a rapport with the homeless community by genuinely being out in their element to help them however we can at the time.

I always carry a Microsoft Surface Pro lap top that has cellular data with me, so that we can help sign individuals up for Section 8 and SHA owned properties in the field. We also work closely with a PH-tech representative that assists us to get individuals signed up with OHP in the field and get immediate access to medical care also.

We comprised a team of two to go out to the camps whenever possible to assist with outreach and provide social services to those least likely to apply. We’ve traveled to camps in Keizer, South Salem, Cascade Gateway, Minto Island, Homestead Rd, K&D Sand and Gravel, the ridge, the bat caves, the hobbit hole, Portland Rd, and the KROC center. We’ve covered a lot of ground multiple times looking for the one person who is willing to change their life for the better that day. This effort has also help train the Salem Police officers on the questions to ask and the services available to help those who need it the most.

This team effort has grown through the last year and we offer our outreach services to Salem Police Department staff at all hours of  the day or night. We often get calls from our Salem Police contact that wants to see what the best options for the individuals an officer has come into contact with during the course of their regular duties. The shift has been amazing – we are seeing more and more SPD staff reaching out to seek assistance on calls to provide resources or set up appointments to have individuals meet with us the next day. We will also respond out in the field if the call for help deems necessary in the moment. In all this – we still go out to the camps whenever to the opportunity arises and maintain our daily workload at the Housing Authority.

Few in the community, aside from those involved, are aware of these outreach efforts.  But we think it's pretty extraordinary, something to be celebrated -- and replicated. 

That happens to be what the Mayor is doing in proposing the City implement his/SHA's Homeless Rental Assistance Program (HRAP), which goes before the Citizen's Budget Committee on May 3.  It's been said that the program is a bold one, but it seems to have a strong foundation. It deserves our support.

Homeless Voucher Lottery to Morph

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

Jimmy Jones speaking to the Emergency Housing Network about changes to the homeless voucher lottery.

Yesterday at the Emergency Housing Network (EHN) meeting, staff of the Salem Housing Authority (SHA) and the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA) announced SHA's intent to change its homeless voucher lottery system from random selection to a needs-based prioritization system (which means it's no longer a lottery).

MWVCAA's Jimmy Jones, who's recently been promoted from Coordinated Entry Specialist to the Director of the Community Resources Program, was there to explain the needs-based prioritization process, discussed here last November.

The lottery was suspended in the summer of 2016, and resumed only last month.  It will remain unchanged (10 vouchers awarded each month through random selection, along with 5 domestic violence victim vouchers) through March and April. 

In May, however, providers hoping to obtain a voucher for a homeless client must contact MWVCAA to have their client assessed and placed on a master list prioritized by degree of vulnerability.  No change to DV voucher lottery is anticipated.  Clients scoring into the highest levels of need on the master list of all persons assessed in Marion and Polk Counties will be offered one of the 10 homeless vouchers set aside that month.  

The plan appeared to be well received.  There were three questions from the audience:  could clients manipulate responses to affect their VI-SPDAT score (no), could the data be broken out by county (yes), and what is the next step for the data being amassed (it will be used to inform local decision-making about allocation of resources)?

There were approximately 50 people in attendance, including UGM's CEO and former MWHI Task Force member, Bruce Bailey (red shirt, upper right corner of the photo).  Some housing providers not represented at the meeting included Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network, which shelters up to four families in participating churches, and also runs a tenant-based rental assistance program funded with City HOME program dollars, and Grace House, which houses single women, no children, often straight from Coffee Creek, for up to six months.  UGM, Salvation Army, St. Francis and Center for Hope and Safety were all present.  Four members of the Home Base Shelters of Salem (HBSS) board were present, as well.  HBSS is attempting, so far without success, to implement a Rest-Stop (aka "Safe Spot") type of program in Marion or Polk County.

Acceptance of the switch to a needs-based selection system is huge for this community, both because it's the first and biggest step toward the implementation of a true coordinated entry system, and because it's needed to implement the Mayor's proposal to target resources toward the chronically homeless.  A first for this community, and long overdue.

The proposal for a Homeless Rental Assistance Program or HRAP to house 100 of Salem's chronically homeless residents over the course of a year comes before the Salem Housing Authority BOC Monday, March 13, at City Hall.
According to the overview published yesterday, the program budget is "$1.9M, with $1.4M requiring new funding."  If the BOC gives the program the nod, which is expected, the matter will go before the Citizens' Budget Committee in April.  As the chart above indicates, such program have been shown to save community resources in the long term, mainly in "Police-Jail" and medical, including behavioral health costs.

The prospects for approval appear to be favorable.  Events over the past year, like the housing shortage and rising rents, the extended sub-freezing temperatures, the deportation actions and Muslim ban, the rise of hateful, racialized rhetoric and consequent fear, the prospect of deep cuts to housing, health insurance and other social care programs, which promise to make the situation even worse than it is, all these things, along with the "recovering" economy, a new City Manager, Mayor and Councilors, all these things seem to have made Salem officials more willing, not less, to think, plan and act more broadly/inclusively than they have in the past.  However, to succeed, the City will need the cooperation of rental property owners. 

Mayor Announces Ambitious Plan for Chronic Homeless

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

This is a very complicated issue, but let me tell you, what we will begin doing in Salem, as a result of this work by Mr. Wilch and his staff, I hope will make you proud, both of our ability to solve a problem, and our humanity when we solve it.   

--Chuck Bennett

In his first State of the City address as Mayor, former Ward 1 Councilor Chuck Bennett asked the City to join him, City staff, and area providers as they set about to end chronic homelessness in Salem.  In his words:

Perhaps the most vexing problem that cities face is housing the homeless. Solutions around the country, and even in nearby cities, have been, essentially, to declare defeat, and decide that it is acceptable to have these residents live in tent communities in the public right of way, parks and neighborhoods.  We're not following that path.

I hope we can have a better vision here in Salem.  Three weeks ago, I asked our Housing Authority Director Andy Wilch [SHA Administrator] to come up with a program to house the most difficult people in our community to house.  He and his staff met with me Friday and presented their work product, and I have to tell you, I'm very excited about this project.

Remember, these [SHA staff] are the people who have moved many hard-to-house people off the streets this year [already]...There are estimated to be in excess of 500 people on Salem's streets in this category.  These are the homeless we most commonly see sleeping on sidewalks, on benches, in parks and under bridges.  These are the most difficult people to house from among our estimated 1,500 to 2,000 homeless people in Salem.  And these are also the most vulnerable among the homeless.

This is a very complicated issue, but let me tell you, what we will begin doing in Salem, as a result of this work by Mr. Wilch and his staff, I hope will make you proud, both of our ability to solve a problem, and our humanity when we solve it.    

Today

We're going to initiate a homeless rental assistance program...we are going to find these people a room, a house or an apartment.  We are developing a sophisticated data file on every homeless person inside Salem, to begin to better serve their needs. We'll provide case management services in health, mental health, addiction services and life skills. Many of these people are in very serious health conditions, many are suffering from untreated, often severe, mental health issues, and a very large percentage are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Again, these folks are the hardest to house among our homeless people, and we will continue to work with these folks, aimed at long-term housing.  Frankly, it's time to recognize that compassion without action is just...observation.  The time for study of this issue is long past.  We have the resources.  It's not going to raise your taxes.  We're not going to take [resources] away from the police or fire [department] or the library.  This is marshaling resources that already exist.  The expertise is there -- we don't have to hire new people.  All the expertise exists among our staff, as well as our collaborators in this effort.

We'll be led by the City and its partners to focus on this issue.  We've set a goal to focus on a hundred of these -- until now, hopeless, and I really mean hopeless -- cases.  Please don't leave thinking this isn't an aggressive goal.  These are absolutely the hardest cases on the street...There will be a temptation to retreat from this mission.  If we can stick it out, we can save and change lives that are now considered hopeless.  I hope you will join me in this effort.   

See the CCTV video of the Mayor Bennett's address here.  The part quoted above begins somewhere around 25'. 

Before HRAP

Revised: December 2018

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

[Originally posted under the title, "More about Encampments"]

Courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Department

Courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Department

More that a year before the Salem Housing Authority (SHA) proposed the development of a formal Homeless Rental Assistance Program, its staff had been quietly working with Salem Police Department (SPD) officers to help residents off the streets and out of encampments and into permanent housing.

Below is a report from Nicole Utz, Housing Services Supervisor for Salem Housing Authority properties, that was written in the summer of 2016.  Through cooperative efforts like these between Salem Police, SHA, and area "campers", SHA was able to stably house about 40 individuals in 2016.  The City was not merely hopeful in launching HRAP in 2017 -- staff knew it could work.

"RM" is a Senior that was pretty much confined to a wheel chair. He was located during a walk through of the Marion Square Park and out of a group of 10-15, he was the one male willing to seek an alternative life for himself. RM has serious health issues that were compounded by the weather conditions he faced daily. He took my card and made contact with me through the downtown enforcement team. We learned he had a son who was also trying to find him housing. We worked with his son and case manager from NW Senior and Disability Services to advocate for him to be placed into an adult foster care home that could help provide for his needs. He is thriving considering his medical conditions. His son says he is doing well and has even put on weight. We will continue to check in on his progress.

"DN" and "RC" lived in Minto Brown Park for 1.5 years. I was introduced to them by the crime prevention department. I met with them at the park - reviewed their needs. We had them come to the office and review several options for their future and progress on their Social Security claim. They stayed in contact with us over the course of several months and complied with filling out all the paperwork necessary for waiting lists to different programs. In July they received good news and their disability claim was awarded. We were able to work with them and a payee to secure them in permanent affordable housing. They are adapting to the change well - we will also continue to work and check in with them in the future.

"GH" is a Senior male who became homeless after a change in his disability benefits for Social Security when he reached the age of 65. GH had been at UGM for a year and previous to this he was camped out on the Santiam River for a year or so. After a quick assessment on his situation we helped GH ensure he was on all available waiting lists for affordable and subsidized housing. We reviewed his social security concerns with his case manager. GH complied with all the requirements, documentation and paperwork that was requested of him. GH finally came to the top of the list for a Senior complex and was placed last week. He is ecstatic and enjoying his peaceful new home.