2.5 employment and community engagement strategies for homeless people with disabilities (wilson)
DESCRIPTION
This workshop will explore strategies to increase employment among people who have been chronically homeless and are disabled. Speakers will describe community partnerships and programs that increase employment skills and job opportunities.TRANSCRIPT
Supportive Housing – Not the End of the Line
Kathy Booton Wilson, MSW, LCSW
Deborah’s Place
Chicago, Illinois
End of HomelessnessBeginning of a New Life
• Is housing the end of the road? • “The road leading to a goal does not
separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.” ~Charles DeLint
• The dichotomy of acceptance and challenge
Life Skills vs. Living
• Working with participants in the context of their every-day lives
• Housing First
• How do we structure our time?
• Options!
• Current Goals Future Goals
• Humanities Program
Humanities Program
• Earl Shorris’ Riches for the Poor: The Clemente Course in the Humanities
• “The Authority of Experience” (bell hooks)
• Critical Thinking and the Capacity to Explore New Options
• A New Context for Decision-Making
• Expanding the World
More Humanities
• History, Anthropology and Archaeology
• Literature, Languages, and Linguistics
• Philosophy, Ethics, and Comparative Religion
• Jurisprudence• History• The Expressive Arts
• Visual Art• Mathematics• Geography• Women’s Studies• Multiculturalism and
the Arts• Recovery (from a
philosophical, spiritual and historical perspective)
• Perspectives of “Home”
The Recovery Model
• Created by Dr. Patricia Deegan
• Hope, Willingness and Responsible Action
• People have the right to take risks and to fail
• Compliance is not a desired outcome
• Self-determination is a desired outcome
• Focus on what gives life meaning for each individual
The Practical Stuff:Preparing for Housing Transition
• Identify concerns, fears, dreams
• Finding the right place
• Needs-focused budgeting
• Preparing to move
• Neighbors and landlords
• Life balance – socialization and isolation
• Linking to the community
Life in the Community
• Transition, Try-Out, Transfer of Care
• Preparing for Different Service Models
• Making linkage to services a win-win for providers
• Ways for Relationships to Continue: Alumni Gatherings, Daytime Service Centers, Crisis Intervention
Am I Ready?
• Desire to move on - what is the motivation
• Thinking beyond today
• Demonstrating skills in every-day life
• Ability to anticipate problems and prepare
• Linkage with services
Case Management with Landlords
• Landlord relationships need to be managed too
• Respond quickly to problems
• Visit regularly
• It’s okay to have expectations of the landlord and of the client
Strategies that Work
• Start Early
• Abide by client’s timeline
• Reflect progress, however seemingly small
• Housing is not an end, but a transition
• Maintain relationships with client, landlord and community resources
Vignettes
• Julie’s Story – Living with mental illness and learning to negotiate relationships
• Eva’s Story – Parenting in real life
• Kyra’s Story – Using the humanities to expand perspectives
Resources• Riches for the Poor: The Clemente Course in the Humanities, by
Earl Shorris
• Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy, by Christopher Phillips
• www.socratescafemn.org
• Housing Interest Survey (attached)
• Working with Landlords (attached)
• http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/permhsgstudy.pdf
Katharine Booton Wilson
Deborah’s Place
2822 W. Jackson Blvd
Chicago, IL 60612
773-722-5080
www.deborahsplace.org