It Continues to Take A Village

 By Griselda Williams, Mental Health Services Manager

I was talking to Joshua Chittum, Children’s Program Coordinator, recently about the village-like activity that we saw at Community LINC among the women residents. We discussed how refreshing it was to see the activity and how good it felt that our families were coming together and providing support to one another. Several of the women residents shared personal stories of not having family supports or social supports that they could count on. Those same women, however, were providing that support to one another in the village. I heard Tanya tell Carol that she had just bought a car and when Carol needed to go to the hospital to deliver her baby, Tanya would give her a ride. The women in the village shared stories with Carol about when they were pregnant and what their deliveries were like. They also shared empathy with Carol because her baby was a week overdue. When Samantha came to the village, she would bring coupons for the other women. The women would then discuss the use of coupons and which stores had better bargains on food items for the family. Deborah offered to have her teenage daughter babysit Marianna’s two children when Marianna shared that, with two young active children, she seldom has time to journal. Alice gave Maia some diapers when she had a low supply and would not be able to go to the store to purchase more until the end of the week. Recently, during a program group on the topic of parent-child relationships, mothers with older children were giving village support to a younger mom with young children. They shared their wisdom about bed time routines, how to manage housework and the importance of the family meal. Yesterday, during a meeting with Rita, I shared my observations about the village activity. Rita confided that before Mariah moved to permanent housing in May, she gave Rita her infant car seat. This provided great relief for Rita.  Rita will deliver her baby next month and did not have a car seat to bring her baby home from the hospital. Rita added that while she is excited to move to permanent housing with her family in July, she wished she could take the village with her. 

A Miracle at the 9th Hour

 By Constance Taylor, Employment Job Coach 

As an employment coach, I really try to encourage my participants to believe in themselves again. Often times, I tell them these words, “I see you in your future and you look so much better.”  What I am really trying to do is to encourage them to dream.

After spending days in a homeless shelter or in a car with no real sense of belonging or accomplishment people sometimes become lifeless and lose hope. I believe that part of my job is to not only link them with employment resources and skills, but to extend to them a ray of hope, letting them know they can make it.

Rita came in with a burst of energy and really thought that within thirty days she would be employed again. She had prequalified for a position months ago. Because of her inexperience she was moved to the bottom of the candidate list several times.

She contacted her last employer to see if she was eligible for rehire and was told that she would have to reapply.   

She applied for a position as an apartment rental consultant and they selected a different candidate.   

I met a friend who told me about a staffing company with good job opportunities. Rita interviewed and tested very well in administration skills. She secured employment as  an administrative assistant for a major company and loves her new job.   

She said she believes she actually received her employment at the 9^th hour.  A few more days would have been too late on a scale of 1-10.

She really believes that it was a miracle and she and her son have moved to their new home.    

Intake Matters: Relationships

By Holly Gardner, Intake and Resident Specialist

Earlier this week, friends, families and staff gathered for a special celebration for families who have successfully completed the Community LINC program.  Our host, Second Presbyterian Church, made this evening wonderful and feelings of hope and celebration were palpable. They graciously provided dinner and housewarming gifts to all the graduates. 

3 program participants s described the ways Community LINC transformed and touched their lives, contributing to their success.  As they searched for the right words I could see how touched they were and how their sentiments were in turn touching everyone in the room - including the families who hae recently entered the program.   As our Employment Service Job Coach presented each family with a certificate of success, it was easy to recall the families’ first weeks with us, their struggles, and their growth and each family’s new connection with permanent housing - in spite of barriers, in spite of the odds.

During this same week, Community LINC program staff attended the first of several seminars on the Housing First Concept, an approach to ending homelessness that centers on providing people experiencing homelessness with housing as quickly as possible – and then providing services as needed.  What resonated the most with me is that our families have the capability of doing so much more then we know or understand.  They have the capability to change their own lives.  Our job is to build relationships, build trust and on most days this will be work enough.

As each one of our graduating families walked up to receive their embossed certificate, their smiles spoke a thousand words. Later in the week during our training I saw those smiles again in my mind.  We are only touching their lives for such a short time and what will we say to them while we are honored to be there? What will they (and we) take with them when they leave here?  Relationships.

Huddle Time

By Housing Specialist Shaunte Abernathy Cox

“I’m not going back to a shelter.  I can’t do that again.  I just can’t.”  Her tearful words pierced deep, but I sat across from her wondering how much work she was willing to put into making sure that didn't happen.  With just 24 days away from her exit date, I wondered if she could finish strong.  If she could kick into gear, hit the ground running and make up for the time she lost during the first three months.  Would her words and actions unify or would she return to a shelter?  A place she knew all too well from her childhood. 

By the time Kenzie entered the Interim Housing Program at Community LINC for homeless families, she had already experienced homelessness three times.  Her mother struggled to maintain stability and was caught up in the cycle of domestic violence.  After moving from shelter to shelter, Kenzie was ultimately placed with her grandmother because in her words, her mother “kept choosing the violent men over her kids.”  When asked what their relationship is like now, Kenzie said “I haven’t spoken to my mother since I was 17 years old.  She kept bringing those violent men around and I kept fighting them off of her.  By the time I was in high school, we butted heads a lot.  I guess I reminded her too much of herself, so we didn't get along. “Like her mother, Kenzie found herself in an abusive relationship, but she found the strength to leave and never return.  She fled and relocated to Kansas City in search of a new beginning. 

At the age of 22, Kenzie proved she was determined to win.  The fight brewing within helped her secure housing and employment within the last month of her time at Community LINC. 

I remember the look on her face as I sat with her as she signed her lease and held the key to HER apartment.  I remember how grateful she was when I, along with three other members of the program team loaded our personal cars with her belongings and trailed behind one another on move-in day. 

I watched as her two-year old son, Tre explored his new place, curiously wandering from room to room.  As we walked towards the door and wished her well, she spoke two very important words: THANK YOU. 

On the drive home, I had time to reflect.  I recalled the weeks she was missing in action, and the times she sat in front of me with little to no progress to report on her goal plan.  Although frustrated, I remained persistent.  I needed her to understand that this was not the time to get comfortable.  I needed her to understand she was in transition and Community LINC was only a stop along the way to permanent housing.   I called her each time she missed a session with me. I unraveled each story she told that didn't quite add up and didn't allow her to make constant excuses.  I understood her history, but focused on her future.  I wanted her to succeed.  I wanted her to beat the odds. 

To some, I may have been a bit too stern, but my job was to help her secure permanent housing, not to make her feel warm and cuddly, not to make her feel comfortable, not to make excuses for her actions and not to sit by and watch her leave our program homeless. 

My goal is always to work from a strengths perspective, but at the same time, to be creative in my approach.  For me, Huddles are a creative way to identify challenges and opportunities, plot a plan A, B & C and intervene before it’s too late.   

When I introduced the concept of Huddles, I didn't know if they would work, but knew I needed to try a different approach and wanted to pull together all internal supports to help our clients succeed.  To date, these one-time, hour long sessions, conducted by the Housing Specialist, Employment Specialist, Mental Health Director and Children’s Program Coordinator, along with a specific client, have proven to be successful more times than not.    In these sessions, we speak the truth and illustrate the reality of each situation.   Yes, there may be some tears shed and yes, emotions may flare. But at the end of the day, Kenzie’s Huddle did what it was designed to do and her success was the result of true TEAM effort. 

 **Community LINC provided the financial assistance for Kenzie to move into her apartment.  She was also given a voucher to help furnish her new place through a partnership with My Father’s House.  

Children Matter: Defining Success

By Children's Program Director Josh Chittum

In March, I sat down for a routine check-in with the Children Program volunteers before program began. I asked the volunteers to share things that have either gone well or made an impact on them in the previous month. When it became my turn to share I struggled to think of a worthy anecdote. After a few moments of silence an image of a specific child flashed in my mind. It was a child that left Community LINC under stressful circumstances several weeks ago.

His name was Eliot. His gregarious personality easily filled an entire room and his thirst for program time was infectious. He was the kind of child that wanted to be on the move all the time. The most fun I saw him have was when some friends of mine came to do a musical performance for the kids. He danced and laughed and jumped with excitement the entire evening, rarely taking pause to catch his breath. Unfortunately, not every aspect of his life contained such unadulterated revelry. In fact, during the latter part of his family’s time at Community LINC, things seemed to grow increasingly stressful by the week.

I never once questioned his parents love and commitment to Eliot. I did fear that the battles they were facing, however, put Eliot in an unsafe situation, particularly because he had special needs. After staffing the situation with my supportive colleagues and supervisor, I made a call to Social Services. An investigator arrived the same day and by that evening Eliot was in protective custody with a family member. The parents understood, but were shattered.

The emotional rawness of the situation has subsided some. While it’s still sad, I think of the good and the possible good as a result of Eliot being taken from his parents. It’s good and comforting to know that Eliot secured a safe place to live for the time being and he will have the protection of Children’s Division in the months that follow. The possible good is Mom and Dad may find themselves in a place to better address their difficulties.

I often yearn to write about grand successes of our residents. I realized last month as I spoke with volunteers, however, that this situation with Eliot was not only a story of brokenness. Were it not for Community LINC and the work of our staff there is only speculation as to what may have happened. We were here to advocate for Eliot and lying amidst the debris of a family going through a tumultuous time, I find a type of success as well. Not just for Eliot, but for his parents too.

This advocacy comprises the foundation of our Children’s Program. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our children, not just physically, but emotionally is central to our work. Sometimes it requires us to give a voice to children placed in harm’s way.

Mental Health Matters: It Really Does Take A Village

By Director of Mental Health Services Griselda Williams

The old proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” seems to ring just as true today as ever before. As originally used in the sense to help take care of other people’s children, today you can attribute this proverb in a combination of ways using vigilance, wisdom and compassion.  For a family experiencing homelessness, Community LINC becomes that village for the families who need our services.    

As one of the largest single-site providers of Interim Housing for homeless families in the greater Kansas City area, Community LINC serves some of the most vulnerable.  When most families walk through Community LINC’s doors they are living below the federal poverty line and have experienced significant debt and housing related barriers (judgments, evictions, and outstanding utilities bills).   It is during these tough times that we become that village.

As Director of Mental Health Services, I have the opportunity to witness everyday how the impact of community works utilizing the village proverb.  The Community LINC village is a place with a dwelling made of a strong and substantial foundation. A place that feels safe and protective.  A home that has doors and windows that opens freely, helping to make the village a pleasant place to dwell. 

The people that tend to the village are warm, inviting and have faith and understanding to know that from time to time every person needs a village to go to for support. Those who enter the village need someone to listen to their journey without judgment, someone to help them maneuver through the often treacherous events that occurred before they arrived, someone to learn basic life skills from, someone to help them manage life and even someone to pray for them. 

I have witnessed all of these village-like activities in the past 8 months at Community LINC. It is in these tough times that we become their “village,” a safe haven for our families.  Our collaborations provide the most effective, efficient, client-centered services to provide a helpful hand that takes care of their individual needs.

I smile as I think of Daria, a single mother of two.  Daria has spent much of her life without the support of family and friends.  She found herself at yet another homeless shelter not knowing what tomorrow may bring for her family.  I share these short words of Daria as for the first time she found a village that provided her with the tools needed to remove the barriers to self-sufficiency.  Through her active engagement in the programs provided through Community LINCs village of services, Daria has a new job and a new home for her family. 

I have witnessed the full impact of the village concept for ‘those in need’ here at the Community LINC village.  “It takes a village to help raise a community,” and, I am truly proud to be one of those who tend to the village.  

And the news about Affordable Housing is...

From the March 2015 Housing Spotlight from the National Low Income Housing Coalition:

•             The number of extremely low income (ELI) renter households rose from 9.6 million in 2009 to 10.3 million in 2013 and they made up 24% of all renter households in 2013.

•             There was a shortage of 7.1 million affordable rental units available to ELI renter households in 2013. Another way to express this gap is that there were just 31 affordable and available units per 100 ELI renter households. The data show no change from the analysis a year ago.

•             For the 4.1 million renter deeply low income (DLI) renter households in 2013, there was a shortage of 3.4 million affordable rental units available to them. There were just 17 affordable and available units per 100 DLI renter households.

•             Seventy-five percent of ELI renter households spent more than half of their income on rent and utilities; 90% of DLI renter households spent more than half of their income for rent and utilities.

•             In every state, at least 60% of ELI renters paid more than half of their income on rent and utilities.

•             No state had more than 56 units of rental housing affordable and available for every 100 ELI households, and no state had more than 37 units of rental housing affordable and available for every 100 DLI households.

•             Among the 50 metropolitan areas with the largest renter household populations, the number of affordable and available rental units for every 100 ELI households ranged from 10 in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NVto 47 in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA.