A New Start

By Alicia Horton, Mobile Assessment Worker

Bree, a single, working mother and her children have lived without a home for the past 3 months, due to a few unfortunate events. When they first became homeless, the family stayed with whoever would let them. We call this house hopping or couch surfing. The family would sleep on the floor or on a couch. They lived with constant fear of being asked to leave, and any sense of freedom or privacy was lost.  After wearing out their welcome with family and friends, the family ended up sleeping in their car until they were able to find temporary housing in an emergency shelter.

After a few days at the shelter, Bree’s caseworker referred her to Community LINC.  I called to schedule an intake screening. Since she’s a full-time employee working 9 to 5pm, I agreed to meet with her at her place of employment. One of the great opportunities at Community LINC is that we can meet family’s right where they are, reducing the stress of having to make arrangements for transportation or take time off work.

The family is now in the processing of being housed with Community LINC! This is a great start to the family’s journey to being self-sufficient again.

Keep Pushing Forward

By Employment Job Coach Constance Taylor

When Ms. Joiner shared that her job was moving to another state, I searched for the right words to say.  I knew how hard this young lady had worked to secure position. The hourly wage was sufficient for permanent housing. She had just purchased a truck. The kids were all in daycare and the daycare payment fit her budget. How could this be happening? Not right now!

Ms. Joiner had just been approved for her new home. The income from her job allowed her to become self–sufficient.  She was now faced with no income. I assured her everything would be okay and reminded her that with her motivation and tenacity she would have another job very soon, “You just wait and see.” 

As we talked, I learned more about her dream job, and what type of career would inspire her. Although she never complained, she did tell me that the last job was only a stepping stone to where she wanted to be. She needed her high school diploma to move forward. She just didn’t have the time to devote to improving her education; her priority was having the income necessary to providing a home for her five children.  She also shared her desire to reinstate her Certified Nursing Assistance (CNA) license so that she could go back to taking care of people who were unable to care for themselves. At that moment I reflected back on the day she came to Community LINC.  She maneuvered with the twins in a double stroller and another young child walking alongside her. Each child was intently listening and following her instructions.  She was a natural nurturer and helping her reinstate her CNA was the way to get her back on track. We located the funds to pay for the license and she quickly registered for an upcoming test. Within a few weeks, she received her certificate and was on her way. She networked with some people in the healthcare field and was hired very quickly.

Ms. Joiner enjoys her new job and is excited about the benefits that include transportation to work if she ever needs it.  Recently, she was offered an opportunity for a paid training course to become a Certified Medical Technician. If successful, she’ll increase her salary. She works manyof her off days and just secured part-time employment with another company on the weekends.

Ms. Joiner is a perfect example of what it means to keep pushing forward.

Happy New Beginning

By Victoria Jonas, CTI Case Manager

The New Year has given me cause to reflect back on my first few months as a Case Manager at Community LINC. Once client in particular stands out for me.

In November, Community LINC helped a young mother and her beautiful baby boy move into their first apartment. This client was able to find housing before her scheduled exit date. She is now employed full time as a security guard and really enjoys her job. Her employment allows her to pay fair market value for her apartment.

This client struggled with homelessness and “couch surfing” for two years due to her poor family dynamics and her mother’s ongoing substance abuse issues. She gave birth to her son during her homelessness. However, throughout her stay at Community LINC, she displayed great connection and parenting skills toward her son.

The week that the client moved to her own apartment, she was able to take her son to get a professional photograph taken. She was so proud to show them off to all of the program staff.

It was very humbling to work with this family as a new CTI-Case Manager and watch her become self-sufficient. I look forward to working with her during aftercare and watching her continue to grow.

Gifts

By Holly Gardner, Intake and Resident Specialist

The staff here at Community LINC are just wrapping up our Christmas holiday time period.  What an exciting time to be part of this team! Christmas impacts all of us in very different ways but one thing we do have in common is enjoying the spirit of Christmas and it comes to us every year in many different forms. I have learned that it’s the unexpected and spontaneous acts of love that bless me the most and I do my best to stay aware of that on our busy days.

This year the highlight for me was moving six families into apartments and helping to coordinate Christmas adoptions so that the incoming families were connected with an adopting organization. It’s a huge effort to coordinate the organizations’ need to give and the families’ need for some sort of Christmas Day festivities. It’s a special challenge for those families moving in from shelters the month of December. Christmas can seem daunting as the parent(s) try to establish themselves in a new environment and meet their goals. It was an honor to be part of this process, to see the staff from adopting organizations coming to Community LINC with their gifts, always bright eyed, smiling and so very happy to know they are impacting people in such fun and positive ways. As I was home with my family, feeling very blessed and a little weary too, I couldn’t help but think about our families here at Community LINC. How their winter break was going and how many parents and bright-eyed children we had smiling on this Christmas day.

With a New Year full of new projects and new adventures, I recognize that soon enough the month of December will be back around with its challenges of coordinating the practical side of the holidays. I think on this with an uplifted spirit knowing that the true gifts will again be the unmeasurable ones.

Hope

By Emily Lyons, CTSI Case Manager

As one of the family coaches here at Community LINC I get the privilege of walking beside our residents on their journey. Often, their paths are littered with obstacles that take time and perseverance to overcome. Because of such, one of my most important tasks as a family coach is to instill hope in our residents. Hope – something that we all need but often lack in a time of trial. It's hoping for a bigger and brighter tomorrow that is often hard for our residents to see when the hurdles seem overwhelming and unconquerable. For me, Community LINC is a community filled with hope.

Just look around our campus. Walk around the playground after evening program – you will hear sweet giggles from our residents’ children. Visit our wellness groups, and you will see residents sharing snacks while learning new life skills. Listen in on a one on one meeting with a resident – you will hear positive dialog, encouragement, and hope. Hope for our residents, hope for better days, and hope for the future where homelessness is a thing of the past – that’s what Community LINC is all about.  

Children’s Matters: Not Throwing Away Your Dreams

By Jamie Lyon KCYA artist and Community LINC Volunteer

My name is Jaime Lyon, and I am a freelance visual art teacher that celebrates the creative process while emphasizing and encouraging self-esteem, self-awareness, and confidence. I’m fortunate enough to be a teaching artist at Kansas City Young Audiences. KCYA has partnered with Community LINC where I currently teach a residency art class. These monthly classes include a variety of projects ranging from self-portraits, masks, journals to handcrafted shields and vision boards.

One of my recent vision board classes was broken up into two sessions. Our first evening included flipping through magazines in hopes of finding images that captured the student's dreams and goals. These pictures ranged from fancy cars to simple cartons of milk. Not every student was finding the perfect photos so I had them tell me specific dreams I could find online and I promised them I would print photos to bring for our second session. I loved learning the dreams of these hopeful and amazing kids aged 9-17. Some dreams included nice homes, sports cars, high school diplomas, college degrees, friendships, happy family members, careers, candy, pets and so much more. As I wrote down their dreams and images to research, we talked about the importance of a dream and how we have to set goals to achieve our dreams. We talked about hard work, resiliency and accountability.

Our second session was very productive. The students gathered all of their images and glued them to a poster board. Some had twenty items to glue some had three. We celebrated their individual creations while continuing our conversations of gratitude, worthiness, and achievements. I found myself drawn to a 17-year-old girl who had worked intently and quietly on her vision board. She laid out her pictures and wrote captions under every item. She had big dreams! She wanted to finish high school and graduate with honors and then go to college and become a very successful business woman. She would then have a beautiful home with a huge pool and guest house. She wanted happy friends in her life and a healthy family. She also wanted to maintain a good relationship with her Mom. She said her Mom was very important to her and she always wanted her in her life.

As we wrapped the class this gentle soul told me to just keep her vision board; she said she didn’t want it! It broke my heart. This sweet child had spent two full hours visualizing, dreaming, setting goals and making plans! She was so close to believing her dreams could come true. But just like that, she was willing to throw it all away… LITERALLY. She didn’t want this vision board, which represented a VERY BRIGHT FUTURE. Her shoulders and head sank as she began to walk away. I stopped her from leaving and pleaded with her to PLEASE reconsider. “Please take this vision board home and display it proudly. See your dreams every day. Share these dreams with your Mom. She’ll want to see your future!”

With slight reluctance, she kept the vision board.” I was relieved as she left with it in her hands!  After the students had been gone and the room was clear I hoped this lesson would help these amazing kids realize their potential. As I was leaving, I saw the young lady who almost threw her art away speaking with her Mom. She was showing her the very masterpiece she had almost let go. Her Mom, who had clearly been at work all day, was wiping the tears from her face. Her mom was so emotional and so very proud of her. I introduced myself and told her about our lesson and how amazing I thought her daughter was. The tears kept flowing as she complimented her daughter for her creation and me for the lesson. They embraced as they continued to review the vision board. Her mom was excited to see a bright future for her daughter. She even joked that she would love to live in her daughter’s guest house. It was a very moving moment. I think the student was glad she didn’t throw her vision board away. Her mom insisted they hang it up in the living room where they could both enjoy visualizing their future! That is Inflated JOY! Wow, I love what I get to do! Who will you encourage today?

Thank You Community LINC

Shared by a current Community LINC program participant

My name is Lachelle* and I have two children. For several years I was in a domestic violence situation that had control over my life. I reached out to different agencies to help me get re-established, and I became domestic violence free. Over the years I had moved around a lot and was in debt. We lost our place of residence, and I did not know where to turn, so I went to a local homeless shelter with my two children. I felt ashamed, embarrassed and lost. The homeless shelter sent me to Community LINC, and once my kids and I moved into the Community LINC program, our lives began to change for the better. The Community LINC staff and supporters helped my family learn how to move forward with our lives. My youngest child made new friends that had the same experiences that he did. The new friendships have helped my son feel he has peers who he can talk openly with about his experiences. The program also helped him with coping tools to deal with homelessness and an understanding of how to manage a world of uncertainty. I, too, was given several supports in the way of budgeting classes and healthy lifestyle group topics that were helpful for me. I also participated in individual therapy sessions that helped me find myself, tap into my strengths and identify the barriers that were getting in the way of my progress. While I was learning about my barriers, I also learned how to overcome them, as well as how to support my children as we journeyed to a more stable life. I will forever be grateful for this program. God has blessed this program and blessed us to be able to be a part of it. Since we have been at Community LINC, I have gained a full-time job, found permanent housing for my family, returned to church, and I now connected to helpful resources in the community. I would like to say “thank you” to the Community LINC staff for believing in us and giving us this opportunity to get our lives back on track. 

*Name have been changed to protect the identity of the program participant

China Is My Home

By Cais Monroe, Facilitator

“I want you to draw whatever you think of when you hear the word home."  Mr. Joshua, Community LINC's Children's Program Manager, was explaining an activity that I would never forget, "it can be your room, your state, your old home, your family... whatever that is I want you to draw it." Then he further explained his personal idea of home, “I moved around a lot when I was younger, so where ever my family is, it became home for me.”  Some children drew houses, others drew their bedrooms, and participating staff drew pictures of their homes and maps of the states where they lived. One person even drew an outline of California and the beaches there back in her home city, however, there were two particular children whose pictures sank deep into my mind.

Out of respect for their privacy, I won't mention their names I'll refer to them as K and J. Both boys full of so much character and personality; characters so very different but a walk of life with similar obstacles. I asked K, what he was drawing, so neatly and creatively, coloring away so care-free, no shame in his perspective of "home.” "It’s the hotel,” he said still coloring without ever looking up. Bringing back my oppressed memory of when my family lived briefly in an American Inn Motel I thought it would be the appropriate moment to share our stories. K told me about how much fun it was residing in the hotel, riding in the hotel elevators every morning and having his family so close to each other in one room. I shared with him that "we had two queen size beds in our room and my brother and I would jump from bed to bed trying not to touch the ground of imaginary lava.” K finally looked up, and we laughed.

J, who is six years old and incredibly smart and does a hilarious hillbilly impersonation (sorry, that's what he calls it), well he drew a picture of China. Completely puzzled and dying to know his thoughts, I asked him more about his drawing. He told me, "I'm going to live in China one day and it's going to be my home."  He named some historical figures from China and asked me if I knew any. Totally embarrassed that I didn't know any of these great legends but thoroughly impressed at the same time, I was blown away by his knowledge of a land that seems so far away from us. J was a young man focused on his future, not held back or confined to a definition of home, with an understanding that he could go where ever he wanted in life, even China.

These children understand that their circumstances do not define them and if they are ever doubtful, we are here to remind them. They have an unusual perspective on life that we as adults could adopt from time to time. But this is why Community LINC, is so important. The reality is there isn't always (if ever) an opportunity to have these type of conversations at school. At Community LINC these activities present so many opportunities to for us to share our stories with one another, be able to relate to each other and encourage our children that these situations aren't ever –lasting. I must say that they help us as well with their resilient ways of thinking which give us the chance to build on that foundation.

The Positive Impact of Social Connections for Parents

Submitted by Griselda Williams, Mental Wellness Manager

Recently, I wrote a blog about our relationship with the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF), Missouri’s Foundation for Child Abuse Prevention. CTF awarded Community LINC a grant to fund mental wellness services for children and youth from ages 6-17. Mental wellness services are provided by our Child Therapist and can include individual therapy and socialization and coping skills group.  While children and youth receive services, we also provide support services to parents based on the CTF model. Several of our staff participated in a conference and on-line training supported by the CTF with a focus on “Building Protective Factors to Strengthen Families." Topics shared throughout the training included the following protective factors:

• Concrete support for parents in times of need
• Parent Resilience
• Social Connections
• Social and Emotional Competence
• Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

Recently, in our parents’ Healthy Lifestyles group, I observed the impact that Social Connections can have for our parents. Clare Hollander, of the Kansas City Public Library, spoke to our parents on Children’s Literacy and provided books for the children.  Clare discussed the importance of exposing children of all ages to books. I observed the reactions and listened to the input of several of the program participants.  Initially, Anita seemed a bit hesitant to take books for her children. She also shared that, due to her work schedule, she had little time to read to her young children. As another parent, Dena shared how she exposes her 2-year-old son to words and books; Anita asked how she could start reading to her children. The more Dena shared the benefits of exposing her son to books, the more Anita began to see how she could include reading to her children in their bedtime routine. As Dena shared that her son had a library card and how he enjoys going to the library, Anita began to discuss taking her children to the public library. Dena also shared that more parents need to be involved in their children’s schools and Anita then asked how to do this. Dena shared how she stays connected to her son’s school, and by the end of the group meeting, Anita asked Clare Hollander for books for her children. It was evident to me that Social Connections with other parents provided a great support and influence for Anita, more than my words as the group facilitator and our guest librarian could provide.  

Remember To Take Nothing for Granted!

By Alicia Horton, Mobile Assessment Case Manager

Each and every day most of us experience stability. We have a place to stay, food to eat and a car to drive. We have these luxuries as part of our normal daily routine.

Now picture your life without just one of the three, let alone all three at once.

The thought is SCARY to say the least; right?

Well, these are just a few of the daily struggles of the families we meet at Community LINC. It’s extremely sad and disheartening.

One of the things I enjoy most about being here at Community LINC is, right from the very start we try and meet family’s right where they are!

For example, if they’re struggling to get from place to place, we can provide on the spot intake screenings. This limits the number of times a family has to travel for services while in crisis. We can connect families with local food pantries, health care providers and other community-related services to help a family in need.  It’s truly a beautiful thing!

Seeing the daily struggles of these families in crisis makes me truly grateful for the people (family, friends and co-workers) in my life.

Community LINC is truly the most rewarding and humbling job I’ve had.  I make myself remember to take nothing for granted.

Transition

Submitted by Emily Lyons, CTI Case Manager

Transition is hard, but Community LINC is here to make it a little bit easier.

New home, new school, new neighborhood, new sounds, new routine. Transition is hard. Transition is even harder when it involves uncertainty. Families who are experiencing homelessness often struggle with knowing what comes next, and once they do find a more stable place to stay, whether that be with a friend or relative, at a shelter or a community program, most of the uncertainty remains with them: What happens when I have to leave here? When will my time be up? What will we do then? Its questions like these that make already difficult situations turn into impossible tasks. Here at Community LINC, we walk side by side with our residents to make these transitions less daunting. From the day residents enter the program, they are supported by staff to look for employment, enroll children in school, obtain permanent housing, and connect with community resources in order to make their transition to the next chapter of their lives easier. Even after our families leave the furnished apartments on Community LINC’s campus, they are still supported for nine months during our Aftercare program. Preparing our residents to embrace their new chapter is sometimes challenging, but more times than not, it is simply rewarding – especially when through good preparation, the uncertainty diminishes and the excitement regarding their next steps escalates.

There’s No Place Like Home

By Laura Haskell, Community LINC Volunteer

Community LINC provides that stability that so many homeless families crave. 

“Close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and think to yourself, there’s no place like home!”

How simple life would be if we could all click our heels together and magically appear in our homes. Unfortunately, not everyone in Kansas City has a place of their own to call home.

On February 17^th, you have the chance to give families in Kansas City the building blocks to make a place of their own home. We are launching the Homes Matter campaign for the first time at Community LINC. During this single day you can help us reach our goal of raising $25,000. A gift can provide bedding, kitchen and bath fundamentals for the families we serve. Together we can make a difference in the community and start hundreds of homeless on their journey to self-sufficiency.

Spread the word about our Homes Matter campaign by sharing our story and inviting your friends and family to participate!  Help give KC families the basics: bit.ly/1KctGo7 #HomesMatter

No Turning Back

By Employment Service Manager, Constance Taylor

Often times our participants lack vision and a genuine desire to reach for their dreams to achieve and excel. They cannot always believe they deserve a better paying job with benefits working within a highly committed and professional team. One of my chief goals is to exercise coaching tools that propel our participants beyond what they can imagine.

After several years of verbal abuse with her current employer, Tonya was suspended for two weeks when she finally expressed her concerns of how she was being treated to higher management. While rehearsing the details of the event she realized this may be a good time to weigh her options. After five years of committed service with the existing company, the thought of pursuing another career was a little frightening.

She decided to put in some applications and see what happens. Her first application was for an office position as a receptionist. To her surprise she was contacted for an interview within three days. She was offered the position earning more money with an extensive benefit package. Community LINC’s employment services program was able to provide her with donated clothing perfect for the new job.

She is on her way to a brand new job and life. Her new employer plans to train her on other job functions which will also strengthen her ability to learn new skills and provide the tools needs to expand her new career path. What an awesome turn around at a time that seemed like things were about to crumble. No turning back now only soaring ahead at a brand new future.

The Power To Give

By Children's Program Director, Josh Chittum

Christmas time at Community LINC means offices and meeting spaces are filled with shopping bags and wrapped presents and all available hands digging in to help distribute items to families. This is expected at a social service agency during the holidays. What I’m proud of most this season, however, is something we did for Christmas that might not be as expected to outside observers.

For an entire month, children and youth participated in our first ever Read-to-Give program. During this time, they raised $1 for each book or story they wrote through outside sponsorships. At the end of the program, 130 literacy activities were completed. With an extra donation on top of sponsorship, the children and youth raised $200 total.

The great part is that they were raising money for someone else - an international organization called Oxfam America that works to promote self-sufficiency in developing nations just as we work to promote self-sufficiency for families experiencing homelessness in Kansas City. Through Oxfam’s Unwrapped store, children used the funds they raised to purchase a goat and bundles of school books that will benefit children in a developing country as they too strive towards self-sufficiency.

There is power in being able to act upon the world in this manner. There is power in realizing that one does not have to identify “only” as a recipient of charity. There is power in us, those not experiencing homelessness, to view children at Community LINC as capable of giving something to the world just like any other child.

This power increases children’s resiliency, which is the primary focus of Children’s Program. It also helps children internalize the fact that they can act in the world. That realization is linked to self-sufficiency, which is central to our organizational mission. That is why this program was started and why we hope we are able to continue it in the years ahead.

Aftercare Matters: Seeing In the Dark

By CTI Case Manager Sara Barrett

 

So often in social work, it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day aspects, such as paperwork, number-crunching, funding and reports. While all of those things are necessary and important to ensure best practice and accountability in agency spending, I can quickly lose focus on what my true role is in my work when I am in the middle of those things. More often than not, it is my clients who remind me why I am here, in my current role, today.

 

Last week I was meeting with a single father who graduated from the on-site program several months ago. He is two decades older than me, with more life experience than I could ever dream to think up. When I first began Aftercare Services with this man, I thought to myself, “We have every odd against building a rapport with one another-difference in age, generation, race, lifestyle, background. Really, what do I have to offer this person? What is my degree really worth?” During our first meeting, we discussed his lifelong journey through drug use, violence and “running the streets”. He shared how it impacted his children and how it’s led his life to the point of homelessness on more than one occasion. Our goal of the meeting: to determine which part of that lifestyle he could let go of today to keep his newly acquired job and pay his gas bill. He said, “I am seeing I can’t do both, I have to pick a side.”

 

Four months later, our meeting consists of discussion options for his 401K Retirement Plan, including a consultation with a local financial coaching agency and the “proper” way to inquire about information needed from Parent-Teacher Conferences. I reminded him of our first visit, and how different our conversation was today, versus four months ago. We laughed and joked about the difference. I asked him, “What was it, at your age, that finally made you feel strong enough to make the choice to create something new? To do life differently?”  He said, “I didn’t know this could be me,” pointing to his 401K enrollment sheet. “I didn’t see this, but you saw it, Community LINC saw it. You guys have never lied to me, so I just decided to believe it too. I couldn’t see a different future that I had never known before, so I had to see what Community LINC saw, and then it came true.”

 

At the end of the day, after the reports are submitted and the money is balanced; after the case notes are completed and the phone calls are made, my role is clear. It starts with believing the best in and for the people we serve; seeing them beyond their circumstance, and even maybe beyond decades of a lifestyle that has been detrimental to their well-being. If we don’t believe it for them, how can they believe it? I am continually challenged  and renewed in this work by the resilience of the human spirit, to overcome all odds and the humbleness of my clients. It is light in the darkness.

 

Program Matters: What about people who aren't chronically homeless?

Jeannine Short, Sr. Director of Programs and Operations

 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) categorizes homelessness as either 1) chronic—defined as unaccompanied homeless individuals with a disabling condition who have been homeless for at least one year, or have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years; or 2) non-chronic--the adverse.

 

Since 2003, HUD, along with four other federal agencies, have implemented initiatives with the very specific objective of creating permanent housing opportunities for chronically homeless persons. At an estimated cost of $52 million, the overarching aim is to get the chronically homeless housed as quickly and permanently as possible by providing rental subsidies and supportive services.

 

While HUD has done well to expand its definition of chronic homelessness to include families that have at least one family member with a disabling condition, it still excludes homeless families who do not meet this criteria. Too, with the release of the recent NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability), HUD’s intent to allocate the majority of its available funds to programs that serve the chronically homeless is becoming increasingly evident.

 

The future plight of non-chronic homeless families is unclear at this point, but communities would be wise to begin strategizing now. Perhaps applying the principles inherent to HUD’s mandate to create coordinated homeless services systems is the answer. Perhaps not. 

 

What is clear, however, is that non-chronic family homelessness is a reality that will not simply go away.

 

Housing Matters: Gratitude

By Housing Coordinator Tammy Mayhue

 

Anthony and Sharron A. became homeless after losing their jobs. Mrs. A said that when she was told about Community LINC, she thought she was entering another shelter with lots of rules and no resources to help them change their living situation.

 

Since Mr. A is a veteran, we began by helping him apply for a housing program through Veterans Administration. After being informed he needed to have been homeless for a longer period of time, he was denied. So, we went about helping them find housing. After receiving several housing referrals, the family was approved for a four bedroom house that was in their budget.

 

The A family worked together as a team. Despite setbacks like the denial by the VA, they remained positive during their stay. Throughout their time on campus, they said ‘Thank you’ over and over again and made sure the staff understood how grateful they were to be here and have this opportunity. Mr. A stated there should be more assistance for housing like Community LINC.

 

Families like the A’s are reminders of why I enjoy helping others and that Hope is within arm’s reach if you have a plan.

Families Matter: And, they always come first

By Family Coach Frenchie Pulluaim

 

Mrs. L. C.’s family is one whose struggles made a successful exit from the program appear quite impossible.  But, one of the best things about our program is that we provide wrap around services that allow families to be successful against all odds.

 

Mom was in need of family counseling as well as assistance getting the correct services for her school age children. 

 

This may seem like something simple, but, believe me, it is not. 

 

Mrs. C. even lost good employment opportunities due to her son’s suspensions from school and the overwhelming number of meetings needed to address his behavior. 

 

Although there was an IEP (individual education plan), it was doing little to assist the child or the family.  Ryan, our Children’s Program Director, was able to get her son what he needs to be successful in school by stepping in to advocate for him, and creating some resources and services that helped the whole family. 

 

Our staff became the family and support that Mrs. C. needed to get motivated and back on track. Today, this thankful and happy family has a permanent place in a three bedroom home. 

 

Community LINC recognizes that families truly are unique, sometimes unpredictable, and always worthy of all the assistance we can give them.

Our mission: End homelessness, impact poverty and remove barriers to self-sufficiency for the families we serve.

It’s really cold here this morning. The temperature is still in the teens.

 

During another cold snap the week before Christmas, we took in a family of six on an emergency basis. The father told a co-worker at his new job that his family had no place to stay. Because of the frigid temperatures, the emergency shelters were full.

 

The co-worker took him home to stay at his house, but the family didn’t want to impose when they saw how many people were already living there.

 

Instead they asked to sleep in his car overnight - turning it on and off to stay warm.

 

The next day the co-worker took the family to two different emergency shelters, but they weren’t allowed to stay because the parents weren’t married.

 

The co-worker knew our Housing Coordinator Tammy Mayhue, so he called to ask us for help.

 

Tammy and our Children’s Program Director Ryan Blake stayed late to help the family settle into one of our Immediate Housing apartments. The next morning, our Intake Specialist Holly Gardner interviewed them and admitted them to our Interim Housing Program.

 

When we asked if anyone could help the family out at this late date, one of our board members, Dr. Raymond Cattaneo, reached out to others and made sure this family of strangers had a Christmas.

We are truly blessed by all of the board members, staff, volunteers and donors who have taken this mission into your hearts.

 

Happy New Year.

 

Families Matter: A new role for some fathers

By Family Coach Frenchie Pulluaim

 

One of the fastest growing homeless family types is that of fathers raising children.  Due to chronic drug issues, domestic abuse and mental wellness, fathers are finding themselves as the sole caretaker and provider for their children. 

 

Mr. F. G. is one of those fathers. 

 

We always think of women when we hear about abusive relationships, but we are finding abuse to be an equal opportunity issue.  Mr. F. G. found himself to be a victim and was injured by someone connected to his estranged wife.  Although he suffered life altering injuries and scars, he was left to support and care for his two daughters.  His injuries caused him to lose his employment and his home.  But, he continued to have faith because of his love for his daughters.  He immediately began to work on his comeback, struggling to make ends meet until he applied and entered the City Union Mission homeless shelter. 

 

He received a referral to Community LINC for rapid re-housing back in October.  He quickly began to job search and apply for positions.  He was hired in November, and he immediately started applying for childcare and other services that would assist him until he made his first pay check. 

 

He found it virtually impossible to get through the process of applying for childcare, but he stuck with it, his family filling in where they could, etc.  He still has not gotten state paid child care, although he is eligible.

 

Mr. F. G. is learning the pitfalls of having to depend on programs and agencies. The process sometimes seem never ending, and you are at the mercy of the social worker following through for the services you are applying for.  Mistakes often happen, but sadly it is the person who is in crisis and in desperate need for services who pays the price for the mistakes.

 

Mr. F. G. is saving and working hard to pay fines and tickets that are keeping him from getting his driver’s license. His next step will be to purchase a car as soon as possible.  A car will make it much easier to get his girls to daycare and assist to work each day.

 

He has won several gift cards at work for quality control, (Panera Gift card, and Applebee’s Gift card). 

 

Mr. F. G. is a hard worker and is focused on getting permanent housing for him and his daughters.  I appreciate the opportunity to work with him and his family.