2.5 Employment and Community Engagement Strategies for Homeless People with Disabilities (Post)
2.5 Employment and Community Engagement Strategies for Homeless People with Disabilities (Wilson)
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Transcript of 2.5 Employment and Community Engagement Strategies for Homeless People with Disabilities (Wilson)
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