03.02 Partnership for Homeless
Project Renewal for the Homeless
Mental illness is the leading disability for adults in America. This year there will be nearly 25% of Americans suffering from some type of mental disorder. Homeless people from the ages of 15 to 44 are more prone to developing this disorder. In particular, they are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These people distance themselves from society. Untreated, they turn to destructive behaviors leading to devastating outcomes such as substance, sexual, or physical abuse, and suicide.
With this informative opening, Jim Gallow’s enlightening session on Project Renewal emphasized just how real these facts are. After painting a picture of the past and present problems facing the homeless, he spent most of the rest of the session discussing Project Renewal, an organization which works with such people and helps them regain the independent life they once had. It thrives on the philosophy of personal responsibility with a great emphasis on self-sufficiency. Beginning as only an alcohol detoxification program in 1967, Project Renewal has served 5000 individuals yearly since then. The key to this organization’s success is the close care that they put into each and every client. Their facilities include everything from diagnosis and crisis management to treatment and healthcare. Project Renewal’s program branches out to aid homeless people in many areas of difficulties. They have mobile clinics fully staffed with psychiatrists and nurses. Their supportive housing programs, Clinton Residence, Fort Washington, New Providence, and LeonaBlanche, provide transitional housing, with the hope for the homeless to one day to own a home themselves. One of the most productive parts of the organization seemed to be “Job Links” since it provides these people with opportunities to obtain internships and other kinds of job experience in fields they are interested in.
As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.”
-Sapna Kishnani
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Mental illness is the leading disability for adult in America. This year there will be nearly 25% of American suffering from some type of mental disorder. Homeless people at the ages of 15 to 44 are more apt to developing this kind of disorder. In particular, there are more probable develop depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These people distance themselves from society. Untreated, these people turn to destructive behaviors leading to devastating outcomes such as substance abuse, major medical issue, abuse (sexual or physical) and suicide.
Project Renewal is an organization which works with homeless people and helps them regain the independent life they once had. Project Renewal goal is not to just help the indigent population of New York, but to change their lives completely. The key to this organization’s success is the close care that they put into each and every client. Their continuum of care provides everything from diagnosis and crisis management to treatment and healthcare. Project Renewal’s program branches out to aid homeless people in many areas of difficulties. They have mobile clinic fully staffed with psychiatrist and nurse. Pioneer housing in Clinton Residence, Fort Washington, New Providence and LeonaBlanche, provide transitional housing, with the hope for the homeless to one day to own a home themselves. Also, they provide job placement opportunities to those20who are capable to work.
Project Renewal thrives on the philosophy of personal responsibility with a great emphasis on self-sufficiency. Beginning as only an alcohol detoxification program in 1967, Project Renewal has served 5000 individuals yearly since then. With programs such as Project Renewal, the homelessness problem in New York has been steadily improving.
arch 2 Community Fair: Project Renewal and the Partnership for the Homeless (Leonardo Freire)
Jim Gallow began his presentation with an introduction on mental illness as a major social & healthcare issue. What many people seem to ignore is that 1/3 of homeless New Yorkers suffer from mental illness, on top of substance abuse. In other words, they are sick people, who have been punished by conditions outside of their reach. Mr. Gallow and his organization specialize in providing the homeless with professional development opportunities and residences to aid them in the process of getting off the streets. The most rewarding part of his presentation was hearing that his program is genuinely making a difference in people’s lives, providing hope for those who saw no expectations for themselves only 5 years ago. While life can be unfortunate with undeserving people, Project Renewal truly renews the possibilities of a better future even in the most dire circumstances.
Lori Schlabach focused her presentation on a crucial factor contributing to homeless that I had not been aware of: Affordable Housing. She commented on the immense troubles this problem brings in New York, due to increasingly inflated prices, especially for low-income families. This is especially harmful for the homeless, who need accessible housing to avoid living on the streets. Rather than simply providing a shelter bed for someone, The Partnership for the Homeless firmly believes in assisting the homeless in finding housing, which is the crucial first step in allowing them to exit their situation. This approach was especially interesting because it addresses one of the causes of homelessness rather simply the providing of a temporary solution. As it turns out, Mayor Bloomberg’s affordable housing segment of PlaNYC is also of special interest to the homeless and this issue gains yet another important motivation.
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Leonardo Freire
An Enlightening Event
Before I went to this common event, I didn’t realize that many homeless people were mentally ill. I knew that many mental institutions had pushed their patients out into the world with only some medication a few decades ago, and I knew there were some very peculiarly behaved homeless people, but I never actually made the (obvious) connection between these two facts. I was drawn to this event because this connection was such a surprise to me, and I decided that I needed to better understand the situation of homeless people.
Project Renewal is an organization that works to permanently get the homeless off the streets by providing a wide variety of support, such as mental health facilities, physical health facilities, and a place to stay for the night. It gives them the opportunity to find themselves homes, but also a net to fall upon if they need it. Many homeless people have drug addictions or mental illnesses, and the organizations helps them to recover from these problems in order to sustain themselves in their own homes.
The Partnership for the homeless has a different approach to aiding those in need. Before this event, I had thought that all they really needed is a house or an apartment. Because I’ve never been in the situation, I barely thought about the fact that they’d then need to buy furniture, food, etc. The Partnership for the Homeless not only seeks to give people the opportunity to obtain these things, it also strives to give them a community to go with their homes. I had never thought about this. I never realized the importance and need of a community in order to survive. Going to this common event made me realize how ignorant I was of the entire homeless crisis and how much more complicated the struggle actually is. Kristan Melo
HOMELESSNESS AND ITS CAUSES
Jim Gallow of Project Renewal and Lori Schlabach of The Partnership for the Homeless provided presentaion on their respective organization’s history and its’ aim to end homelessness and aid those who could not avoid it.
Jim Gallow of Project Renewal [an outreach organization that finds jobs and affordable homes for those currently homeless] focused his presentation on homelessness and the mentally ill. Mr. Gallow contended that the deinstitutionalization and the anti-psychiatry movement in the 1980s and 1990s were and are associated with the problem of the homeless mentally ill. Although the anti-psychiatry movement may have seemed humanistic, it was in effect the states’ abdication from much of their responsibility for the mentally ill. Although it is claimed that it was an unintended consequence, thousands of the mentally ill were turned out into the streets with no direction but homelessness.
Lori Schlabach of The Partnership for the Homeless [an advocacy organization that acts as an intermediary between the city government and faith-based shelters] asserted that it is now harder to place people in jobs. There are fewer jobs on the market and those that are available are minimum wage jobs. The cost of housing and threat of eviction also weigh on struggling families and individuals. She argued that real estate people have built luxury housing, and now they are struck because no one is buying. If people at the luxury end are not able to buy, “what about the people that were paying $500, $600 a month rent or less?” Her presentation focused on the lack of affordable housing in New York City. Without affordable housing, especially in this time of recession, homelessness IS going to dramatically increase.
-CHRISTIAN RAMSAY
WHAT DID YOU THINK?
Project Renewal is an organization which works with homeless people and helps them regain the independent life they once had. Project Renewal goal is not to just help the indigent population of New York, but to change their lives completely. The key to this organization’s success is the close care that they put into each and every client. Their continuum of care provides everything from diagnosis and crisis management to treatment and healthcare. Project Renewal’s program branches out to aid homeless people in many areas of difficulties. They have mobile clinic fully staffed with psychiatrist and nurse. Pioneer housing in Clinton Residence, Fort Washington, New Providence and LeonaBlanche, provide transitional housing, with the hope for the homeless to one day to own a home themselves. Also, they provide job placement opportunities to those20who are capable to work.
Project Renewal thrives on the philosophy of personal responsibility with a great emphasis on self-sufficiency. Beginning as only an alcohol detoxification program in 1967, Project Renewal has served 5000 individuals yearly since then. With programs such as Project Renewal, the homelessness problem in New York has been steadily improving.
Project Renewal is an organization that works to permanently get the homeless off the streets by providing a wide variety of support, such as mental health facilities, physical health facilities, and a place to stay for the night. It gives them the opportunity to find themselves homes, but also a net to fall upon if they need it. Many homeless people have drug addictions or mental illnesses, and the organizations helps them to recover from these problems in order to sustain themselves in their own homes.
The Partnership for the homeless has a different approach to aiding those in need. Before this event, I had thought that all they really needed is a house or an apartment. Because I’ve never been in the situation, I barely thought about the fact that they’d then need to buy furniture, food, etc. The Partnership for the Homeless not only seeks to give people the opportunity to obtain these things, it also strives to give them a community to go with their homes. I had never thought about this. I never realized the importance and need of a community in order to survive. Going to this common event made me realize how ignorant I was of the entire homeless crisis and how much more complicated the struggle actually is. Kristan Melo
The Partnership for the Homeless & Project Renewal
Mar 2 2009 - 6:00pm