SAFE at home
The Self-Sufficiency Assistance for Ex-residents (SAFE) at Home program was developed to help support recently-homeless families. When families come to Mercy House, they have often been living at risk of homelessness for several years. When families move out of Mercy House, they are still very much at risk and research shows that the families who are most likely to become homeless are those who have been homeless before.
We realized that the impact of the organization was not sufficient to the needs of the families we were serving. We determined that we needed to be able to accommodate longer residency for families and educate them on how to maintain stable housing upon their departure from Mercy House. That is when we began the SAFE-at-Home aftercare program. Through this program, we have achieved a 98% success rate of helping families to find and maintain housing. SAFE-at-Home is funded by a grant from the Harrisonburg/Rockingham United Way. All services are dependent on participants maintaining a job and taking part in weekly meetings.
Once a month, the case manager meets with families in their homes to discuss and observe needs. There are a number of factors she examines, including that the family:
· is living in affordable housing by spending less than one-third of their income on rent
· feels safe in their neighborhood
· has sufficient food, utensils and appliances to prepare three nutritious meals every day
· is meeting medical needs
· has no drug or alcohol abuse in the immediate family
· is earning income that is sufficient to meet their basic needs
· children are attending school and making passing marks in all subjects
· children are physically and emotionally safe
· is becoming a part of the community in which they live
The Self-Sufficiency Assistance for Ex-residents (SAFE) at Home program was developed to help support recently-homeless families. When families come to Mercy House, they have often been living at risk of homelessness for several years. When families move out of Mercy House, they are still very much at risk and research shows that the families who are most likely to become homeless are those who have been homeless before.
We realized that the impact of the organization was not sufficient to the needs of the families we were serving. We determined that we needed to be able to accommodate longer residency for families and educate them on how to maintain stable housing upon their departure from Mercy House. That is when we began the SAFE-at-Home aftercare program. Through this program, we have achieved a 98% success rate of helping families to find and maintain housing. SAFE-at-Home is funded by a grant from the Harrisonburg/Rockingham United Way. All services are dependent on participants maintaining a job and taking part in weekly meetings.
Once a month, the case manager meets with families in their homes to discuss and observe needs. There are a number of factors she examines, including that the family:
· is living in affordable housing by spending less than one-third of their income on rent
· feels safe in their neighborhood
· has sufficient food, utensils and appliances to prepare three nutritious meals every day
· is meeting medical needs
· has no drug or alcohol abuse in the immediate family
· is earning income that is sufficient to meet their basic needs
· children are attending school and making passing marks in all subjects
· children are physically and emotionally safe
· is becoming a part of the community in which they live
