Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
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Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Glendale, AZ
Benny Shamoon
MAT-144
03/10/21
Katelyn Gutteridge
Homeless families sought refuge in Churches
For this project, the group of local people that I had chosen to plan for 5-year project implementation are the locals in Glendale, AZ that tend to stay within churches to find refuge and utilize to keep roofs on their heads, away from the daily busy streets (Hall, 2018). For the homeless, there are three types: the transitional groups (ones who are temporarily homeless, could be due to being jobless for a short while), episodic groups (people who get in and out of the homeless case, at least four times for the past 3 years), and the chronically homeless groups (residing on the streets for more than five years) (Unite, 2019). The groups of people that this project will assist on this selection are the individuals who are battling addiction that lives on church grounds and families, especially ones with little kids that also reside in these places. There are multiple possible reasons for a person to engage in this situation. One, migrants had an issue with their tenants for their supposed housing. Another was when they were a former resident where they had to face eviction. The other is low-income earners, where they cannot support their children with their education, let alone proper housing. Single men who are also jobless and single parents with their children that are unable to provide enough for their kids are also counted here. The age ranges can vary from babies to adults as we consider homeless families, and genders will not be much of an issue. More specifically, families that stay in churches around Glendale or even work at churches so that they have a place to stay will be considered. It is already a good mission for the churches to welcome stray children or people seeking refuge. However, it is highly recommended that families, especially with children approaching their teenage years, have their own homes. This project already gives us specific locations to execute the project on or around churches within the local community. The goal here is that every family, especially with kids at their school age, should have decent housing and somewhere more permanent to stay. The project scope will be for the families that temporarily house themselves on church grounds around Glendale, AZ. I decided on the kind of assistance that these people needed by weighing what makes their situation better: proper housing, essentials, employment opportunities, or rehabilitation for those who are battling their addiction. Since shelter is one of the necessities that everyone should be granted, this is the most common case that will be assisted for this project (Yglesias, 2019). I will approach people to offer help by doing fundraisers, informing the surrounding community with flyers and advertisements to be aware of the project. Doing so will get people to volunteer by helping to do their part on the homeless drop-in centers and work on the sponsorships to help realize this project into its reality. Every individual or family that will be selected or potentially be added to the lists of beneficiaries will be interviewed personally or by fellow volunteers/workers for the people’s initial list. A documented list of potential beneficiaries will be contacted and informed about the program. As much as the earnings, sponsorships, and expenses are monitored, the data of the people we had contacted about the program shall be considered and keep track of the entire process this program had been progressing. MAT 144 Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
Homeless Housing Assistance
The kind of assistance that I will bring to the people for this project comes in multiple steps, with the bottom line to help these families or people restabilize their lives. Affordable housing will be provided by working in partnership with a permanent housing service, consultations, and counseling for the homeless service providers within the community. After conducting background checks, criminal checks, and psychological assessments, a lease will be given to new apartment building owners. They will have their case managers train them to readjust in their new lives, necessities, and goods and a contract with them for having a one-year period to help them find a job again to get them back on track. Counseling will be the primary assistance since I will have to connect and communicate with the people involved to ensure families can be placed in homes appropriate for them. If there are no optimal selections possible, I will also be open to bringing together the funds to build apartment complexes or houses, should the fundraising and sponsorships attain or surpass the projected budget. The plan is to start to investigate low-income or government-aided housing so that I could come up with a solution for the individuals who have temporary housing. I aim to house at least 20 families or 50 individuals into their new homes (whichever happens first) to assure that this project succeeds. I would then meet with each family or individual to understand their needs and find out how long they have been homeless. I would also ask what they did before becoming homeless. Then a conversation to see if they would need rehabilitation or mental health counseling so that I would be able to figure out a realistic solution. That would be a case-to-case basis. To maximize the possible assistance each family can get, I will consider all variables possible, such as their previous occupation, number of people within the family, and the children’s ages to support their schooling. A location will be rented in Glendale, most preferably near the selected church ground. If not, I will work in partnership with a drop-in center for the homeless. At least until the finalization of picking a new family or individual to give housing happens, the consultation and assessment period will be done. Transportation will indeed be provided, but that is during the process where we are either gathering the individuals whom we seek to reach out with the program. Strong communication skills are needed for this project, researching skills for the technicalities within the contract to assure the feasibility of the project, and a well-informed network of housing service providers, consultants, and agencies are optimal for this project, as well as high persuasive skills for advertising, funding, and sponsorships purposes to be successful is needed on this project. A lawyer who will assure that the project abides by the law and helps us on options best for the low median households will also be perfect for the program. In the short run, this assistance will bring together the homeless people within the community. They can be temporarily held in the drop-in center and temporarily let them settle there if they want. This would help them, especially those who have been waiting long to be waitlisted for a new home. Furthermore, this will surely give them hope and a chance to rebuild themselves. Once chosen, they only must sign a 1-year lease and a contract wherein they are advised to have a job before the end of the contract and note that they will be assisted on that part, as well as a new home, along with counseling to get them back on their feet. In the short run, they will be taken off the streets and have their new homes. The counseling would help act as an eye-opener, especially if the family involved has a child/children, prioritizes the kid’s future, and possibly helps them enough to find a way to get their child back to school. The lasting effect of this is, if things go wrong, they will realize that people are willing to help if they do want to be helped. The document tracking and processing will be handled by the workers that I will hire to assure transparency of documents provided; therefore, hiring someone with excellent organizational skills would be perfect for the job. MAT 144 Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
Project Management
The project’s significant operations will be on the housing placement process where a government-aided housing or low-cost housing is available for them, also assigned, after careful deliberation of all the variables that a specific family considered while on the consultation process. Renting a location is optimal, around the Glendale area, especially for my workers to have decent workspace while the project is ongoing. I will be open to remote working for some of my employees. However, most of the time, I will need an assistant to aid me in processing calls and documents to efficiently track the progress of placing the beneficiaries in their new homes. Documentation for the profile of the families and individual beneficiaries, permits for fundraising events, and sending out emails and calls for sponsorship requests will also be needed and advertising either through social media or the old-fashioned way by spreading flyers around the community. My paid individuals will sign non-disclosure agreements upon hire and signature that says that the involved parties should at least be able to see the program through before backing out or canceling midway for various reasons since time and effort will be of waste should this happen. Volunteers will either have a face-to-face interview or briefing via a prepared video (possibly animated) on the timeline on how I want to see this project through. They need to understand the purpose, so a presentation of the objectives clearly explains from the beginning with the end goal in mind shall be shown. The volunteers will be screened on their ages, job history, or at least, their volunteering history, personal profile, and their ability to be very communicative and resourceful will be at stake. I expect to have at least one primary assistant and up to 8 volunteers, which all involve advertising, sponsorships, scheduling, fundraising, and IT as well. MAT 144 Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
First Half of the Project
The project shall begin in April 2026 and happen until July 2026. Hopefully, several families are now relocated and assigned to their homes according to their recommendations from the consultation and based on their available units. To make sure that the project will be a success in the 12 weeks that this will operate, the following shall be done within the span of the five years before the implementation: the five-year plan to gather sponsorships, make calls to partner up with homeless service providers, exploring the best option to offer to these individuals, and provide a proof of funds that I have three weeks before the actual implementation so that my accountant can approve the execution of the program. To boost public relations or make people aware around the community, I wanted to have a promotional video or a video clip where it shows what I wanted to meet as the end goal since it already gives a lot of advantage. Making people aware about the program’s execution and it is up to them if they wanted to volunteer or not; and, the beneficiaries will reach out more than us reaching out to them, and more time will be done for screening and getting to know them. I hope to expect eight people will assist in ways that one will be working on the front lines, looking for homeless people or families lurking around, communicating to them about trying for the program. People conducting background checks, criminal checks, psychological assessment, contacting rehabilitation centers if there is a strong need, and someone who will oversee the PR to make sure everything is aligned and updated. People working to assist in the paperwork and the new home’s transition will be helpful than with just me doing the work. If I would do it alone, talking to the families will already take a whole day, settling them to a unit will be for another day, and there will be a delay in the paperwork. Updating them about their status if they will be given a new home is also vital because I believe that they had waited long enough. Productivity will be affected if only I will have to do it alone, and I believe that there are more strength and progress in numbers.
Second Half of the Project
I was planning to have the operations filmed for a documentary throughout so that all the people who worked with the program and who were all updated with the program will know how the sponsorships, fundraising, and the execution of the project went. It is also a way of saying thank you to the people who believed in the project and bringing an impact on the community. By the eighth week of operations, we would follow up with these families who have adjusted to their new home and see if the housed people’s quota had been met. Since the people on the front lines connecting with these people will get gradually less busy, they can be assigned instead to assist with the drop-in centers. It would be beneficial if there are enough case managers to assist them during their transition period. It is essential to build trust with these people, so I will be very hands-on and contact them from time to time, visiting them in their new units. I can say that I will wrap it up when I have housed 50 individuals or 20 families, whichever comes first and to work on the video and paper documentation so that to bring a general message of hope to everyone to do their part and to help when they can. I will retain the lease records, as well as the contract agreement with the tenants. I believe that a year is more than enough time for their adjustment period and window time to find a job. At the end of the year, depending on the unit that our team will coordinate with, we would like to see through the assurance that they will not be kicked out of the place when section 8 is applied. I will keep both the paper record and the digital record to be handled by my IT team. To finalize location-related expenses, if we chose to rent a separate workspace, we might be able to pack up as early as the tenth week if things turn out according to plan and assessments and transitions are done earlier than expected. To conclude the relationship with these individuals and families, I know that upon the end of the project, I will still see them from time to time or consult with the case managers to see how they were doing. When they are ready, I will assist them in looking for jobs after they feel that they had settled down and adjusted to their new places. MAT 144 Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
Project Evaluation
To evaluate if the humanitarian project was a success in the past three months from the time of execution, I will check with the case managers to let me know how they were doing or what they were doing during the adjustment period. The individual had been helped when they could settle on their new place, free from their addiction, sober, and wanted to focus on re-stabilizing their lives. The questions to ask would be: Are their well-being physically improving compared to the time they were homeless? Are the individuals still struggling with their addiction? Are they still taking the counseling offered along with their transition to the new place? Are they communicating with their case managers well? The community I chose to execute my plan was not that far from where I am. I could visit if I had the time because sincerely helping people would not need you to remind yourself to check up on them because you would have the initiative to do so. My project assistance would still affect, if possible, another humanitarian project was launched by another team to help reduce the homeless population within the community. For the people that I had helped, it is when they decided to finally step up and be better than what they were if they decided to be finally sober. I aimed to establish a relationship with them to trust me, so it should come from them when they want to stop their addiction. This is what is implied by the harm reduction model (Watson et al., 2017). To monitor the evaluation effectively, I also need to know the percent of the homeless population within the area at the beginning of the project. This way, I can adjust the numbers I could need in case of over or under budget for the targeted number of individuals that the project aims to provide housing.
Ethics and Christian Worldview Analysis
I believe that people should all be viewed as equal and of value and that no one should be looked at less just because of where they were from or the status of their lives. To love neighbor as to love oneself is a beautiful idea supported in this program because I can access the necessities that frankly, at some point, I seem to have taken for granted, when not everyone in the world does not even have access with. I realized that as much as I have access to water, food, clothing, a house, and a job, these homeless people should have to because this is not their choice, and this should not be a reason for us to be mean to these people. I strive to realize the ethical principles that there is still faith left in humanity and that actions speak louder than words that when there is a will to impact the community to provide housing to the homeless, there is a way. These people differ to me in the sense that what was valuable and essential for daily living was taken away from them. Depending on how long they were living off the streets and that there are events and circumstances in life, they reached a point that they do not know where to go to, which resorts them to being homeless. Since I initiated the project of helping, I feel like it is better to help them out to benefit them. For a long time, they experienced the abuse of them not being helped or even noticed by anyone outside the streets. I propose to bridge the differences by sharing some stories of the people we were able to reach out to, just to realize how much of the help from the project would mean to them and bring an impact on it to other people by sharing a documentary or a simple video about them. The project furthers the goal of providing human value and dignity to all people by only combatting what others think about them: “they are homeless by choice.” No two struggles are the same, as well as nobody deserves that kind of abuse to be taken away from them everything they have. No person also deserves to stay out in the streets, so as much as we cannot imagine living off their streets, these people once thought that as well, until it happened, and they ran out of options. With the help of funding, sponsorships, and partnerships with churches, low-cost housings, and permanent service providers, we can achieve the goal of reducing people living on the streets. MAT 144 Permanent Housing Project for the Homeless at Los Angeles CA Report
Summary and Reflections
To summarize, the three individuals that I had contacted that could help me identify the needs in my community are Father George (Parish Priest – 818-266-7273), Elbert Vartanian (Church Youth President – 818-640-6425), and Arbella Rasho (Church Outreach – 818-923-4346). They helped me identify the groups to assist. These are the families that temporarily house themselves on church grounds and the individuals who are battling addiction and that live on church grounds. The other local needs that I had to consider were those who would need food. You could choose when you see a beggar to give them food, and it is helpful, but every day giving them food when you think of it and considering their well-being is not enough. We should also consider where they get their water source, change of clothing, housing, and employment. Therefore, we must address the concern from its root and help them as much as we can. The other avenues that the people can receive this assistance are at the drop-in centers, rehabilitation centers, emergency shelters, and churches as well. Suppose we are at the point where this project is to be implemented for real. In that case, many people should be contacted. Property managers, case managers, as well as a lawyer to consult with section 8, to understand which part of it could be funded for a few months to assure the help that these people can get and fully be able to help them finally figure out their lives again, be stable, and earn through their jobs once more (Garrett, 2012).
References
Garrett, D. (2012, January). The Business Case for Ending Homelessness: Having a Home Improves Health, Reduces Healthcare Utilization and Costs. NCBI.Gov. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4046466/#:%7E:text=Providing%20permanent%20supportive%20housing%20to,hospitalizations%20is%20decreased%20by%2077%25
Hall, D. (2018, November 15). Non-profit for homeless families looks for church partners as it expands into Glendale. The Republic | Azcentral.Com. https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/local/glendale/2018/11/15/family-promise-greater-phoenix-expands-glendale-homeless-families/1757523002/
Unite, B. (2019, November 28). The Types of Homelessness. Art from the Streets. https://artfromthestreets.org/blogs/news/the-types-of-homelessness
Watson, D. et al. (2017, May 23). Housing First and harm reduction: a rapid review and document analysis of the US and Canadian open-access literature. Harm Reduction Journal. https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-017-0158-x
Yglesias, M. (2019, February 20). Giving homes to the homeless is cheaper than leaving them on the streets. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2014/5/30/5764096/homeless-shelter-housing-help-solutions