Health and Wellness/Clinical Services
Many of our program participants come to HousingPlus with histories of trauma and mental illness. This is particularly true of Veterans, many of whom suffer from PTSD, and those who are coming out of detention. We use access to supportive housing as an entry point to engage with them on these issues.
We train our staff members to provide person-centered, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed care, designed to help them to recognize and respond sensitively to mental health issues. This also equips them to provide referrals where greater intervention is needed, either to our in-house mental health staff or externally, as needed. Our in-house Clinical Care Manager and Mental Health Nurse practitioners provide counseling in urgent cases and make additional referrals as needed.
Education and Employment
Our Employment and Education Services (EESS) program works with participants to help them build employment skills, set career goals, and secure jobs that suit their strengths and provide a steady, livable income. We begin by conducting assessments with participants, both adults and adolescents, to help to determine their academic, career and employment goals. These assessments form the basis of individualized plans that identify needs and goals, which are then translated into individual plans that may include getting a GED or other certification, job searches or career advancement. We advise on resources and help to connect individuals to training, internship and volunteer opportunities as well as jobs.
Case Management
Case management is a critical element of the support that HousingPlus provides. Case Managers are the first port of call for our participants in accessing the range of our services. Case Managers meet with participants in the first few days after moving in, making them aware of support offered by HousingPlus, referring them to external resources, orienting them in the community, helping them to access benefits and offering other assistance as needed. They meet with program participants at least monthly, and create individualized and person-centered quarterly service plans throughout their time at HousingPlus, engaging them more intensively when needed.
Property Management
A core element of HousingPlus’ work is identifying suitable housing for our program participants that meets both HousingPlus standards and tenant needs. This includes ensuring that housing is near community resources; public transportation, hospitals, schools, laundromats, banks, etc. We also ensure that all properties and apartments are well-maintained. They also support tenants to learn how to advocate for themselves, to maintain their apartments, to help them navigate their relationships with landlords.
The property management team ensures that all leasing and related legal procedures are carried out and also takes responsibility for the collection of the tenant rent contributions.
Referrals
Although HousingPlus offers a wide range of services, our goal is to integrate our tenants into the community. Thus, we often refer participants to community-led programs. For this reason, case managers thoroughly familiarize themselves with other services in the communities where they work so that they can facilitate access to other services as needed.
