WAYNE COUNTY FAMILY CENTER

Putting an End to the Cycle of Homelessness

The Wayne County Family Center works very hard on helping to find housing for those in need. But many times, families call looking for shelter again within a matter of months or years. So what is happening once they get back into their own homes? The Family Center decided this would be a matter worth looking into. The deeper we looked, the clearer the answer became. Unstable families require continued support once they are in their own homes. It is not just enough to find the homeless a home. We need to teach them how to maintain that home.

While we offered a variety of support to them when they were in the shelter, they became lost and unstructured once they gained their independence again. Hence, the Outreach Program was developed. Although the Outreach Program is changing and evolving, it has been relatively successful since it began in the fall of 1995.

One family in particular comes to mind. In order to maintain privacy I will call this the "Roberts" family. The Roberts family has been part of our Outreach Program for almost a year now. Ms. Roberts had a past cocaine addiction, which contributed to her and her four children becoming homeless. While at the shelter, she became drug free and found housing in Ann Arbor. We began outreach services immediately. The outreach worker assisted her in looking for employment, finding child care, helping her set up a budget, and getting her into a drug rehab program.

Although Ms. Roberts was extremely motivated, cocaine is a powerful addiction and she relapsed on New Year's Eve. She instantly became in jeopardy of losing her home. Because Ms. Roberts was motivated, the outreach worker advocated on her behalf with her landlord. She was able to stay in her housing with some stricter terms added to her lease. One of those terms was court ordered drug treatment four times a week for six hours each day and drug tests given two times a week. Ms. Roberts has been successfully fulfilling the terms of her lease since March and has had clean drug tests since then. She is finally on the road to recovery

Most people who enter the Outreach Program have the will to change, but we need to offer them the opportunity to make this change possible. Ms. Roberts probably would have fallen through the cracks if she didn't have the support from the Outreach Program and her rehab working together.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to better their lives. Whether they choose to accept the opportunity is their own decision.

By Kim Supron

Wayne County Family Center