Revamping the Blog

Hello All,
Just wanted to let everyone know over the next several months we will be more active with the blog. Please continue to follow us for exciting updates on what the CACH is doing. We look forward to Project Homeless Connect 2015, which will be held at the Farm Show Complex on 20 November 2015.

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CACH PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT – HAPPENIN

CACH PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT – HAPPENING NOW – PA FARM SHOW COMPLEX, Harrisburg, PA – through 4 PM today only. Agencies & Venue Map: http://www.cachpa.org/projecthomelessmoreinfo.asp http://ow.ly/i/3eQFm

“They offerd me a tract…but what I really needed was a cup of cold water.” – by Steve Schwartz, Brethren Housing Association Executive Director

It was late afternoon. I was hungry. And thirsty. I was wandering the city…it was a warm day, not necessarily hot, but warm enough. I’d been hoping to find something to eat, to no avail, and seriously looking for a water fountain. Do they no longer exist in this era of bottled water? I’d had breakfast at the shelter, but nothing to eat or drink since. I passed by a lady that handed me a tract. I guess I looked like I needed it. Or maybe she was handing them to everybody. This tract urged me to repent, and warned of taking part in all the evil in the world, including watching movies. Bummer. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to see The Passion!
A few corners later, some other young girls offered me a handful of tracts. I declined. As I walked on it struck me that instead of a tract, what I really could have used was a cup of cold water…or a slice of bread…or better yet a carton of juice.
…..
It was April 2004. I had ended my job with a computer company the day before. In nine days I would start as the new Executive Director of Brethren Housing Association, and I wanted to make this week off meaningful.

So I walked out the door of my workplace at 4:30 and hopped a train to Philadelphia. I left with no money in my pocket and no plan in mind, other than to try and find food and shelter for the weekend and return home on Sunday. I left my wallet, watch, credit cards, and money…the props I rely on daily in my normal, scheduled life. Why was I doing this? Good question. As I rode the train I jotted some goals for the weekend:

1. To experience what it’s like to need to find a place to stay for the night, and hopefully to experience spending the night in a homeless shelter.

2. To experience what it’s like to need to find food for the weekend.

I would NOT expect to understand what it is like to be truly homeless based on this one weekend away. Understanding what it’s like to spend a night in a shelter is much different than understanding what it’s like to truly not have a home. I could not understand the suffering and hardship of being homeless, or the loss of dignity. My 48 hour experiment was time limited…and even though I had no money on me and could potentially find no food or shelter…it was just that—a 48 hour experiment. I had a return train ticket in my backpack.

…..

I got off the train in Philly at 7:20. At least I think it was 7:20; remember, I didn’t have a watch. At the information desk in the train station I asked where there was a shelter nearby, and I was given directions. To make a long story short, after walking 15 blocks, finding out this was a family shelter (no single men), being given other directions, getting lost, talking my way onto a trolley to another part of the city (remember, I had no money…my first lesson in resourcefulness), and walking several more blocks, I found a shelter at 10pm. Here I would sit wondering whether they would take me in for the night.

The guys sitting next to me in the waiting room were eating fortune cookies. I looked down and there was a fortune lying by my foot: “You will have a pleasant trip”, it read.
…..
While waiting, I met Ronald. Ronald was bright, well groomed, articulate, and friendly. He was in the army reserves. Had been for 18 years. Two more years to retirement. Ronald also worked full-time as a security guard at a gated community. He was trying to save up money for an apartment, but kept making bad decisions as he put it. He’d get his check and blow it. On drugs, I believe. He didn’t state it explicitly, but he was struggling with an addiction. He knew it was wrong, but couldn’t beat it. He asked me to pray for him, which I did and continue to do when I think of him.

At 1:00 AM I got a cot, which felt pretty good to my tired body. This would be my home for the next two nights. I met many other men besides Ronald. Many struggled with addictions that led to them to being on the street, others had disabilities. It was a depressing place. And yet there were many men who held their heads high as they walked out the door in the morning on their way to work.
…..

What did I learn this weekend? I learned that people on the street are real people, with names and faces. Well, I knew this, but it hit home again. Many have had bad breaks. Many struggle with addictions that hold them back. Like me, they are fallen and flawed human beings. Perhaps my coping skills are a bit better, but we aren’t all that different. I learned that people without a home have the same needs that I have…to be loved, to be valued, to be talked to in a manner that conveys dignity and respect, to have something to look forward to—a hope for a better future.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I learned that free chairs are uncomfortable. Malls and parks and sidewalks are where you find free chairs (i.e., you don’t have to buy anything to use them). I got tired of free chairs. By the middle of the afternoon I was tired of walking, weighted down by all the extra gospel tracts I was carrying, and I wanted to sit in a comfy cushioned chair like the ones in a restaurant. But you have to pay to sit in those chairs.
…..
So, about those tracts…
In hindsight, those tracts really bother me. Ronald and the other friends I met in Philadelphia don’t need condemnation, and they don’t need someone to preach at them. They need love and acceptance. They need dignity. They need support to overcome their addictions and challenges. And on a practical level, they need a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. Wouldn’t it be great if the church could be known as the people providing love, acceptance, and a place to call home?

A week later I started working at BHA, a model of the church doing just that…coming together in the Harrisburg area to be the hands and feet of Jesus…sharing the love of Jesus by providing food, shelter, and new opportunities to get back on one’s feet. I think if Jesus were walking the streets of Harrisburg or Philadelphia, we’d find him doing this type of work: overcoming condemnation with his healing love.

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Steve Schwartz is the Executive Director of Brethren Housing Association in Harrisburg, PA.  Steve also volunteers on the Homelessness Prevention Committee, Service Delivery Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness.

You Never Know Where Kindness Will Lead, by Mary (Bacon) Rosenkrans

Most people’s stereotype of a homeless person is that they are dirty, drunk, rude, standing in lines for handouts, uneducated, and mentally ill. My brother Francis “Fran” Bacon fit that description at times, and yet there was much more than a passing glance might tell you if you saw him on the streets of Harrisburg.

Francis was born July 10, 1956, the youngest of four children—three boys and one girl—to Grace Gallagher and Arthur Francis Bacon. As the only girl, I assumed the role as his “little mother” early on and did my best to look after him until he passed away in November. He was my baby brother and he called me Mae, the only person to do that. (He also called me Sissy, but I always ignored that because it annoyed me.)

Francis was two years old when our father died of cirrhosis of the liver. I don’t know that Francis had many memories of our father. My father had mental health issues—which is why he drank—but he was also brilliant. And so was Francis (what else would you expect from someone named Francis Bacon).

The principal at our local parochial school realized early on (an act of kindness) that Francis and my two other brothers needed a better education than what they could get in Freeland, Pa., a small coal mining town, so they were sent to Milton Hershey School once they reached the age of 12. The school at that time was only open to boys who had lost one or both parents. The school provided everything—clothing, housing, food, education—at no cost to my mother (another act of kindness). She and I later moved to Hershey so we could live closer.

Francis graduated from Milton Hershey School with a full scholarship to Cornell University (more kindness), but at the same time his life-long struggle with bipolar disorder hit and he left college after only one year.

In spite of his inherited mental illness, Francis never stopped learning. He also never felt sorry for himself and created a life on the street and made it his community. So many people along the way showed their kindness and he, in turn (when he wasn’t drinking), returned his kindness to them. Elaine Strokoff and the people at Downtown Daily Bread were one of those. It wasn’t just the food, which is so critical when you are hungry and poor, but it was also the respect he was given and friendships that he developed that became a lifeline for him. One example is that they helped him order books and have them shipped to their address because he didn’t have one. When Francis was missing just before his death, they posted a sign on the wall asking if anyone had seen him.

Francis “Fran” Bacon, at CACH’s Project Homeless Connect 2012

There were many, many others that were kind to my brother as well. Chuck Wingate at the Bethesda Mission who became a close friend, checked up on him and drove him places, took him shopping, accepted his phone calls and had his wife Nancy, a nurse, care for him when he was ill. April and Angel Ocasio from Isaiah 61 adopted Francis and he became Uncle Fran to their children. All of the caseworkers at CMU; the librarians at the Dauphin County Library; the bank clerks at Wells Fargo; Deb Ritchey at the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority; the Salvation Army; Father Rozman, Deacon Crudup and staff at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Shining Light Thrift Shop; the staff at Hamilton Health Center; St. Francis of Assisi’s soup kitchen; and Rev. Karin Pejak at Zion Lutheran Church. They all were a part of his community.

My brothers and I knew very little of this kindness. We are grateful and thankful to all. Caring is a two way street and one act of kindness often leads to another. We also had little knowledge of the life Francis made living on the street and only recently learned about the many friends he had. At his funeral, we heard about how funny he was, a great story teller, smart, generous; and, most of all, kind. We are proud of him and take great comfort in knowing this now.

So the next time you pass a homeless person on the street, don’t make assumptions. Just show some kindness. You never know where it will lead.

CACH Member Spotlight: Shalom House

Shalom House is a homeless shelter in Harrisburg, PA that gives women and their children a home during a time of crisis. According to Patricia Carpintieri, Shelter House Supervisor and case manager at Shalom House, the shelter houses between 250 and 280 individuals each year.

The shelter currently has a 21-bed capacity and provides two outside housing programs.  Shalom House is an agency partner with the United Way of the Capital Region and is supported by The Foundation for Enhancing Communities.

The first housing program is for female veterans, which lasts between 18 months to 2 years, according to Carpintieri. This program helping up to 6 homeless women veterans each year, offers case management, transitional housing and further helps the women get on a pathway to return to self-sufficiency.

The second program is the Shalom House Aftercare Rental Housing Program (SHARP), which offers case management and rental assistance to chronically disabled women. In addition, they receive help with food and utilities and coordinated assistance to help move them to independence.  According to Carpintieri, SHARP serves between 12 and 15 women each year.

Below is a tour of Shalom House that was given by Carpintieri.

 

 

Volunteer Spotlight: Corinne

Volunteering for CACH can be a very rewarding experience. Just ask Corinne Rebinksi of Mechanicsburg, Pa. Rebinski is the senior manager for Brown Schultz Sheridan Fritz, a certified public accountants and business advisors firm in Camp Hill, Pa. She started volunteering for CACH in 2011 and continues to volunteer today.

The main reason Rebinski decided to volunteer for CACH was because the Harrisburg Rotary Club had established a homeless initiatives committee, of which she is co-chair, in order to find opportunities to help Harrisburg’s homeless community. Upon searching for these opportunities, she came across CACH’s annual Project Homeless Connect event, which provides resources to the hardest-to-reach homeless individuals.

Corinne Rebinski is pictured above cheering about the donations received for Project Homeless Connect.

“Since our club is established in the City of Harrisburg, and we are comprised of many members of the area business community, I am passionate that we need to “put our money where our mouth is” and offer our service to help address the issues of Harrisburg’s homeless community,” Rebinski says. “CACH is certainly the premier organization dedicated to this cause, so it is a good fit for us.”

Rebinski is very passionate about helping address the issues of Harrisburg’s homeless community. Since 2011, she has coordinated volunteers from the Rotary Club to help, interviewed applicants for a temporary cash assistance program, and co-chaired the children’s room committee. For the children’s room committee, Rebinski has designed and set up the children’s room. This has included addressing the needs of homeless children by designing activity and care areas, obtaining equipment supplies, and being in charge of set-up and clean-up.

“I believe that for the issues of the homeless community, the best results come from a united community effort, and that is exactly what CACH is designed to do,” Rebinksi says. “Many diverse people working together to solve problems. You can’t get much better than that.”

Great resources for the homeless

Are you or someone you know homeless or close to becoming homeless? CACH is here to help! There are many great resources out there to help individuals who are homeless, and we make it our priority to point individuals in the right direction to crucial resources that will help them get back on their feet.

There are several emergency shelters for individuals who are homeless in Harrisburg and Dauphin County. These include, but are not limited to, HELP Ministries, Bethesda Mission, Interfaith Shelter, Shalom House, and the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg’s emergency and domestic violence shelters.

HELP Ministries

HELP Ministries provides emergency shelter placement to the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg, Shalom House, or Interfaith Shelter. This placement is for single women, single women with families, or families. They also provide emergency housing placement for single men at the YMCA or available rooming. Assistance includes food, clothing, heating prescription, and travel, along with a rental assistance program.

HELP Ministries is located at 413 S. 19th Street in Harrisburg, PA. Walk-ins can be made Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. through 3 p.m., in addition to Wednesdays from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m. HELP Ministries can also be contacted at (717) 238-2851 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The crisis intervention line can also be called on other days or hours at (717) 232-7511.

Bethesda Mission

Bethesda Mission provides emergency shelter placement at its Men’s Mission. They provide a residential and spiritual development program, along with a medical clinic. They also serve meals and have a community soup kitchen. Bethesda also provides a mobile food and clothing mission.

Bethesda Mission is located at 611 Reily Street in Harrisburg, PA. The mission can be reached by phone at (717) 257-4440.

YWCA of Greater Harrisburg

The YWCA, located at 1101 Market Street in Harrisburg, PA, provides two emergency shelters: an emergency shelter and a domestic violence shelter. The domestic violence shelter is for women and children and provides a 30-day stay with domestic violence counseling and a case manager. The shelter also includes food and a clothing bank. The shelter can be contacted at (717) 238-7273.

The YWCA’s emergency shelter provides a 28-day emergency stay for women and women with children. It provides housing goals, case management, food, and clothing. The shelter can be reached at (717) 234-7931.

Other emergency shelters for the homeless include Interfaith Shelter and Shalom House. For more resources and service providers for the homeless, please check out CACH’s Homeless Services Reference Manual.

6 Myths about homelessness dispelled

1. Most homeless people are middle-aged men.

While last year’s Point in Time survey of Dauphin County’s homeless population did not take into account exact ages, females made up the majority of the population. In 2012, 58.9% (159) of Dauphin County’s homeless population were females, and 41.1% (111) were males. Also, there were 127 homeless children counted in the 2012 Point in Time census.

2. Homeless people need to “just get a job.”

According to our Point in Time survey last year, 19.6% (55) of the area’s homeless population were employed. There are many resources available to help these individuals find jobs, but finding a job with limited resources, such as lack of home or transportation, makes the process more difficult.

3. People are homeless by choice.

No one chooses to be homeless – many factors can make any individual suddenly homeless. During our 2012 census, it was discovered that drug or alcohol abuse, family breakup, medical problem, and domestic violence were the top reasons for being homeless in Dauphin County. 24% said that drug or alcohol abuse was the top reason, followed by family breakup (16%), medical problems (9%), and domestic violence (8%).

Homelessness can effect anyone, including families with children. Last year, there were 127 children homeless in Harrisburg and Dauphin County. Pictured above are two homeless children at CACH’s Project Homeless Connect last year.

4. Homelessness will never happen to me.

Many people never intend or expect to become homeless. Many had jobs, a house, and a family before they became homeless. According to facts from our Homeless Services Reference Manual, the odds of anyone experiencing homelessness over the course of a year is approximately 1 in 194.

We also discovered through our Point in Time survey that there were 63 households with children who were homeless. This meant that 23% of the area’s homeless population last year consisted of homeless families.

5.  Homeless people all come from the City.

Nearly half (46.3%) of people receiving homelessness assistance lived outside the City of Harrisburg, according to last year’s Point in Time survey.  –

6. Homelessness will never end.

Many cities in the U.S. have established 10-year plans to end homelessness that include very ambitious goals, according to the Portland Rescue Mission. CACH is in charge of Harrisburg’s plan, which is a 10-year blueprint plan to eliminate homelessness in Harrisburg and Dauphin County.

This plan, called “Home Run,” serves for us to develop initiatives that are necessary to prevent and eliminate homelessness in the community.  Every day, every week, all year long, CACH works to change the lives of our community’s homeless.

Walk for CACH to help us make a difference!

Help CACH make a difference by registering to walk in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community! The walk will be held on Saturday, May 18, at the Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) on 1 HACC Drive in Harrisburg, PA.

That Saturday, registration and check-in will begin at 7:45 a.m. At 9 a.m., the 5K Walk will start, and at 9:15 a.m., the 1 Mile Fun Walk will start. The walk is expected to be held rain or shine, and there is expected to be food, beverages, music, fun activities, and prize drawings following the walk!

Everyone who walks has a chance to win one of several great prizes, which are collectively valued at $1,000. In addition, for every $50 you donate or raise, you will receive one raffle ticket toward the prize drawings. If you donate or raise $25 or more, you will receive a Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community t-shirt while supplies last.

Last year’s Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community

CACH will be one of 41 local health and human service agencies participating in this year’s Highmark Walk. Our goal this year is to raise $4,000. But this goal cannot be met without your help, so please consider registering for the walk! If you are not able to walk that day, you can still register as a virtual walker!

There are also many incentives to register during this month! Walkers who register this month and have at least $100 in paid donations will be placed in a drawing to win a $50 Visa gift card.  Organizations that raise at least $1,500 this month will be placed in a drawing to win a $100 Visa gift card.

Please help us out by donating and/or registering for the walk at http://highmark.towercare.com/Markslist/site/displaySite.do?siteIdCode=VDRPA4SS! We are very grateful to those individuals who have already registered to walk with CACH! All of you are helping us move individuals and families out of crisis into meaningful and lasting success!

Homeless population growing older

More than half of homeless adults are age 47 and older, according to a recent AARP blog post. This is quite a devastating fact. Older individuals are more prone to health risks and living on the streets will only increase these risks. There have been different statistics of the lifespan of homeless people, and they are quite scary. As the AARP points out, some statistics say life expectancy can be up to age 64, which is about 20 years younger than the life expectancy of the non-homeless population.

Because of these distressing, startling statistics, helping older homeless individuals has never been more important. These individuals deserve our attention as equally as the younger homeless population, but with a little extra care to their health.

This is why we are proud of the organizations we work with to get homeless individuals the medical care they need, and make sure health care is an important focus of our annual Project Homeless Connect. To see many of the service providers available for the homeless in Dauphin County, please see http://www.cachpa.org/HomelessServicesReferenceManual.pdf.

For more about the older homeless population, please check out AARP’s recent blog post: http://blog.aarp.org/2013/03/27/sally-abrahms-old-and-homeless-no-caregive/.