St Francis Shelter

St. Francis Shelter has provided temporary housing for homeless families with children in Marion County and Polk County, Oregon since 1987. St. Francis Shelters purpose is to moves families from the crisis of homelessness into stable, safe, and long-term housing. In fiscal year 2022-23, St. Francis Shelter provided safe, temporary housing and professional case management to 29 families living at St. Francis Shelter, including 34 adults and 50 children. Of those 29 families, 28 families (97%) moved into and remain in safe, permanent housing. Families who come to St. Francis Shelter live in fully furnished, self-contained one- or two-bedroom apartments. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, St. Francis Shelter maintained its program capacity to serve a total of sixteen families in shelter units to better serve the needs of families in our community. Families staying at the shelter are responsible for purchasing their own food and clothing and must demonstrate that they are working towards securing permanent housing and/or employment and are completing any court-ordered treatment and/or classes while they are here. Families must also participate in a mandatory savings program, by which they save (via a trust account) a mutually agreed-upon amount of money each month, which is returned to them when they leave the St. Francis Shelter program. This program element not only builds the habit of saving money each month but allows them to accumulate their deposit for their permanent housing. A savings match is available for up to $500 based on the recommendation of the case manager.As part of the St. Francis Shelter program, Intensive Case Management is provided for each family including financial management, community resource referrals, parenting, and child development as well as employment coaching and assistance with securing permanent housing. Assistance with securing permanent housing includes coaching on presenting to landlords, help assembling housing application packets and support for appealing a rental denial.In addition, St. Francis Shelter maintains a library that is staffed during after-school hours by staff and volunteers who engage the children in arts and crafts projects, read to them, tutor them, and provide a safe environment for them to have kid time.St. Francis Shelter has extensive volunteer support with over 1500 volunteer hours provided annually.A portion of St. Francis Shelters apartment units are set aside as low-income rentals. This provides the opportunity for some shelter clients to transition to self-support; provides much-needed affordable housing to people on limited incomes; and provides rental income for shelter operations.In Fiscal year 2022-23, St. Francis continued upgrades to our campus. All sixteen shelter units have been completed renovated with new appliances, energy efficient cadet heaters, new flooring, bathroom fixtures, and paint. These repairs increase the lifespan of the apartments, increase the safety of families residing in the units, and decrease operating costs per unit allowing St. Francis to provide more services per dollar. We also installed an internet service to provide all families living on campus with high-speed internet.St. Francis Shelter is located close to public transit and neighborhood schools, although children living at the shelter can attend either a neighborhood school or the school, they attended prior to becoming homeless.