Willis Dady Homeless Services

Emergency Shelter with case management: in 2023 we served 210 households, a total of 216 individuals, with Emergency Shelter Services. This includes 53 veterans and 8 families. In 2023 61% of our Shelter clients exited to housing. We provide Shelter and case management for short and longer-term stays for veterans through a grant from the department of veterans affairs. In service-intensive transitional housing, the veteran can stay for up to 2 years. Participants receive intensive case management Services and care coordination. Participants in the bridge housing program can stay in Shelter up to 6 months. These participants receive care coordination with the va and non-va veteran service providers, with a goal of leaving for housing and increasing income. In 2023 65% of the veterans in this program had positive exits. In 2022, Willis Dady partnered with a local non-profit to provide onsite mental health therapy to individuals at our Emergency Shelter. Since piloting the program in august 2022, we have provided 80 clients in Emergency Shelter with therapy sessions and over 8,280 hours of group art therapy.the overflow is the work of more than 15 organizations who guide the policies and management of this winter Emergency Shelter. Willis Dady provides staffing and as is the fiscal agent. This Shelter is low-barrier, accepting anyone who would otherwise sleep outside. Overflow operates during the colder months of the year, from november through march.

Permanent supportive housing: we provide permanent supportive housing units of low-income housing with case management for 23 individuals and 2 households with children. These units are for those with chronic mental or physical conditions. On-site case management is provided to build stability and prevent cycling through community support systems. Feeling safe hastens better self-care practices, improved health, and outlook. We are continuing to expand our permanent supportive housing program each year and in 2023 added 4 units of supportive housing for veterans. In 2023 we serviced 31 individuals and 2 families (3 children) in our supportive housing program.

Supportive employment program: in 2023 we continued expanding our employment program to be able to provide more of our clients with direct hourly employment. We fill 6 - 12 full-time positions at frontier co-op each day across three shifts and provide transportation to and from frontier. In 2023 we employed over 150 of our clients at a rate of $14.50/hour at frontier, with shift differentials for 2nd and 3rd shifts. In 2023 we operated two other employment projects both related to litter abatement and street cleaning. One program worked with a partner agency to provide employment to 5 individuals experiencing homelessness by cleaning the downtown district. Two other pilot programs employed 17 clients to perform litter abatement in public spaces around cedar rapids. In 2023 we worked to stabilize a social enterprise at Willis Dady works employment hub to employ 8 individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness through our mattress recycling program.

Rapid rehousing: we provide rapid rehousing to clients who are literally Homeless. Rapid rehousing is a program that provides case management and small amounts of temporary rental assistance to help people move out of homelessness and into housing with deposit and/or rent money. In 2023 we served 68 individuals through his program. 85% of the households served exited the program to housing. We also housed 18 veterans through our medium-term housing program, transition in place. Transition in place is funded through the department of veteran affairs and allows us to rehouse veterans experiencing literal homelessness and provide up to two years of rent assistance and intensive case management supports.

Homeless prevention and street outreach: our Homeless prevention advocates provide case management and referrals for households at immediate risk of losing housing. Such households may face eviction, live doubled up with relatives or friends, or live in a hotel. The prevention advocates travel throughout linn county to help households access Services such as housing, energy assistance, childcare, and healthcare. The prevention program served over 100 households with 95% maintaining housing at program exit. In 2023, we started a housing retention case management program through the va. we have served 5 veterans through this program so far.in 2023, we served 189 people who were sleeping unsheltered in linn county. Our street outreach program reaches individuals sleeping in places not meant for human habitation such as in encampments, under bridges, in alleys, or in their vehicles. We are able to connect them with their basic needs such as hygiene products, blankets, pillows, tents and clothing. Our case managers are able to assist clients in this program access vital documents to work towards securing stable housing. In 2022, we expanded our street outreach program to open hector's place day center at our Willis Dady works employment hub. The day center provides immediate access to shower and laundry facilities for individuals sleeping unsheltered with additional access to immediate case management Services and referrals to employment Services and job trainings at the employment hub. The day center sees on average 20 clients per day and in 2023 served over 100 unduplicated individuals.