SHIELD Center - Martha Sheppard, Tacoma Rescue Mission, sheppard@usw.salvationarmy.org (the editorial staff has a policy of not putting statements into print that will get the speaker into trouble. Typically that limits our coverage of Martha’s comments. This is the most we’ve ever put her on-the-record… – ed.)
- The SHEILD Center probably works with pretty much every organization here.
- There is some confusion about the shield center. When we came here 5 years ago, we said “let’s not do anything that doesn’t change someone’s life”.
- We removed some programs and added others.
- All the programs don’t have to do with homelessness.
- In our diverse community, we’re changing one life at a time (when we get our provider group t-shirts, it should have a motto like this on it. –ed).
- H.E.I.L.D Center – it’s the white building by the Jarvie Lodge - we own the shelter and the white building and the empty lot next door.
- S – Safe Shelter and Housing
- Jarvie Lodge – since 1886 – families in need of emergency shelter. Has 7 rooms, which can house 8-10 families
- Single women’s shelter – at same facility – 20 beds
- 3 large rooms facing playground
- Must be chronically homeless – priority to folks exiting the stability site
- Work with Comprehensive Life Resources – folks often need mental health services because when you’re chronic you are in safety mode.
- Safe Shelter – Sheltering Arms Family Emergency Shelter
- 10 families – big gym so we could go bigger.
- Developing volunteer shelter training program
- Do meals for everyone,
- Laundry facilities are available
- Most of the case management comes from the clients’ RRH case managers – not much case management on site
- You don’t have to be clean and sober to be in the shelter –we hold their hair back (if we ever get provider group t-shirts, a line drawing of this will be going on the back. –ed.)
- We tell entering clients we run a 30 day shelter. If you work on some KEY tasks (see below –ed.), we can extend your stay. We always extend their stay.
- H – Healthy Living
- Food pantry – 60 – 100 families a day – neighbors not super fond of us – there is always a crowd and sometimes it’s a mess
- Community garden on site at the church
- Garden at shelter – cook is always trying to do farm to garden, although balancing proper nutrition can be a challenge.
- Ensure access to medical care – agents from Molina and United Health Care come to the center– everyone that walks in can sign up right then. We know folks can sign up on-line, but many folks just don’t.
- Drug and Alcohol referrals – Salvation army has one of the best free programs – but you have to work. Program is in Seattle – we can almost always get someone in.
- I – Independent Living
- Housing readiness
- Transportation – 1st month bus pass is provided by the Salvation Army.
- Help with Communication – ensure client has a phone/email/postal service (mailing address)
- KEY Tasks
- Intent to rent
- Plan in place
- We all extend grace to folks working on tasks
- Housing Stabilization – this is an integral part of housing – folks need all this to be successful in housing
- Employment Classes/Job Fairs
- Education Specialists
- E – Encouraging Relationships and Support
- Support Groups
- Support Networks – families, friends – these network connections can make or break a family. We constantly revisit the Diversion Conversation to discuss support structures.
- L – Leadership Development
- Staff Development –
- Volunteer Development
- Shelter Care Training for volunteers
- Emergency Disaster Service training
- Shelter Consultant – smaller churches
- D – Developmental Assets – things you learn as a child
- Youth at risk
- Camp Programs
- Scouting programs
- SOAR – Foster Girls
- Human Trafficking (I’m pretty sure they don’t have a program that traffics people, I’m guessing something at addresses the effects of this. I really shouldn’t wait a week to edit these notes –ed.)
- (I was thinking SHIELD stood for “Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division”. And I suppose it still could, espionage agencies are notorious for having secret identities. Is Major Martha really a cover identify for Nick Fury? –ed.)
- Basic Needs - When a client arrives, we tell a client to work on their Basic Needs and to work on a Housing Plan. People have 2 weeks to do their basic needs:
- Phone (get a phone or minutes)
- E-mail (many folks don’t have an account or know their passwords
- Postal Service – we and many other agencies offer this
- Transportation – new thing – if you come to any one of our shelters we will buy the first bus pass. 2nd month bus pass – they have to show progress or need.
- Develop a Support Network
- Get folks a Service animal or pets
- Work on who family and friends are – find places to store stuff, group folks together
- Help finding childcare – this is a real challenge – help folks resolve their issues
- Maureen – do you check in with other case managers? Martha – good idea.
- Housing
- Have client do Coordinated Entry
- Diversion conversation
- Self-sufficiency matrix
- Theresa – how about adding critical medical needs ? Martha – great idea.
- Question – how about researching medical records? Martha – another great idea. Anyone in medical community here? Molina – we’ll ask that question. Donald – just need a medical release form – that allows us to manage their meds.
- Community Health Care can get access to Medicaid records for any of the 5 agencies. Al – Sea Mar can do that as well.
- Housing Ready
- Documents – income verification and such. Don’t need this info to stay in a shelter, but folks need it for housing. We do background checks on some folks just so folks know exactly what they are up against. They go to the utility office to get a printout of any possible debts. Do a credit check – landlords still look at number. Review their legal issues – items to take care of prior to treatment. Again, there aren’t needed for the shelter stay
- All clients write down their story about homelessness and how they are stronger now so they can be stable.
- Household budget development
- Maureen – bank account? Martha – great idea, we’ll add it to the list.
- Question – I’m a social work major – do many folks have mental illness that prevents folks from being successful? Martha – they often do, so we help them out. Even if you’re homeless for 45 day and don’t have a mental illness, your mind changes to survival mode. Folks aren’t dumb - they survive. Question – how to do you overcome this? Martha – we give them organizational techniques and work with them on baby steps. We walk them through each task. We do a budget – even when they don’t have money – but that won’t be in their current situation forever – they will have income at some point.
- Household Sufficiency
- Sign up for food steps
- Ensure they have health care
- Employment readiness
- Job hunting
- Income tax
- Staying Healthy
- Use the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey (ACES) – helps people understand that they aren’t a screw up – that there were factors that influenced the choices they’ve made. (ACES are a powerful tool in understanding our clients– info at https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html -ed).
- Recovery and Treatment
- Mental Health support provided by different agencies
- Legal – rights as a tenant and fair housing laws and possible continuation of education
- Shield Center Daily Schedule
- Monday – Housing Action Plans
- Tuesday – Household Stability
- Wednesday – Basic Needs
- Thursday – Health and Wellness
- Friday – pizza and bumper cars (OK, I made the Friday schedule up, but you’ve got to admit that would be fun… –ed).
- Coordinated Entry should be the first step – will find out if they qualify or not.
- Calvin - How do we contact the Salvation Army – via phone? Martha – our phone system isn’t terribly efficient, so know the extension before you call. In general - 253-572-8452 ext. 111
- Questions – veteran connections are important – Martha – yes let’s add that to our list.
- Question – you have legal assistance available? Martha – good idea, no we don’t.
- Al – City of Tacoma Human Rights commission is looking at an education effort to get assistance with medical bills.
- Carolyn – Second Cycle for transportation. Martha – good idea as a resource for transportation
- Question – does the shield offer translation? Martha – we have some staff who are bi-lingual. If folks can read, we use google translate. Have some volunteer with different language skills.
- Questions -Drug and Alcohol, why OK with use. Martha – some folks won’t use shelter if they can’t be accepted as they are. We do keep it safe.
- Maureen – Folks need help understanding their leases. You said that everyone understands Coordinated Entry – that may be the case in this room but isn’t the case out in the community. We need to think how to engage the non-provider community in a way that helps the client. I’ve been to the websites and I’ve made the phone calls. I want to know how to help families. James – I think many folks in here don’t understand Coordinated Entry. Gerrit and my department are working on a very cool public database on how to get folks questions answered. I’ll be sending out surveys to folks – we’ll have a demo in the fall. This whole collaborative started with providers not knowing what to do. Martha – Associated Ministries has a resource guide (at https://associatedministries.org/am-resource-guide/ -ed), and 211 as well (all 211 or use their on-line database of resources at https://win211.org/search/ -ed).
- Marybeth – safety planning for people in unsafe situations? Martha – I’ll add that.
- Salvation Army Phone Number - 253-572-8452 ext. 111
- Theresa – 211 and United Way on-line resources are as good as we make them – please go in and update your agency information (phone 211 to update your info or go online at https://win211.org/update-your-listing/ -ed)
- Questions - Is the SHIELD center open for meetings? Martha – open from 10-2 to the public. Shelter residents can stay in the shield center later, and the center is available for providers to meet with clients.
- Al – I go to a number of different consortias and collaboratives. Every one has said they have put together a resource list. We have some major resource lists available in the community. If we are going to do a survey, the question is which one of those resources works the best for us. James – we are doing that – partnering with other agencies (I can talk ad nausea about lots of things, and how resource lists must be tightly tailored to specific populations to be effective is one of them. –ed)
- Kelly – a lot of folks that have income are having trouble getting into housing. Can we send them to you on Mondays? Martha – on Mondays at 10:30am, yes, we are open to the public. Right Judy? Judy – right.
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