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2009
Accomplishments
indianahousingnow.org
Promotional support
provided by
Integra Bank
:30 Radio Spot
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| Vol. 3,
No. 4 August
2007 | |
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Spotlight on ...
Operated by ECHO Housing Corporation, Lucas Place, located at
414 Baker Ave., is designed for homeless families with
children who need more than just a roof over their
heads.
The facility is for families who understand
that they must do something to change the direction their
lives have taken and to break the old patterns of behaviors
that have contributes to their homeless situation. It is
for those who are willing to work toward their goals of
self-sufficiency and obtaining permanent housing.
 | 20 single-family 1-, 3-, & 4-bedroom apartments
| a PlaySpace for children 5 yrs. old & younger
| Appliances & utilities
| Weekly case management
| Referrals to social services
| Healthy Relationship classes
| Financial Management classes
| Strengthening Families program
| Employment assistance
| Education assistance | | | | | | | | | |
CURRENT NEEDS:
Dish soap,
paper towels, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, toilet paper,
bathroom trash cans, kitchen trash cans
VOLUNTEER:
yard
work,
small maintenance assistance
For more
information,
call 812.423.8422, or
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UPCOMING
MEETINGS & EVENTS
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Erie, PA, Visitors
Seek to Learn from Us
In mid-July, Mary Gollmer, chairperson of the
Home Team, a collaborative group in Erie, PA, came to visit
with Evansville service providers and community leaders who
are involved in ending homelessness through Destination: Home
strategies.
The group had been searching the Internet for
communities who are implementing " Housing First"
tactics. They discovered the Destination: Home
website and determined that Evansville and Erie have
many similarities as cities and areas. They wanted to
find out what we're doing to house families and individuals,
as we, as a city and county, move beyond sheltering to housing
people who are homeless.
When asked what they gleaned from the visit,
Chris Tombaugh, another member of the Home Team, who shared
from what Mary brought back to the group, said, "that 'Housing First!'
doesn't just happen -- it takes a lot of planning and
people." (Gollmer serves with Erie City Mission;
Tombaugh directs Mercy Center for Women;
Home Team is an Erie County group of direct service providers,
businesses, government representatives, consumers, and
interested community members that promotes a comprehensive,
collaborative, and sustained community approach to
homelessness.) [PHOTO: Mary met with area leaders who have
been part of planning and/or implementing Destination:
Home. L to R: Tom Horstman, WorkOne-Southwest;
Carol Braden Clarke, United Way of Southwestern Indiana; Lynne
Imes, Outreach Ministries; Lu Porter, Integra Bank; and Mary
Gollmer, Erie County, PA, Home Team) For more information on "Housing First," click
here. | |
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Welcome to the Destination: Home
Update!
With these Updates, we hope to encourage you with
news of local progress on the strategies of the ten-year
plan, educate you with information re: projects,
services, homeless issues, and inspire you with
news of other activities around the country!
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Champions for Ending
Homelessness 
New
Commitments
to the Spirit & Philosophy
of Destination:
Home
We welcome recent endorsements from these
"Champions" for ending homelessness:
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Congressman
Brad Ellsworth-8th District of
Indiana |
We continue to actively
solicit endorsements, both from organizations and
individuals. Click here to print an endorsement form. Please send
in your endorsement if you support the spirit and
philosophy of Destination:Home. |
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Transportation
Issues 
Partners in Caring, a
collaborative of community service providers concerned
about issues of poverty, has been focusing for the past
few years on transportation issues. The following
comments are excerpts from recent presentations the
group has made to both the Commission on
Homelessness as
well as to city & transportation planning
leaders:
"For low income families in
our community, affordable transportation has been a
long-standing problem due to limited public transportation, the high cost
of owning a vehicle, increased gas
costs,
and dependable transportation for low-income
workers.
"The transportation gap impacts
employment, health care, safety and access to business
and services provided throughout
the community on any given
day."
From its study of the issue, Partners in
Caring believes there are 4 issues to
consider:
- METS must
implement a study to assess current METS routes and
hours to evaluate the need for expansion.
- Local employers must evaluate
the impact of inadequate access to transportation on
the availability of workers.
- State & local officials
must evaluate laws and legislation that further
distance employees from their jobs and their homes.
- City & county officials
must develop sidewalks & trails that help
community residents get safely to school, work and
services.
Partners in Caring's work
supports the Destination:
Home strategy "Improve/Develop
Transportation Options for Low-income
Individuals." |
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Commission on
Homelessness 
The joint city-county Commission on
Homelessness oversees the implementation of Destination
Home.
The Discharge Planning
Committee met for a strategic planning session on
Aug. 20, facilitated by June Miller with the Indiana Nonprofit
Resource Network. Having created a community
Discharge Planning
Policy last fall, the group met to create a plan for
implementing the policy.
At the table were representatives from the Policy
& Planning Council for Homeless Services, Deaconess
Hospital, Dept. of Corrections (parole division), Dept.
of Metropolitan Development, Evansville Police Dept.,
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Southwestern
Indiana Regional Council on Aging (SWIRCA), Vanderburgh
Co. Dept. of Child Services, Vocational Rehabilitation,
WorkOne Southwest and members of Commission
committees: Homeless Youth
Council and Prevention.
In preparation for the committee's next meeting, they'll
be gathering data and other information to aid with
moving the policy forward.
The next Commission meeting is
set for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007 at Mayor
Weinzapfel's office. Troy Tornatta, County
Commissioner, serves as the chair.
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Affordable Housing Benefits a
Community  As a whole community, we
could be better off when we can one day truly
boast that housing in Evansville and
Vanderburgh County is affordable to every income level
among us. ("Affordable" meaning not paying more
than 30% of one's income for housing
costs--rent/mortgage + utilities.)
How could Evansville/Vanderburgh Co. benefit by
seeing that housing is affordable to all residents,
whether home renters or homeowners?
| More people would have a decent, safe, stable home
| Better housing options allow workers to live
closer to their jobs
| Working residents add to the city/county tax base
| Economic growth is created through construction
and rehabilitation projects
| Creates jobs
| Fosters self-sufficiency
| Reduces many expensive social and economic
problems that put great strain on education, public
health, social services, law enforcement, criminal
justice, and welfare systems.
| Promotes family stability
| Creates a positive environment for raising
children
| Children living in stable homes do better in
school
| Decent, stable homes contribute to better health
of families and individuals
| Less housing costs allow the rest of one's income
to be spent in the community for other household wants
and needs, adding to the economy | | | | | | | | | | | |
For more information on affordable
housing benefits, etc.:
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Affordable Housing Task
Force  In order
to focus on finding a dedicated source of revenue for
the Evansville Housing Trust Fund and in response to a
call to action on this issue through the "Open the Door
Wider" campaign of CAJE (Congregations Acting
for Justice & Empowerment), the Affordable
Housing Task Force was formed.
The Task Force has been meeting
regularly in order to investigate possible revenue
sources and to design policies related to the
application of the Housing Trust Fund monies.
Local News Coverage of
the May 3rd Rally:
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Thank you for your ongoing interest in the progress
of implementing our community's 10-year plan to
end and prevent homelessness!
Send your friends and colleagues to Destination: Home's home on the Internet to sign up
for e-newsletters, like this "Destination:Home
Update," Housing Matters!
activities, PlaySpaces
progress, Volunteer Opportunities, and others
related to projects and strategies of the ten-year
plan.
Simply, type an e-mail address into the "Sign
up for our E-mail newsletters" button at the left of
each page and click "Go."
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