Outreach – The staff outreach coordinator goes out in our van or walking every day and two evenings a week. He meets homeless people where they are, builds trust and encourags them to come to Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place for services.
Medical Care – Health care is often the first step toward accepting assistance. Unity HealthCare operates a clinic with a doctor and nurse twice a week at CCHFP. consumers who need specialized care can be referred. Limited shower and laundry facilities are also available.
Psychiatric Care – consumers have access to mental health counseling and psychiatric evaluations twice a week at CCHFP. The psychiatrist, who has many years of experience helping homeless people with mental illness in D.C., also advises the staff. He sometimes goes with the CCHFP outreach van to initiate a relationship.
Dr. Robert Keisling M.D. writes about his work with CCHFP.
Substance Abuse Counseling – Staff provides supportive counseling and referrals to long-term residential and short-term treatment programs. This is particularly challenging with D.C. government funds for such services dramatically cut.
Job Counseling – We assist with resumes, job referrals and follow-up to ensure successful outcomes. For consumers who cannot function in an outside workplace, a few jobs are available at CCHFP for a small stipend. Here they can take pride in work well done in supportive surroundings.
Shelters – CCHFP supports the opening and operation of small, congregation-based shelters. CCHFP staff participate through case management services for shelter residents and training for shelter volunteers. At the beginning of 2000, CCHFP assumed responsibility for the administration and programs of a nearby shelter for five homeless women – The Haven. It operates a full program to help women with long-term mental illnesses develop the skills they need to move into permanent housing.
Supportive Services – This begins on the street with an individualized treatment plan developed by the clinical director with the consumer and an outreach worker. It includes all the issues a consumer will work on in rebuilding his or her life, and encompasses all the services offered at CCHFP. CCHFP uses a strengths-based approach to empower consumers to become as self-sufficient as possible.
Housing – The CCHFP housing arm, Community Housing Trust (CHT) develops and manages group homes and independent-living options. CCHFP provides the supportive services to ensure successful housing. |
The results of CCHFP speak for the success of the program.
In 2007 we:
 served 466 consumers
made 971 street contacts with 213 people
provided 717 health care consultations for 224 people
provided 307 psychiatric consultations for 168 people
provided supportive services to 28 scattered sites
guided 255 people through the paperwork maze of getting disability or other benefits
placed 58 people into transitional housing
provided permanent housing with supportive services to 41 people |
CHT owns Veronica House, a six-bedroom home on MacArthur Boulevard, NW, home to five formerly homeless women with serious mental illnesses and a resident manager, and three efficiency apartments on Wisconsin Avenue.
CHT also owns Zeke's House, home to five formerly homeless men with mental illness and a resident manager. Zeke's House is located on Western Ave in NW Washington.
CHT leases several apartments for consumers and CCHFP provides case management for consumers in apartments leased by several area congregations. Over time, CCHFP and CHT have proved that affordable special-needs housing can be developed for homeless men and women, as long as appropriate supports are in place.
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