“Our HealthNet” starts with the staff that come in every day prepared to assist our clients with getting their needs met and helping them to become self- sufficient. Debra Marshall comes in daily before our doors even open to make a fresh hot pot of coffee and to put the sign- up sheet out for the clients. She then unlocks the door and welcomes in our clients who come to the Homeless Initative Program (H.I.P.) for a variety of reasons. Other staff members; from Mandy, one of our MA’s that administers shots with caring hands to our smallest clients that are in shelters; to David, our resident professor who’s a part of the employment team; to Stacey, who sees hundreds of new faces in triage; to Donnie, who gains the trust of clients living on the street and in camps; to Gary, who says thank you to our men and women veterans by assisting them through our per diem program; to Jennifer, who has clients bringing in envelopes full of receipts to make sure their staying on budget in case management; to Trina, who makes sure all of the clients medical files are in order; to Sharon, the director of the agency who on a daily basis stays late completing grant reports and crunching numbers to make sure that HIP will be able to open our doors again  tomorrow.

Our HIP team during last year’s National Health Center Week!

“Our HealthNet” continues with the clients that walk through our doors on an everyday basis requesting assistance. HIP has long been a place where clients know they can come in and be treated with dignity and respect no matter whether they live in a shelter, where their door might be to a room that’s shared with three other people, or their own place, where their door might have an eviction notice taped on it, or in a camp, where their door might be made from a recycled card board box. Our doors have seen many faces, happy faces, sad faces, distraught faces, discouraged faces and content faces. Our job is to make sure that no matter what door they are coming from, when they walk through our doors we give them 100% of our time, our talent and our ability to make sure that they will one day walk through their own doors.

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Editor’s note: This month’s theme is “Our HealthNet”!  Our bloggers have taken on this topic and are talking about how it takes a community for us to provide quality health care and support services.  Click here to find out more about our topic this month.

Employment & Training Workshop

You can learn more about other services provided by our Homeless Initiative Program by clicking here.  Also, if you want to get more of an inside look from month to month, sign up for our eNewsletter today!

CITY-COUNTY SPECIAL RESOLUTION NO. 10, 2012

 A SPECIAL RESOLUTION recognizing HealthNet‘s Homeless Initiative Program.

WHEREAS, HealthNet‘s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) has assisted thousands of Indianapolis’ homeless in finding employment and permanent housing since 1988, utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach to coordinate and provide housing, health care, outreach, employment and support services to the homeless in Marion County; and

WHEREAS, in 2011, approximately 3,200 homeless persons benefited from HIP’s services; and

WHEREAS, HIP, one of the largest and most comprehensive programs for the homeless in the state, provides a network of services to treat the whole person, as he or she moves from homelessness into housing, employment and self-sufficiency; and

WHEREAS, the mission of HIP is to assist homeless persons in reaching a level of self-sufficiency consistent with their goals and capabilities for physical, mental, social and economic well-being; now, therefore:

 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY-COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND OF MARION COUNTY, INDIANA:

SECTION 1.  The Indianapolis City-County Council recognizes Healthnet’s Homeless Initiative Program.

SECTION 2.  The Council extends its appreciation and gratitude for the services Healthnet’s Homeless Initiative provides and wishes the program continued success.

SECTION 3.  The Mayor is invited to join in this resolution by affixing his signature hereto.

SECTION 4.  This resolution shall be in full force and effect upon adoption and compliance with IC 36-3-4-14.

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Last night, HIP was recognized at the City-County Council Meeting by Councilors Osili, Adamson, Cardwell, and Simpson!  It was a great experience and opportunity for HIP to explain their services to Council members and other meeting attendees.  Sharon Stark, Program Director, was able to speak to the Council describing the services provide by HIP and the collaboration that they do with other homeless programs within the City of Indianapolis.   We want to send a special thanks to Kim Boyd who spearheaded the effort to get the City-Council to recognize HIP and its services.

Want to see pictures from the night?  Click here.  To learn more about how you can help our Homeless Initiative Program continue to expand its reach to the Marion County homeless population, check out our Open Doors with Care Campaign!

• 25% of the homeless in Indy are women fleeing from domestic violence??
• 17% of Indy’s homeless are veterans??

HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) recently launched an Open Doors With Care campaign in the hopes to raise $10,000 by March 10^th to help Indianapolis’ homeless get back on their feet.

Open Doors with Care

As one of the largest and most comprehensive programs for the homeless in the state, HIP provides a network of services to treat the whole person, as he or she moves from homelessness into housing, employment and self-sufficiency.

Last year, HIP served 3,229 homeless men, women and children and with your help we can change those numbers for the better! And, it does not take much to make a difference!

A gift of….

• $40 provides a homeless individual with two weeks’ worth of bus passes to get back and forth to a new job until they receive their first paycheck.
• $100 buys school uniforms, school supplies, and a toy for a homeless child.
• $500 provides a family with their first month of rent on a standard two-bedroom apartment.
• $1000 provides tuition for Certified Nursing Assistance (CNA) training and certification.

Help us Open Doors but donating here…

Help us reach our goal of $10,000 by March 10^th!!
Tell your friends about it –

This video has insight from Employment & Training staff person, Dave Richardson, and even gives an inside look during a class.

 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYXMDSOr2mI?hd=1&w=480&h=360]