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A Recipe for Success!

Our Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) sees many success stories as one of the largest and most comprehensive programs for the homeless in Indiana.  This particular story touches on all of the different tools HIP uses to contribute to the success of their clients.

“Smile, you’ve got a job now…”
(story written by: Karin Romani, Employment Specialist at HIP)

A homeless veteran, Ricky Wallace, came to us for help with housing through our Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program(HVRP).

Ricky Wallace proudly showing off his new job and his new teeth!

Ricky had a decent job in Evansville but moved back to Indianapolis to be closer to his elderly, ailing parents.  He couldn’t live with them as they are in an assisted living facility.  So, Ricky’s first thought was to crash with a friend but that didn’t work out, and he came to us.  We helped Ricky get emergency housing.  But one concern was the job he had just found was a very long drive, and he was worried about his car making it out there every day, especially in the upcoming winter weather.  Karin Romani, an employment specialist at HIP, helped him to apply for and get a better job, closer to home, with more stable hours so he could better assist his parents.  Mr. Wallace is now working for IU Health in the Methodist Café and doing VERY well according to his supervisor.  Throughout the job application process with IU Health, the client came into our office periodically to get assistance, and during two of those times, he complained of excruciating tooth pain.  Going way above and beyond, Nurse Practitioner JoAnn Morris stopped what she was doing, evaluated and treated him on the spot. JoAnn also finagled an emergency dental visit not once, but twice for him.  The first incidence of tooth pain came because of a seriously abscessed tooth, and the time after that was due to another tooth breaking and crumbling.  As a team, we helped Ricky get housed, get proper dental care, apply for and make it successfully through a long application process with IU Health, and in addition, our HVRP team helped him get his car towed and repaired (it died on the last day of his former job way out in Avon).  He can now get to and from his new IU Health job consistently.

Mr. Wallace is truly grateful and we were glad to help a man who we knew deserved it and is truly appreciative of it.  Ricky has always thought of others before himself, but this time he found himself in need and did something about it.  HVRP and other HIP services were there to make sure he got back on his feet so he can help his parents and be a true asset to the Methodist food service team.

To learn more about the services provided by HIP visit our website.  To directly support the Homeless Initiative Program, click the donate button in the right-hand column of our blog!

And, one fact that is not at the forefront of people’s minds when thinking about homelessness is the amount of VETERANS who are homeless. According to National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 23% of all homeless persons are veterans.  Almost 1 in 4 homeless persons served our country and protected our right to live ANYWHERE that we want to live, build any kind of house we want, and to be free in doing so.

It is estimated that there are 700 homeless veterans throughout our Marion County community.  These are 700 people who sacrificed a portion of their lives to serve OUR community.

HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) has a Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) which is a source for comprehensive veterans’ services.  This program is helping homeless veterans everyday who have fallen to low points because of either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, an inability to adjust back to civilian life, or started off well and came upon a tragedy.

There are many reasons why people become homeless, but there should not be a reason why we cannot support at the VERY LEAST those who made a sacrifice to fight for our freedoms. Danny Fenster, who writes for change.org ‘s End Homelessness blog, gives information on the End Homlessness Act of 2010.  Through this act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are able to work hand in hand with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to “provide assistance to homeless veterans in accessing HUD’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.”

You can help too! Help provide homeless veterans with services by visiting HealthNet’s donation page and considering a small donation of $25 to pay for a nutrition pack or a 2-week bus pass.  Help those who PROTECTED us!

“Smile, you’ve got a job now…”
(story written by: Karin Romani, Employment Specialist at HIP)

Ricky Wallace proudly showing off his new job and his new teeth!

A homeless veteran, Ricky Wallace, came to us for help with housing through our Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP).  Ricky had a decent job in Evansville but moved back to Indianapolis to be closer to his elderly, ailing parents.  He couldn’t live with them as they are in an assisted living facility.  So, Ricky’s first thought was to crash with a friend but that didn’t work out, and he came to us.  We helped Ricky get emergency housing.  But one concern was the job he had just found was a very long drive, and he was worried about his car making it out there every day, especially in the upcoming winter weather.  Karin Romani, an employment specialist at HIP, helped him to apply for and get a better job, closer to home, with more stable hours so he could better assist his parents.  Mr. Wallace is now working for IU Health in the Methodist Café and doing VERY well according to his supervisor.  Throughout the job application process with IU Health, the client came into our office periodically to get assistance, and during two of those times, he complained of excruciating tooth pain.  Going way above and beyond, Nurse Practitioner JoAnn Morris stopped what she was doing, evaluated and treated him on the spot. JoAnn also finagled an emergency dental visit not once, but twice for him.  The first incidence of tooth pain came because of a seriously abscessed tooth, and the time after that was due to another tooth breaking and crumbling.  As a team, we helped Ricky get housed, get proper dental care, apply for and make it successfully through a long application process with IU Health, and in addition, our HVRP team helped him get his car towed and repaired (it died on the last day of his former job way out in Avon).  He can now get to and from his new IU Health job consistently.

Mr. Wallace is truly grateful and we were glad to help a man who we knew deserved it and is truly appreciative of it.  Ricky has always thought of others before himself, but this time he found himself in need and did something about it.  HVRP and other HIP services were there to make sure he got back on his feet so he can help his parents and be a true asset to the Methodist food service team.

To learn more about the services provided by HIP visit our website.  To directly support the Homeless Initiative Program, click the donate button in the right-hand column of our blog!

Affordable housing is not easy to come by, and the possibility of being evicted and becoming homeless may be enough for a domestic violence victim to feel trapped.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced, at the end of October 2010, an advancement in its Violence against Women Act that will help protect domestic abuse victims from being evicted from their affordable housing units.  The advancement, seen here, makes it so that housing managers and owners must exhaust all possibilities of protecting victims before evicting them.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan stated that, “[t]his rule recognizes the need to protect victims of domestic abuse from being evicted just because they were victimized.”

The announcement dropped at a perfect time being at the end of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and advocates were thrilled to hear this because it is not every day that you see a direct effect of raising awareness.   Hearing a victory for advocacy is always a bright side because it gives hope to all organizations and all causes – if people work hard enough for something, then it is possible to see change!

Advocacy for homeless prevention and domestic abuse is seen everyday through HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies, Healthy Families, and Homeless Initiative Programs.  You, too, can be an advocate simply by learning more or donating.  Even a generous $25 to any of these programs will open many doors.