Hope: Dee's Story: Community Support

Every Sunday night, members of Dee’s church fellowship group-- which includes friends from her transgender community--gather for dinner. Healthy social connections are essential to helping the formerly homeless establish stability and sustained hope. Independence, per se, is not a goal of the housing first model. Rather, housing first encourages customers to build their own connections and support system within their communities, which often results in them needing fewer or reduced social services over time.“[Addressing homelessness] is not just one dimensional. You have to address all the issues: getting comprehensive care for mental illness, getting help for substance abuse and having people believe in you,” said Dee.

Community Support

Every Sunday night, members of Curry’s church fellowship group gather for dinner. Healthy social connections are essential to helping the formerly homeless develop support systems within their communities. Over time, this often results in a reduced need for social services.

“[Addressing homelessness] is not just one dimensional. You have to address all the issues: getting comprehensive care for mental illness, getting help for substance abuse and having people believe in you,” said Curry.