The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
FAMILIES MOVING FORWARD PROGRAM MOVING ONWARD
Project Hope for the Homeless marks fifth year of family specific program
A 5-year-old program through Lake County’s only homeless shelter has increased its clients’ success rates and created a safer, more comfortable environment for families with young children, administrators say.
When Project Hope for the Homeless debuted its Families Moving Forward program Jan. 7, 2013, it was a daytime offering to help homeless families and their kids by giving them access to a place to be and other resources outside area shelter hours, said Judy Burr, executive director of Ecumenical Shelter Network of Lake County Inc., which operates Project Hope.
It was housed in the lower level of First Baptist Church of Painesville, 10801 Johnnycake Ridge Road in Concord Township, and offered Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
In a News-Herald article published a few days before it began, Burr said Families Moving Forward was created in direct response to the increasing number of families with children who found shelter, care and guidance at Project Hope.
“Over the past three years, we’ve seen the number of children staying at Project Hope for the Homeless jump from an average of 20 to more than 70 in 2011 — and we’ve already passed that through November,” Burr said in the Jan. 4, 2013 story.
Since then, the program has grown by leaps and bounds. It has been operating since Jan. 2015, out of an expansion to
Project Hope’s facility at 25 Freedom Road in Painesville Township, which added 5,200 square feet and was unveiled Nov. 22, 2014.
Now, Burr said, families arrive there at 1 p.m., six hours ahead of the shelter’s other guests.
Guests depart Project Hope at 6:30 a.m. and are transported to the Salvation Army at 69 Pearl St. in Painesville Monday through Friday.
“The Salvation Army is open from 6:30 to 1,” Burr said. “So, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, we have something that’s family friendly.”
She said that includes programs like kids’ behavioral health sessions with personnel from Crossroads, parenting skills sessions with Lake County Job and Family Services and Ohio State University Extension representatives, and “We even have a little therapy dog that comes around, too.”
She said one of the biggest benefits for families with children at the shelter has been having a separate space away from the individual guests who come to the shelter.
“It can be really intimidating for kids to be coming to a homeless shelter,” Burr said, adding that the separation has really made a difference. “They do better. They’re not afraid to come in anymore. I mean, we used to have teens sitting in the car outside, not wanting to come in... It just used to be very intimidating for them.”
In addition, the success rate among guests has almost doubled since the Families Moving Forward expansion and the after-care programs in place to help families succeed after they leave Project Hope.
“They have a really high success rate,” she said. “Ninety percent of the families that come through are getting re-housed. When we were all together — individual adults with the families — our overall statistics were more like 50 percent to 60 percent. So it’s made a big difference.”
Another thing the new space offers its younger guests now is a chance to more readily establish a set routine, which is something Bridget Sulzer said seems to help the shelter’s younger clientele warm up to their surroundings.
“The one thing I’ve notice is that, when they first come in, kids don’t really have a routine and it’s hard for them to adjust,” said Sulzer, a residential specialist on both the Project Hope and Families Moving Forward side of the facility. “After they’re here for a few days, they get on a routine. And this (family area) helps because we have bedtimes for certain ages. They can get on a schedule easier that way.”
She said they also seem to enjoy the activities.
“Before, they came in at night with all the adults and they’d be with them throughout the night. There were two small family rooms. But they were still in with all the adults,” Sulzer said, adding that being around adult guests grappling with substance abuse or mental problems wasn’t an ideal environment for the kids.
“So this is a much safer environment for them. Plus, the kids also get to learn how to get along with others around their own age.”
On Oct. 10, 2015, the facility dedicated its Debra Ann November play area, further expanding the Families Moving Forward program’s commitment to the children it serves.
Named after Debra Ann November for the charitable contributions of the Phyllis and Debra Ann November Children’s Fund, the 900-square-foot, outdoor space is home to a lifesized playhouse, picnic table, and bench, donated by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeastern Ohio.
Overall, Burr called the Families Moving Forward facility at Project Hope “a whole different environment” and “a much safer environment.”
She said the expansion, which was all privately funded, represents about $500,000 for the structure, about $350,000 in donated time, labor and materials, along with another $200,000 raised through a campaign, adding that the community support and teamwork the project garnered is “beautiful.”
“There’s just no way we’d be able to do this without everybody doing their part,” she said. “It’s just amazing to see how everybody brings what they’re good at to the table.”
As far as what lies ahead for Families Moving Forward in 2018, Burr said it’s “probably going to be more of a strategic effort.”
Having expanded the overall capacity of Project Hope from 35 to 50 beds in 2015, pretty much everything done there takes lots of effort and lots of funding, she said, using meals as an example.
“Just the meals alone are a major thing,” she said. “We have 50 hot meals prepared and delivered to us every day, 365 days a year, 7 days a week. That, in itself, is a monumental effort.”
She added that, without all the community support and the efforts of the organization’s employees and volunteers, none of it would be possible.
Burr said she likes to think of the Families Moving Forward tagline: Building residency one family at a time.
“That’s what they’re doing,” she said, “paying attention to one family at a time and I think it’s working.”