Haven for Hope, a homeless response nonprofit in San Antonio aimed at the “root causes of homelessness,” has a new program to help elderly and disabled people get off the streets and find stable housing.
“We just started out a new agreement with Opportunity Home, and that’s specifically for those with a disability or 62 and older,” said Ashley Adkins, Haven for Hope’s housing director, per KSAT.
Opportunity Home has been working since 1937 to build and maintain “affordable housing” for the residents of San Antonio.
Adkins told KSAT that the organization’s partnership with Opportunity Home was officially launched six months ago to address a rise in homelessness among senior citizens.
Program participants “go straight into a public housing unit.”
“Instead of waiting four years on the general waitlist, they can be here,” she said, per KSAT. “We do the paperwork and they wait maybe a month [for] a unit.”
While clients are waiting for housing, Haven for Hope helps them update their job skills.
One senior citizen Haven for Hope is assisting through this program is 66-year-old Nathan Finley, who was previously homeless for 15 years. Finley is taking every basic skills and finance class offered by the organization.
He implored those who are still homeless to take advantage of the services offered by Haven for Hope.
“They’re just staying [in] the same vicious cycle of homelessness,” he told KSAT. “Come here, see what they can do for you. They can do a lot.”
Finley said he originally “ended up on the streets because the economy was very hard,” and as housing prices continued to rise, he decided he would never be able to afford his own home.
“I ended up in a tunnel or a cardboard box, and I got tired of that. And I said, ‘This isn’t me. I’m better than this,’” Finley explained.
A counselor from Haven for Hope began checking on him consistently, and he finally accepted the organization’s services on May 17. Haven for Hope immediately connected him with medical insurance and social security.
Another client, 76-year-old Charles Powell, said Haven for Hope is helping him work towards having his own home.
“They have different programs and then they fit you into whatever program you should be in,” he told KSAT. “And right now, I’m just going through a process. Takes a little time.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Haven for Hope is not merely a homeless shelter.
The nonprofit offers a “one-stop-shop” for homeless people through a partnership with the City of San Antonio at a single 22-acre location instead of having the homeless population and homeless response facilities spread across the city.
The City of Dallas, on the other hand, allows the homeless population to disperse throughout the city while spending taxpayer dollars on facilities meant to house them. What’s more, many of those buildings remain vacant, as reported by The Dallas Express.
A recent report from Mayor Johnson’s task force on homelessness found there has been a “sharp rise” in unsheltered homelessness in the Dallas area.
This report came shortly after a satisfaction survey from the City of Dallas found that 75% of local residents believe homelessness remains a “major” problem, indicating the City government has yet to effectively respond to the issue.
Additional polling from The Dallas Express has shown that Dallas residents support an initiative to centralize homeless services like the one undertaken by Haven for Hope and the City of San Antonio.
