Thinking of Starting a Halfway House for the Homeless

Moderators-if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it! I wasn't really sure where to put it.

I went to college in a small, intellectual, quirky, wonderful city. Everyday, unfortunately, I would pass several homeless people freezing and starving out on the street. I could do nothing more than give them whatever cash I had on me-if I even had cash on me, which more often than not I didn't-and hope that they found a way to stay warm. I got mad at the government for not taking better care of these people. Then it dawned on me; why couldn't I help them myself?

I'm very loosely playing with the idea of opening a halfway house in this city, downtown where most of the homeless beg. I have several ideas for it:

-beds for those who feel comfortable staying the night
-bathrooms equipped with showers for anyone who wants to use them, whether or not they were staying in the house
-free or low-cost meals provided, three times a day
-a psychiatrist and therapists available every weekday
-a primary care doctor or nurse practioner available once or twice a week to take care of minor medical needs
-help with paying for meds (both psychiatric and medical)
-counseling from a social worker on how to better their lives and get out of poverty
-therapy groups (like the ones I had in the hospital) on self-esteem, communication styles, stress management, etc.
-help for those at risk of becoming homeless (counseling on how to avoid it, help with paying the rent)
-scholarships for residents to help them get a college degree

My question is: do these ideas seem feasible and helpful for those I am trying to help?

I especially want to hear from anyone who has been homeless. Would these kinds of resources have been helpful for you? What else would have been beneficial for you, that I haven't mentioned?

Thanks!

I think you have a wonderful idea there but actually implementing it will be a big project! It will also take major amounts of money. I really hope that you can figure out a way to do it, though.

Are there government grants available to non profits? Not sure where you would check to find out. Some cities are discouraging help for the homeless, hoping they will go away and be someone else's problem. I think it's very cruel.

How would you finance this? It's been done elsewhere, so I think it's feasible. But are you the person to get it started? How would you go about it?

You're talking about founding a non-profit entity. Have you looked into the legalities of that?

While worthwhile, that's a huge undertaking and working with the homeless can be challenging.

I'd suggest as a first step that you try to get a job with a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, or drop in centre to see if it's what you even want to do.

splitimage

I am not by any means well educated about the home less. I live in a major city that offers a lot of programs. But plenty of people don't use them. Many of them are very mentally ill and just aren't compliant with their treatment. We need better healthcare for the mentally I'll.

That being said, I think it would be wonderful. If you solidify a plan you can try a kickstarter campaign.

Hello Secretum,
This does sound like a great idea, and something that is needed in society. There is such a stigma associated with being homeless.
I have never been homeless, but have worked with people that were homeless. My husbands son is homeless by choice actually.
Also, a lot of homeless people are drug addicts and/or alcoholics. From my experiences with this type of group, I have found that they usually do not wish to give up their drugs or alcohol, and most are users.
At one time I operated a motel, and at times would take pity upon them if they came to me on a very cold night. I would allow them a free night in a room. Usually what happened in that situation is that their problems tended to follow them even in such a short time frame.
I wish you much success on your endeavor!!

It sounds like an amazing idea, but one thing that I think is a big issue is money. No offense, but everything you are listing requires quite a bit of money (especially if you are doing this by yourself) I was homeless for about five months and I can guarantee you this sounds wonderful. Maybe you could ask your community to help with costs?

Hi Secretum. We're you in any way serious about this idea . . . or just engaging in a bit of daydreaming? If you've finished college, you're old enough and smart enough to take the plight of the homeless seriously, and not make it the subject of some idle fantasy. Sorry. This thread has been up a good while, and you do not even acknowledge input.

Yes, I've been homeless.

I find most people don't know the resources available to them. I would start there and work your way up. First make a flyer of all the resources in your area. Offer your time, group cell phone and a group P.O. box. Ask the library to use a meeting room 3x a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) bring brown bag food to the meeting place. Ask the local truck stop for free/bulk price shower coupons.

While you are help them get your APRN and LMHC degree. This way you can do the case management, meds and the therapy.

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. MM, that is a really good idea on how to start small. Perhaps I should put this plan off until I finish med school and am a psychiatrist.

Rose, I'm sorry that you are reacting that way to my idea. In my defense, I said in my original post that I am "very loosely playing with" this idea. Nowhere did I say that I was definitely going to implement it. I have ADD. I get 1,000 ideas at once, and I am too distracted to implement any of them. This doesn't mean that I don't take them seriously, or that I don't want to implement them. I desperately wish that I could act on my ideas and see them through to completion. This is a major goal of my therapy.

The people who "don't take the plight of the homeless seriously" are those who pass them on the street and don't even stop to acknowledge them. Not people like me who pray for them, and give them money. The fact that I even had this idea is proof that I am taking the issue very seriously. So please don't attack me. I've been going through a rough emotional time lately.

Having ideas is proof of nothing other than an active imagination. Serious people donate their time and energy to worthy causes. Someone with no experience finds a facility or organization that will take them on as a volunteer. That is something you realistically could do. Give it a shot.

The idea that you, yourself, are going to open a shelter and hire a nurse, doctor and psychiatrist is delusionsional. "Loosely playing with" ideas like that is unlikely to lead to you helping anyone. Be willing to "serve" in some useful capacity as a volunteer. You can even do things on your own . . . like collect second hand blankets, gloves, knit caps and distribute them to needy folks on the street. Make a large pot of soup and bring bowls of it to hungry people on the street. That's what it takes to be taken seriously. Your plan is more glamorous, but way less feasible.

Hi Secretum,
I am not in the US and I live in a 3rd world country. Here I have seen more than one endeavor as you dream made by people with very limited financial resources and still some of them were successful. I apologize in advance if I offend anyone here but in your country people worry about money too much. But, those cases that were successful here had a very important component, they built a community around the project and it was conceived as a group thing. One of the "NGOs" I am thinking is not even a legal entity but an informal network. If you have money, come to poor countries to have a first hand experience on how poor people help each other. You will be amazed. Fuel your solidarity and do not give up please, despite your ADD

Also, Italy is a good case study for you if you like to see volunteering models, it is much better than in the US, IMO. They are based more on the" time" people want to give than the money, they achieve wonderful things in private-public partnerships

It may be interesting to directly work with the homeless for a while. The reality can be extremely frustrating. A lot of the homeless people served in my area have serious mental health or substance abuse issues and are either unable or unwilling to make what most people would consider good choices. There is no way to force anyone to get help for these underlying problems, so the homelessness continues.

I used to run a drop in center. The people did not utilize the services. Many homeless r long term chronic homeless. You have to have a very specialized training to work with them. A lot of them see no reason to leave the streets. I know this is hard to believe but it is true unfortunately. Once they have fallen that far down they just do not see a way up and like all of us they adapt to that lifestyle. Many die in the streets.
I was homeless 3x in my life. I got up each time but it was my inner strength that put me back in the world. The resources did not help so I know the homeless have to want to get better. If they don't they just stay where they are. Cold nor not.