Housing, individualized counseling, and job training, all basic to addressing the needs of the homeless, serve as the cornerstones of the Open Doors’ program.
Long-term Housing
An open door, a welcome in off the street, a space to call home – these are the most important services we can offer our clients. Studies show that being stably housed improves the physical and psychological health of an individual, apart from any other intervention.
We anticipate an average stay of three years for any given client, but that will probably be an average over a wide range. Each homeless person is homeless for a different set of reasons – situations range from that of the stably employed man whose marriage collapses suddenly to that of the chronic drug abuser whose mental and physical health has become precarious.
As they come to us, each applicant will be asked to describe their current living conditions and to give a brief history. The next step in assessment is critical to our approach to service. The applicant will be asked to describe the life to which they aspire. Since the question may never have been put to them before, we expect some hesitation in answering. And we accept that for some clients, even being able to formulate a picture of an alternate lifestyle might take some time, and we are ready both to be patient with the process and to help the client in this effort.
Dimensions of Individualized Counseling
As the client comes to see the possibilities that life might offer, the challenges they will face in realizing their goals will gradually emerge. At this point, counselors will help them devise a plan to meet those challenges and work toward reaching their goals.
The objective of the Open Doors program is not to impose a standardized set of expectations regarding “The Good Life.” Out of respect for clients as unique persons, we are ready to accept their vision for themselves. Some of the homeless will undoubtedly not want to struggle with obstacles, preferring homelessness to the difficulties of change. This is to be expected. In these cases, clients will be referred to “housing first” programs through which they will at least have the benefit of stable shelter. In time, they may be ready to enter into the kind of discipline that would move them forward.
For applicants who know that they want something other than the life they have, our counselors will assist them in developing strategies to improve their lives, including addressing physical and mental health issues as well as substance abuse. Open Doors will not offer such therapy directly to residents. Rather, our counselors will direct clients to resources within the community, the program providing transportation as needed, and work with clients to evaluate the progress of treatment as a means of achieving their personal goals.
Most homeless persons have family ties. Sometimes friction within the family exacerbates problems such as substance abuse and mental illness. As clients work through therapy addressing such problems, they may wish to reconcile with family members as well. Open Doors can assist by arranging mediation or family counseling. In some cases, improved family relations may result in clients returning to a home they had left or making new arrangements to live with family.
Often the homeless have criminal records. Sometimes, even a short term of incarceration leads directly to homelessness. As possible, we will help residents who wish to pursue expungement of offenses, and refer them to legal services as needed.
Community is central to Open Doors’ concept of rehabilitation and therapeutic counseling. As inter-personal relationships form among clients, the program will seek to foster friendships, encourage mutual support, and provide ample opportunity to clients to voice their concerns and give input regarding the program itself. Staff and clients together will form the social network so vital to emotional well-being and a spirit of hope.
Job Training
Perhaps the worst effect of homelessness is that of being marginalized by others – being thought of as deficient in some respect. All too often this sense of deficiency becomes internalized and, instead of seeing their condition as the result of forces in the larger society, the homeless see themselves as less capable and less worthy than others.
Nothing serves as evidence of such deficiency more than not being able to hold a job. And nothing goes further toward integrating someone into society than the knowledge that one’s labor benefits others and is appreciated by them. The opportunity to engage in satisfying work not only offers the financial resources that enable independence and self-sufficiency, but also fills a need as basic to most of us as shelter. The homeless themselves acknowledge that not having work, and having so much idle time, increases not only the opportunity but the desire to turn to drugs to fill that need.
Open Doors’ approach to job readiness is multi-layered.
Calvert County sees itself as rural, situated on fertile land between waterways abundant with marine life – the perfect setting for a food-based economy. Open Doors will create a “cottage industry” that both offers clients the opportunity to learn from within how businesses operate and takes advantage of the region’s agricultural heritage. Every adult resident not currently employed (and we recognize that a significant portion of the population do hold jobs) will be asked to contribute some of their time and skill toward the success of “their own” business – the business that offers them pay for work and which subsidizes their cost of living.
The business will consist in the production of “value-added” food products, taking the produce of our own garden and surrounding farms to create items for sale, such as baked goods, canned goods, jellies, cheeses, etc. It is also anticipated that Open Doors might provide hands-on training in the restaurant industry by opening an eatery on campus. Clients will be encouraged to rotate through all roles – everything from purchasing, production, and house-cleaning, to management and accounting. In the process, clients will learn how important their personal contribution becomes and how their own work ethic affects the success of the business.
Even while clients participate in the in-house business, counselors will work with them to identify a business (producing goods or offering service) in which they have a particular interest. Every effort will be made to secure training, apprenticeships and internships in these areas. In many cases, additional formal education will be required, and we will work with public schools and institutions of higher learning to secure low cost access to courses needed.
Finally, clients who express an interest in doing so will be encouraged to consider an entrepreneurial venture of their own. We will refer them to agencies who serve as “incubators,” and we will support those ventures in every possible way.