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More Than a Just a Home
MORE THAN JUST A HOME
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In June, Horizon was pleased to receive $609,000 to implement a Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program intended to help participants secure and maintain affordable housing. Coordinated access to services is provided by Horizon to ensure successful tenancy and reduce the severity of mental illness symptoms and medical problems. This grant allows Horizon to distribute 30 vouchers for rental subsidies to individuals and families who meet any of the following criteria:
1. Patients in state psychiatric facilities who are interested and eligible for PSH 2. Residents of supervised residential settings who can live more independently 4. Chronically homeless, or literally homeless and at-risk of becoming chronically homeless 5. Unstably housed and frequent users of hospital or criminal justice system interventions
The grant also offers additional assistance with ‘ start-up ’ funds to support those residents in purchasing necessary resources such as moving fees, emergency food, cleaning supplies, utilities, fees to obtain IDs and birth certificates, credit restoration services, and furniture so they can be well and live as independently as possible in their new communities.
Horizon has dedicated a team of six internal staff to support the work of this program including a Housing Specialist that will begin assigning vouchers by December 2021. The housing specialist will assist program participants in finding safe housing, maintaining housing, linking to supportive services, and maintaining collaborative relationships with stakeholders. The focus of the grant is to reduce access barriers for clients in rural communities around Central Virginia so they can receive the treatment they need.
In the program
’ s developmental stage, we are taking special care to ensure that individuals in the PSH program have access to coordinated services by capitalizing on collaborative relationships with key stakeholders.
“This program opens the doors to encouraging individuals to consent to receive services; a crucial step for those who may have experienced trauma related to treatment in the past.
- Alva Harold, Emergency Services Program Director
Horizon is committed to providing supportive housing opportunities for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) in order to promote wellness, prevent and end experiences of homelessness, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, and facilitate discharges from institutional facilities with the support of the DBHDS Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program.
