Ending Chronic Homelessness by Increasing Incomes to Sustain Housing and Reach Self-Sufficiency

Another important component of Bringing Our Community Home is increasing the incomes of chronically homeless people so that each person has a stable, adequate source of income. We will adopt an “employment first” approach and will assist every individual who can work obtain and maintain a job that fits that person’s skills and abilities. All employment opportunity will be cultivated and pursued through job programs and developers, and will be supported by the Teams. The Teams will interface with the Job Developer who will help locate and create job opportunity, the Employment Specialist who will help match clients to a job and prepare them for securing a job, Industrial Relations Staff who will support employers who hire chronically homeless people, and a Job Coach who will support employment after it is obtained.

We will also assist everyone who qualifies for benefits to receive them. We will cross-train and cross-locate staff from community-based organizations and public agencies to increase the number of successful applications. Additionally, the Teams will start seeking benefits/entitlements within institutions before individuals are discharged to ensure that people exiting institutions have a stable source of income.