Ending Homelessness in Our Community: Volunteer with Room in the Inn

1. Thank you for your interest in Ending the cycle of Homelessness In OUR COMMUNITY by volunteering with Room in the Inn. The following is a training module prepared for the volunteers of Room in the inn A program of homeward bound of wnc FEBRUARY 2016

2. MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of Homeward Bound of WNC is working with others to end the cycle of homelessness.

3. Our Vision Statement: • We envision a day when the poor and the vulnerable among us will no longer be invisible and ignored but treated with compassion and decency. • We envision a day when any homeless person, regardless of psychiatric disabilities, substance abuse problems, medical issues, or financial poverty, can move directly into service-enriched permanent housing and become a productive member of society.

4. OUR VALUES: • We believe in the absolute value and worth of every single human being. • We believe that housing is a basic human right, integral to self-worth and dignity. • We believe that homelessness is a solvable problem. • We believe that all services should be offered with respect, empathy, and in the spirit of hope and recovery. • We believe that we are successful as an organization when one individual takes one step forward on the journey home.

5. COMMUNITY PRESENCE: How can we increase the presence of someone experiencing homelessness our local community? Volunteer with Homeward Bound of WNC and learn about “who” experiences homelessness. Then talk to your community about your “invisible” neighbors.

6. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION How can we participate and help those experiencing homelessness? Volunteer! At the AHOPE Day Center we provide for the basic needs of those without housing: from a shower, to community resource referrals, to a housing plan. Room in the Inn provides nightly shelter for up to 12 women. Room in the Inn also provides case management while women await permanent housing; providing a source of stability because there is, most always, a wait for housing. Our PATH team is specialized in its service to clients but always welcomes items to help them connect. Backpacks, boots and sleeping bags are always at a premium.

7. COMMUNITY SUPPORT There are various ways to provide support in ending homelessness in our community. Educate: What is Housing First? Ask an employee at Homeward Bound of WNC about the best practice in ending homelessness. Communicate: Talk about the solution. Speak to your family, neighbors and business associates about Housing First and its successes in our community! Give: Donate to Homeward Bound of WNC. We have provenresults in our work to end homelessness in your community.

8. We Value Volunteers We know that homelessness is a community wide problem and that it requires a community wide solution! We need your volunteer hours with the AHOPE Day Center, Room in the Inn, Welcome Home Project and the Youth Move-In Project. We need your financial support to finish the difficult task of ending homelessness in our community.

9. Crisis The reason people become homeless is that their support system fails during a normal life crisis.

10. Many paths lead to homelessness: Job loss Mental illness Death of a family member Addiction Domestic violence Medical emergencies Causes

11. Facts In Buncombe County, about 500 people experience homelessness on any given night, and more than 3,000 people experience it throughout the course of a year. 37% of them are veterans. Very few of them have come to Asheville homeless; 75% used to have housing in Buncombe County before they became homeless, and many of them are from this area originally.

12. Who chooses to be homeless? No one. It’s that simple. • No child wants to be homeless as an adult, and no adult is proud of losing their housing and depending on others to meet his or her basic needs. • Sometimes when people become homeless, the only thing they have left is their self-respect, and it’s important to them to assert that they’re not victims but that they’ve instead opted in to their way of life. • And sometimes—most times—when people become homeless and remain homeless, it gets hard to see a way out.

13. What is the solution?HOUSING FIRST • People become homeless because they lose their support systems & can’t maintain their housing. So when we provide housing and put those supports back in place, we solve homelessness, one household at a time. • It’s called the Housing First model, and it’s a national best practice and proven solution; it’s cost-effective, sustainable, and humane.

14. **Let’s Compare** Homelessness costs: Housing costs: It can cost as much as $23,000 for one person to be homeless a year. Emergency shelter, jail stays, emergency room, detox visits, and other high usage of expensive public services contribute to these costs. If we pay for someone’s housing plusthe case management services to help them control the issues they face, it costs about $10,000 during their first year; after that, as people stabilize, the cost drops to an average of $2600 per person per year.

15. What exactly is Homeward Bound of WNC doing to end homelessness? SIX PROGRAMS . . . .

16. AHOPE Day Center AHOPE is often a person’s first entry point to homeless services in Asheville and serves as our initial opportunity to meet clients and engage them in needed services. A HOPE is the only day shelter in WNC. AHOPE is staffed by crisis case managers, who are trained in engaging clients about immediate needs but also are the first link to a client’s future housing.

17. PATH PATH Outreaches homeless individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis and not connected to mental health services. Through PATH outreach, team members build relationships that allow them to connect clients with crucial mental health care services, as well as basic needs and housing supports.

18. Room In The Inn is a mobile shelter serving 12 women each night. RITI is sponsored by over 60 faith communities who take turns hosting the women for a week, providing all of their meals, shelter, and evening activities. RITI is staffed with a case manager who is responsible for creating a case management plan for each client. There is also a program director who supervises the intake process for clients, supervises the RITI case manager and works with the faith community volunteers. The end result is an opportunity for the women to move out of the program and into permanent housing. Following the Housing First model, each client accesses housing at the earliest time it is available. RITI

19. SSVF (Supportive Services for Veterans & Families) SSVF This program is funded by a grant awarded by the Veteran’s Administration and will work over the next three years to end veteran homelessness in our community. Our SSVF team’s mission is to outreach all veterans who are homeless and help connect them to permanent housing.  This means finding any housing option that exists for an eligible veteran who is experiencing homelessness and has no other resources to help him or her break this cycle.

20. Pathways to Permanent Housing PPH this Homeward Bound continuum of service is a direct implementation of the Housing First model. In this program, case managers facilitate permanent housing for clients and provide support for clients once they are housed, to develop and enact housing stabilization plans that lead to independence and self-sufficiency.

21. Youth Move-In Project YMP The Youth Move-In Project is a new initiative that allows youth groups to experience the power of ending homelessness in their community. A Homeward Bound of WNC staff member will visit with your youth group to discuss poverty and homelessness. They will explain what a move-in looks like and the tangible items that are needed for someone to move from the streets to their own apartment. Over the next few months the youth group collects the necessary items to complete a move in. Homeward Bound of WNC staff will then pair your group with a client moving into housing. On move in day our staff will pick your collected items up and work with the youth group (and parents) to move a client into their new apartment. Afterwards we will schedule a time to debrief about the experience of your group. This is life changing!

22. What happens when we all step up for homeless women?Room in the Inn Local Faith Communities Working Together to Provide Emergency Shelter and Housing for Women

23. Be Inspired! Your mission or social action team has decided that your faith community is going to host the women of RITI for one or two weeks during the year. Room In The Inn provides an avenue for people of faith to do what they already do best: care for people in tangible ways and encourage and empower them to lead healthier, more stable lives.

24. Your faith community commitment • Material support: Transportation to and from your hosting sight, three meals per guest for each day that you are hosting (supper, light breakfast and a sack lunch) and room to put fourteen mattresses (twelve for your guests and two for your volunteers). • Practical support: Would you be willing to help someone study for their GED? How about driving them to an appointment the week they are staying with you? Do you have a member of your faith community that could provide haircuts while you are hosting? • Relational support: Remember that the women move to a different faith community each week. They still need all the support that you can give them while they’re with you. Listening is one of the best forms of support you can offer. These women have a case manager but they can always benefit from a listening ear. • Financial support: Each faith community contributes a minimum of $1,200 per year to support the program including the salary of the director/case manager, weekend staff and miscellaneous occupancy costs and direct services while the clients are at the AHOPE Day Center.

25. Making It Happen! • Your hosting commitment and your week of immersing yourself in a mission adventure will move very smoothly if you understand all of the ins and out the RITI program. • You may not be directly responsible for picking the ladies up, making sure the mattresses are delivered to the next location or other details but your understanding of these needs will be helpful!

26. Your faith community TEAM! Program Coordinator • Serves as the primary liaison between your faith community & Homeward Bound. (Any volunteer is welcome to contact Homeward Bound staff directly at any time, but concerns should go initially to your coordinator.) Provide the RITI program director with contact information for each night you are hosting. • Facilitates RITI team meetings within your faith community. (These meetings will be held to determine that you have enough volunteers in place for your week. It is a good idea to have a wrap up meeting after you host the women to determine what went well and what you’d like to change the next time you host.) • Attend coordinator meetings bi-annually and calendar planning meeting each August. These meetings will be held at one of our faith community sites and will include program updates and time for our partners in RITI to come together and share our best practices for working with the women. • Responsible for web training follow through. It is the responsibility of the coordinator to assure that each RITI volunteer has completed web-based training.

27. Transportation Planner Schedule transportation.Responsible for seeing that the women are picked up at the AHOPE Day Center between 5:45 and 6:00 p.m. each evening and returning them back to the AHOPE Day Center by 6:45 a.m. in the morning. It is imperative that the women be picked up on time but not earlier than 5:45 p.m. and that they are returned as close to 6:45 a.m. as possible to allow them to enter the Day Center prior to our opening time of 7:00 a.m. If it is convenient for your faith community to return the women to AHOPE one hour later (7:45am) on Saturday morning ONLY, it is a nice break for the women as AHOPE opens at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Sunday morning schedule remains the same. We request that your evening driver(s) wait for the RITI staff to set the alarm, leave the building and enter their vehicle, while the women are loading into the van. This supports RITI staff safety and we are grateful for your assistance!

28. Meal Planner Recruit people to prepare meals and host dinner. Recruit groups, families or individuals to cook the supper meals, bring lunch preparations, and breakfast items. Responsible for making sure that there is a supper meal plan for each night and that (hopefully) it is not duplicated during the week. Responsible for making sure that there is a light breakfast each day and a daily sack lunch for each woman. Determine how many people are to be served each day and notify those who are preparing meals. Determine if you will use dinner hosts or overnight volunteers to eat and clean after supper.

29. Overnight Host Recruitment Recruitment of overnight hosts is a team effort. This should be completed by your entire RITI Team. You will need to place a sign-up sheet where it is visible to your faith community at least four weeks in advance. It is possible for those who work to stay and those who have small children to stay (they can do weekends when they have backup for their child(ren). There are several individuals who are willing to stay at any location. Their contact information is provided to the faith community coordinators.

30. Describe my specific job • Dinner Preparers. Volunteers (Sunday School classes, small groups, youth groups, families, etc.) who will prepare a meal either at your site or will deliver a meal by 6:30 p.m. to feed the RITI women and any volunteers that will be present for supper. • Dinner Hosts. Some faith communities utilize dinner hosts to eat with the women and then clean up after supper. The dinner hosts then leave when the overnight hosts arrive. • Breakfast Preparers. Volunteers may choose to come and prepare breakfast very early in the morning or they can bring breakfast food the night before to be used the next morning. • Lunch Preparers. Volunteers should bring lunch food the night before their assigned day. This may be lunch meat, chips, etc., to be packed by the women or may be pre-packed in sacks by the volunteers. • Transportation. Drivers will be needed to and from your site each day. • Overnight Volunteers. Each night you will need a minimum of two adults (one must be female) to spend the night with the women. One person must remain awake at all times during the night. PLEASE do not allow male volunteers to access the area where the women are sleeping.

31. Details & Other Tasks • The mattresses will arrive at your host site on Sunday morning. The mattress delivery should be arranged between your coordinator and the coordinator of the faith community preceding your week. After your host week, you may chose to transport the mattresses to the next faith community with your own vehicles or, through a partnership with Loving Food Resources (www.lovingfood.org), you can arrange for the mattresses to be picked up at your faith community and delivered to the next hosting site. Your volunteers will need to be present to load the mattresses and there is a nominal charge for this service. For information on this please contact the Room In The Inn program director. • Dinner Hosts or Overnight Volunteers (or both) should arrive at your location in time to assist those who are preparing food or delivering food. This is generally by 6:00 p.m. The volunteers that are eating with the women should always be present to greet them.

32. When the women arrive, hosts should greet them warmly and: • Review the general guidelines (the guidelines should be posted in various places and this should be done the first night and anytime that you receive a new guest during the week). • Show the women designated areas such as bathrooms, sleeping area, smoking area, etc. It is also important that you explain to the group places that they may not be allowed to be at your facility. • Discuss morning’s departure time. It is important that everyone be ready to leave on time so that they arrive at AHOPE on time. • Supper should be served by 6:30 p.m. Allow the women to assist you in cleaning up if they offer. Working together will promote fellowship and trust among both the women and your volunteers. If someone doesn’t wish to help that’s okay.

33. Your doors should be locked at dark and lights out for the women is 10:00 p.m. At least one volunteer MUST REMAIN AWAKE AT ALL TIMES. All of the women may not be able to sleep all night and that is okay but there is no smoking after 10:00 p.m. until the next morning at 6:00 a.m. Please provide a light breakfast and a sack lunch for the women. Your volunteers may pre-pack lunches or the women can assist in doing this either prior to bedtime or early in the morning.

34. The NOTEBOOK . . . . • There is a RITI notebook that is sent with the women each night. In the notebook you will find a list of the women’s names. In addition, beside each name will be important information that you might need to know about that client. For instance: RX indicates that the client will be taking a nightly medication; if the client is arriving late or leaving early; if the client is providing their own transportation and other logistical points. • We DO NOT provide detailed medical information about any client because we are HIPPA compliant and sensitive to the clients’ privacy. A client may, or may not, give you information about their health or mental health status. There may be very specific times that a client signs a release specifically allowing Homeward Bound to share medical information about them and, in that case, the information will be found near the client’s name in the book.

35. More about that Notebook! • The contact information for the RITI Program Director is located in the notebook. If you have a question that needs to be addressed after office hours (8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday) please call the number listed for the on-call person (generally the RITI Program Director), LEAVE A MESSAGE, and you will receive a call back within the hour. If, for any reason, you do not receive a call within the hour please place a second call and email the RITI Program Director at your earliest convenience to let her know about the emergency and unanswered call. • PLEASE take time to read the information in this book and make nightly notes about how your overnight stay went (on the reverse side of the sheet with the names of the women) and return the book to the AHOPE Day Center in the morning with the women.

36. Health Emergencies • As you may guess, many of your guests do not have access to adequate health care. There may be times when one of your guests experiences a health issue. Please use the following precautions: • In case of a serious emergency, it’s always best to call 911 (NEVER drive someone to the hospital yourself) • If someone is feeling sick and considering going to the hospital, try and contact RITI Program Director Sharon Blythe (776-9741). Leave a message and Sharon (or a Homeward Bound on call staff member) will call back to talk with the client. Sending someone to the hospital with an ambulance is expensive, and so we want not to rush to 911 to quickly. But if there is any doubt, err on the side of caution.

37. PLEASE do not volunteer if you are ill! • It is your responsibility to help prevent the spread of germs to your guests, especially during cold and flu season.  Here are some helpful guidelines: • Wash your hands before handling any food • Provide hand sanitizer in the dining room • Provide soap and paper towels in the bathroom • Dinner hosts/overnight volunteers: Please be sure to wipe down all surfaces with disinfectant spray at the end of the meal.

38. What if someone gets sick or there is an accident? "Universal Precautions" is an approach to infection control.  All human blood and certain human body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for HIV, Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and other blood borne pathogens.  It is not always possible to know when blood or body fluids are infectious; therefore, all body fluids shall be handled as if infectious.  Please read the suggestions on the following page.

39. Here are guidelines to assist you if someone should be sick or have an accident: Gloves, bleach spray and a first AID kit should be available to you at your sight. A mop and bucket should also be available. Follow these guidelines for cleaning up bodily fluids (e.g. vomit, blood in the bathrooms etc.) as necessary: • Always wear gloves! • Wipe up spill with paper towels and place in plastic bags • Spray area with bleach solution. • Let solution sit for 20 minutes • Wipe up solution with paper towels • Double bag and dispose of paper towels in garbage bag

40. Are the women screened before they come to our host site? Yes. Each night the women work with a Homeward Bound staff member before you pick them up. The Homeward Bound staff is trained to recognize signs that there is a problem with a client, however, if you have a woman that is behaving inappropriately you should contact the RITI director (or weekend on- call staff) immediately. QUESTIONS

41. Should we eat with the women? Yes. This is the best time for you to get to know the women of RITI. General conversation is a great way to start (how was your day). Most likely you will find that after the ice is broken these great women will tell you about themselves. QUESTIONS

42. What information can I share with the women? It is fine to share some details of your life with the women. Again, generalization is a good rule. Do not give out your telephone number, address, place of employment (e.g. I work at a bank versus I work at Bank of America) or other detailed personal information. It is okay to tell the women that you have a spouse, children, etc., again providing no detailed information about them.  QUESTIONS

43. Do we have to provide an area for the women to smoke? Yes. Each faith community is required to provide an outside area where the women may smoke. The women may smoke until 10:00 p.m. lights out and may not smoke again until 6:00 a.m. when they are up for the day. It is not necessary for you to accompany the women to smoke, unless your facility requires it. QUESTIONS

44. May the women have cellular telephones? Yes. The majority of our women have phones that are supplied through Assurance Wireless. The women MAY NOT use their telephones during supper and the phones must be turned off at 10:00 p.m. If there are phones that ring during the night, or the women are texting, it is important that you make a note in the RITI book so that this may be addressed with the women. QUESTIONS

45. Will the women have individuals visiting them while they are at the host site? The simple answer is no. The women are not supposed to disclose their location as that would be a breach of confidentiality on their part. Therefore, no one should be visiting them at your site. There could be situations where an officer of the North Carolina Probation and Parole come to visit someone in the RITI program. Be assured that this is a necessary visit or it wouldn’t be made during the evening hours. QUESTIONS

46. Will all of the women in Room In The Inn be housed? It is the goal of Homeward Bound of WNC to place our clients in supportive, permanent housing. The clients have responsibilities to work with their case manager to determine the steps necessary to place and keep them in housing. Our women will almost definitely be in an apartment, not a house, and will either live in public housing or in scattered site housing. Public housing means that’s it’s through the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, and that rent payments are based on income. Scattered site housing means a private apartment with a private landlord, just like where you might live. QUESTIONS

47. Volunteer Boundaries and Behavior • Do not proselytize • Room In The Inn offers you a chance to live out your faith. If a woman initiates conversation about faith, feel free to proceed, but don’t initiate it yourself. Just like with anyone in your life, there will be times when you want to share a spiritual experience that you had, and you’re free to do so, but please do so respectfully and without imposing your beliefs on the women. • Do not give over the counter medications to the women. We have OTC meds at the AHOPE Day Center and the women are allowed to get the meds that they need prior to leaving the building each night. It is not appropriate for you to give OTC meds to the women as you may be unaware of other meds that they may be taking and how the two medications might interact. • Do not give money directly to the women. If at any time you recognize a need of a specific client that you’d like offer assistance with, please do so making arrangements through the RITI program director. The women also know this rule & shouldn’t ask you for money; if it happens, please inform Homeward Bound staff by making a note in the RITI book that you return each morning with the women.

48. A few more boundaries and behavior items. . . • Do not engage in a romantic or inappropriate relationship with the women. • Do not use drugs or consume alcohol with the women. The women that you are hosting may or may not have a history of substance abuse. To be on the safe side, never drink alcohol or use drugs in their presence. Rather than triggering a relapse or adding to their struggle with substance abuse, you want to support their sobriety. • Do not break confidentiality. It’s okay to share with people in your life that you’re participating in this program, and it’s often educational to the people around you to hear about some of your RITI experiences so that they have a better understanding of homelessness. But respect the women & be sensitive by not disclosing any of their personal information. Instead, take this opportunity to talk about RITI in general terms, how much it means to you to be involved and the difference that it makes to our neighbors who are homeless.

49. The Rewards! This opportunity to bring mission into the walls of your building is without compare! RITI is very different from any other service-oriented mission or social action work that you will do. We all know people who want to serve but are afraid to step out of their comfort zones to do so. RITI provides ample opportunity for everyone to be involved at their comfort level in a space that they’re already comfortable in!

50. This concludes the training for your volunteer experience with Room In The Inn. Please click here to submit your completion form. If you have further questions, please direct them to the Room In The Inn coordinator at your faith community, or call the Program Director listed below. We hope that you will also consider taking a tour of the AHOPE Day Center and our Homeward Bound offices. The tour is an opportunity to learn more about the entire workings of Homeward Bound of WNC and our work to end chronic homelessness in our community. Sharon P. Blythe Program Director, Room In The Inn P.O. Box 1166 Asheville, NC 28802 (828) 252-8883 www.homewardboundwnc.org