Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place

A grassroots, community-based organization that helps homeless men and women rebuild their lives through street outreach, hospitality, free medical and psychiatric care, case management, transitional shelter and permanent supportive housing.

Why do we exist?

We exist because homeless individuals are living on the streets and in alleys, doorways and parks in every area of Washington, DC. The Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place (CCH/FP) began as a grassroots effort in 1992, after the city proposed opening a large emergency shelter at the Guy Mason Center in upper Georgetown. A volunteer group of friends and strangers - neighbors all - came together, newly aware that there were no services at all for homeless people west of Rock Creek Park.

The group hired a street outreach worker to identify the needs of their homeless neighbors. Local congregations of every faith began planning smaller shelters to take the place of the larger one proposed. Others of the group met to discuss how to address the immediate needs of homeless men and women as well as how to tackle the roots of homelessness, the basic issues underlying this problem.

Out of this grew Friendship Place, a daytime resource center on Wisconsin Avenue, offering the services necessary to help homeless men and women rebuild their lives.

Help begins with street outreach. A CCH/FP van goes out every day and several evenings a week to seek out homeless individuals, offer emergency help, and let them know that services are available at Friendship Place. Seeking help at the medical clinic, which operates twice weekly, is often the first step in accepting assistance. Psychiatric care is available weekly. Over 60% of homeless individuals suffer from a mental illness. Substance abuse counseling is available everyday as untreated substance abuse is another major cause of homelessness. Many homeless men and women with mental illness become addicted to alcohol because there are no medical or psychiatric services on the streets, and this is a way to self-medicate. Other services include case management, referrals, job readiness training, and temporary and permanent housing.

Most homeless individuals have lost the traditional support systems of family and community. Although CCH/FP now has a professional staff, it maintains its philosophy of "neighbor helping neighbor" and tries to reintegrate formerly homeless men and women into the community with the help of over 100 volunteers.

What have you accomplished?

Since opening its doors in 1992, CCH/FP has moved 328 homeless persons into transitional housing, and 135 homeless individuals into permanent housing. Our housing arm, the Community Housing Trust, has bought a 5-bedroom house for 5 formerly homeless women with serious mental illness, and 3 single occupancy apartments. We rent 3 others and also place individuals in appropriate housing developed by other organizations.

We have learned, however, that simply putting individuals in housing is not enough to keep them off the streets permanently. Rarely is lack of housing the real cause of homelessness. Long-term solutions must address the real causes. In 1998 alone:

• 279 clients were served (case-managed) at Friendship Place.
• 116 new individuals were contacted during street outreach.

• 118 new clients came into Friendship Place for services,
• 168 received psychiatric counseling,
• 52 were given drug and alcohol treatment assessments,
• 314 health care consultations were given, and
• 39 individuals were helped to obtain part-time or full-time employment.
• 89 men and women were helped to obtain transitional housing and
• 31 moved to permanent housing.

"Billy" was ill when he was found by CCH/FP outreach workers in the woods. He had been homeless for years. He had chosen to live in the woods and under secluded bridges because the homeless substance abusers in the downtown area often harassed him. Billy is a small, frail man in his mid-thirties who is struggling to cope with schizophrenia. After several unsuccessful attempts to work within conventional treatments systems, he mistrusted further efforts to help. Finally, too ill with pneumonia to protest, he was taken to the hospital by a CCH/FP outreach worker. After recovering, Billy was convinced to take medication for his mental illness. He now lives by himself in CCH/FP housing, but is supported by a network of volunteers who provide mentoring, money management and recreation opportunities. Billy loves the friendly, safe haven of Friendship Place. Although he has difficult days, when his mental illness makes it difficult for Billy to leave his apartment, he usually makes it to the clinic for his work session, for which he earns a stipend. Billy greets everyone in the office with a pleasant smile. For him, life is not easy, recovery is slow, possibly minimal, but he is proudly performing tasks that get him out into the world and give him self-esteem.

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