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The Tompkins County Chapter of the American Red Cross provides a unique service to Tompkins County through its holistic Homeless Services Program, delivering emergency shelter, support, guidance, eviction prevention and a full year of follow-up supervision to the area’s most vulnerable residents: children, run-away youth, elderly, needy families, and individuals with substance abuse problems, mental illness and other special needs. Each year since 1983, thousands of people who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless, regain their independence by obtaining safe, affordable housing and the financial means to become secure.
Specifically, the Homeless Services Program includes a 24-hour staffed short-term (30-day) Emergency Shelter, professional re-housing case management services that include eviction prevention and outreach, a 24/7 Food Pantry and the Friendship Center, a drop-in facility located at 618 West State Street and where the community goes to access employment information and service referrals, or to just get a cup of hot coffee.
In FY’09 we provided 8,134 bed-nights of Emergency Shelter to 717 individual clients. The total number of bed-nights has decreased over the past four years even though the demand for emergency sheltering services has increased. On average, more efficient and effective re-housing case management has translated into shorter lengths of stay in the program so that five years ago, the average shelter stay was 30 days but today it’s down to 21.
During FY’09, the Tompkins County American Red Cross serverd 94,817 meals through Homeless Services.
Through our Homeless Intervention Prevention Program (HIPP), funded by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) we are still working to relocate clients from the Shelter into permanent housing. We are also aiding potentially homeless clients through our Eviction Prevention services.
