shelterworks News from the Willis Dady Emergency Shelter
Mark’s Story
Fall
2015
documents verifying his past income, medical history, and veteran’s status. This really helped to speed up the application process.
The veteran was accepted into the SSVF program and started to work with Ray, a Willis Dady veteran advocate case manager. A Success Story: Supportive Services for Veteran Ray had high praise for the veteran’s energetic search for Families By Mark Brown, Veteran Outreach Specialist stable housing; within 20 days the veteran was able to secure Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF, or an apartment at Oakland Court & Gardens. Without the Operation Home) is operated by HACAP, and Mark Brown assistance of SSVF he would not have been able to do so is one of three Willis Dady staff who do case management due to his lack of income, and he would have remained and outreach under this grant. In the first year of SSVF homeless until he could save enough money. (2013-14), Willis Dady staff worked with 142 veterans in a 7-county area who were literally homeless or who faced I also referred the veteran to the Homeless Veteran immediate loss of their homes. Here Mark tells a very Reintegration Program (an employment program for encouraging story of one determined client who got back homeless veterans), where case manager Bruce Borrett was able to place him in a job training position. His diligent on his feet as a result of this program. work in this program resulted in his getting a part-time In June Willis Dady staff member Denine Rushing job as a deli cook at Hy Vee, and he has continued to informed me that there was a veteran staying at our shelter work part-time at Goodwill. He is also working to get his who was interested in the Supportive Services for Veteran Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license, and he would Families program. I arranged to meet with the veteran at like to work eventually in a hospital. the Cedar Rapids Police Substation. He had faced some severe health challenges; not only did he have diabetes, but This success story is what SSVF is all about: Getting he had also recently had two strokes. While recovering veterans stable housing as quickly as possible so they from the strokes, he had been living with his mother in can move forward with getting employment and make New Orleans, and he “almost had to learn to walk again.” successful contributions to our community. He came to Iowa with no income and no vehicle. He came here, he said, because he had heard of the SSVF program. Dady Doings
Success Story
My first impression of this man was that he was very highly motivated to get stable, independent housing and to get back to work. He had compiled all of the necessary
Linn County Sleep Out for the Homeless
Saturday November 7th, Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Willis Dady Emergency Shelter Board of Directors Sam Jones, President Jason Vestweber, Vice President Charisma Wickham, Secretary Stephanie Harris, Treasurer
Sam Bergus Jim Burke Melissa Cullum Connie Donovan
Al Fisher Rebecca Jacobs Jill Kasparie Jim Koch
James Locke Dave McInally Abhay Nadipuram Janet Slimak
Gisele Tallman
Phoebe Trepp, Executive Director