UW 8404
CFC 57664
Visit our website to learn more: www.a-span.org
Street Voice
A-SPAN provides life-sustaining services for Arlington’s street homeless. Our mission is to secure permanent housing for one of Arlington’s most vulnerable populations through outreach and relationships built on trust and respect.
Spring 2012
A-SPAN Embodies National Model of Ending Homelessness Arlington’s 100 Homes Campaign Part of National 100,000 Homes Campaign that Identifies the Most Vulnerable and Helps Them Get Housing and Services We first told you about the 100 Homes for 100 Homeless Arlingtonians Campaign in the fall of 2011. This campaign was a ground-breaking initiative to house the hundred most vulnerable people on the streets of Arlington by July 2013. Our first task was to build a team dedicated to accomplishing this mission. Kathleen Sibert of A-SPAN and Anita Friedman of the Arlington County Department of Human Services led a team of A-SPAN and County staff and over 150 community volunteers during the planning and execution of Arlington’s 100 Homes
Registry Week in October 2011. During Registry Week, we learned a great deal about the homeless population in Arlington. Teams of volunteers surveyed 153 people over
on the streets. It is estimated that the annual inpatient and ER costs for those surveyed combine for a total of $3.2 million annually. Since October, 15 clients from the 100 Homes Registry Week have been successfully housed.
teams of volunteers surveyed
153 people over the course of three days
the course of three days starting at 4 A.M. Of the survey participants, 37% were found to be vulnerable: at a higher risk of dying if they remain
One hundred. 92. 90. 85. We’re counting down and the journey will continue until we’ve housed each and every one of our neighbors on the street. To read more about 100 Homes: http://100homesarlingtonva.org/
The 100,000 Homes Campaign Model: www.100khomes.org/the-model
Build the Team
P3
Clarify the Demand P1
Line up Supply of P4 Housing & Services
Move People into Housing
P4
Help People Stay P4, 5 in Housing
Photo by Cliffords Photography www.cliffordsphotography.com
It Takes A Team to End Homelessness One Person at a Time From the desk of A-SPAN Executive Director and Arlington County Resident Kathleen Sibert Dear Friends,
Women of Vision A-SPAN Executive Director Kathy Sibert
and
Chief
of
Arlington’s
Economic Division Anita Friedman were honored March 6 as 2012 Women of Vision. The Arlington Commission on the Status of Women honored Ms. Sibert and Ms. Friedman for bringing the 100,000 Homes Campaign to Arlington. The campaign has
already
housed
15
formerly
homeless people since October 2011.
This past year – our 20th Anniversary – we have been focused on the goal of ending homelessness in Arlington County. In partnership with Arlington County, we conducted the 100 Homes Campaign in October and have housed 15 individuals so far. Ending homelessness is not complicated: it is getting those who are home – less, housed. As you will see by reading the next few pages, we work intensively with each individual to create a housing solution that works for them, and provide the case management support as they transition from the streets to housing to make them successful. That is how we will end homelessness in Arlington – housing one person at a time. To do this, we need your help.
Please consider sending a check in the enclosed envelope, donate on-line at our website www.a-span.org, or contact us if you would like to include your friends and family in a creative community building fundraiser (as featured on page 3). We could not do what we do without your continued support – Thank you! Sincerely,
Kathleen Sibert Please Donate to A-SPAN Today at www.a-span.org or use the enclosed envelope to send a check.
Our Supporters’
A-SPAN Launches Online Volunteer Center
Ideas
New online Volunteer Information Center (VIC) makes it easier to sign up for volunteer opportunities
Creative Giving
Check out some creative ways A-SPAN Supporters gave this past year. If you would like to get involved and have an idea, contact Jan Sacharko at 703-842-0154 or jsacharko@a-span.org Some supporters hosted parties and asked guests to bring donations instead of gifts or goodies. Several families made “Welcome Home” baskets for formerly homeless clients moving into apartments. Not sure what to do with a gift card you receive for a present? Many people donated gift cards received over the holidays, or made a donation from our Target Wish List: http://www.a-span.org/wishList.html One supporter hosted a 10K walk from Union Station to Arlington and raised $4,000.
A-SPAN is thrilled to launch a new way for you to interact with us as a volunteer: the online A-SPAN Volunteer Information Center (VIC). This system allows you to create a personal profile, search volunteer opportunities, sign up for shifts and track your hours of service from anywhere. We’re excited to begin using this new feature, so check out the Volunteer Information page on the volunteer tab at www.a-span.org. If you are a new volunteer, first submit your Volunteer Application Form. You will receive a welcome email and your personal login name and password. You may use your login information to update your profile online and to learn more about
A-SPAN’s volunteer opportunities. You may also sign up for shifts online. Please contact us with any questions or to set up a training session for the A-SPAN volunteer programs you’re most interested in. If you already volunteer for A-SPAN, you should have received an email with your login information. Use your login name and password to access the A-SPAN VIC, where you can check your schedule and sign up for opportunities yourself. Look for the “Help Wanted” flag! Contact Sarah Morse at (703) 8420168 or smorse@a-span.org with any questions or to learn more.
A-SPAN Volunteer Information Center Volunteer information for YOU Home
My Profile
My Schedule
Check your schedule Post your hours Check messages Sign-up Statistics Overall
My Service History
Time Sheet
Account
News
Welcome to the A-SPAN Volunteer Information Center. This new online feature gives you an easy way to keep in touch with the A-SPAN volunteer program. You can check your schedule, post your volunteer service, receive messages, and much more: anytime, and from any Internet connected computer. Watch this space for more volunteer news!
Your Assignments Volunteer Player [Street Soccer Arlington] (Assigned) Emergency Winter Shelter - Evening Shift [Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS)] (Assigned)
“I love my life now. I was never open to people, but now I am.”
Programs like 100 Homes Help Get People in Housing Volunteers and team leaders with the 100 Homes Arlington Campaign set out early on the morning of October 17, 2011 to survey people found sleeping on the streets. They’re goal: collect information that would later be used to identify the most vulnerable, and place them in housing. Deshaye Blackwell was one of 153 people interviewed over the course of three days. And on Friday, December 23rd, Deshaye signed a lease, and received the keys to his own apartment. “Deshaye was on top of the process,” said Sam Gatewood, his case manager through Arlington’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP). “He wanted to get off the street and kept up with paperwork and everything he needed to do.” DeShaye’s commitment
made him a prime candidate for the housing location service, rental subsidy, and case management support that HPRP provides. When Red House Staging, a home staging company based in DC, read about 100 Homes, they offered to decorate and furnish apartments. Moments after Deshaye signed his lease, Red House interior designer Belinda Ramos was already at his apartment with a truck full of furniture and household goods. To see photos from DeShaye’s move-in day: http://on.fb.me/yFGJ6U
see it. After nearly ten years spent on the streets, there was a sense of permanence to his accommodations. Though he could not envision the eventual outcome, Mr. Lohman worked odd jobs as a landscaper throughout Arlington, and managed to save money that would later be used towards a security deposit.
Case Managers’ Support Helps Clients Stay Housed
Case manager Ayana Bellamy looked forward to Mr. Lohman’s move-in day on January 17 for weeks after receiving landlord approval. “I think I might have been more excited than he was.” She had reason to be. Ayana worked with A-SPAN Housing Locator Leonard Carter on finding the right apartment for Mr. Lohman, getting him approved and through the lease signing process. Mr. Lohman was a great candidate since he had no criminal background and a history of employment.
The tent that Robert Lohman lived in near Spout Run Parkway was so hidden in the woods, people passing by on a trail just yards away couldn’t
Ayana provides weekly support for Mr. Lohman to help him remain in housing. Mr. Lohman enjoys reading about history, and now he is rewriting his own.
Volunteers Anna and Abigail welcome Mr. Blackwell home
DeShaye Blackwell (middle) is surveyed during Registry Week Mr. Blackwell signs lease
100 Homes Team 12 conducts Vulnerability Index during the early hours of October 17, 2011
Volunteers Help NewlyHoused Clients Feel At Home In September 2011, sisters Anna and Abigail began a volunteer program for family and friends called “Kids and Teens in Action.” The girls – ages 9 and 11 – wanted to coordinate service opportunities for children. One of their first projects was to bake and ship 600 pies along with letters from Arlington children to an Army Battalion in Afghanistan in remembrance of 9/11. They also delivered homemade apple pies and
letters to local fire and police stations on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Later that month, after learning of Arlington’s 100 Home Campaign, they started the “Welcome Home Basket” Project. “What better way to help someone who used to be homeless feel at home
than by providing a warm welcome from the neighbors?” On October 4, 2011, Anna and Abigail extended that warm welcome to Chris Johnson with a basket full of household supplies, gift cards, homemade cookies, and a handmade card officially welcoming him to his new apartment. Since then, seven other families have helped assemble the baskets that have welcomed Mr. Blackwell to his apartment in December, Mr. Lohman in January and Mr. Pannell in February.
Scan the QR Code with your Smart Phone to Read More About Mr. Lohman (pictured at left with Case Manager Ayana Bellamy)
Photo by Noe Todorovich www.noetodorovich.com
Changes to Walkathon Program Follow Most Successful Year More than 3,000 people from area schools, churches and businesses helped raise $249,360 for homeless services All of us at A-SPAN would like to thank the more than 3,000 walkers who helped raise $249,360 this year in the Fannie Mae “Help the Homeless Walkathon” Program!
Goodbye to Solomon Abawi It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of Solomon Abawi
from
A-SPAN.
Solomon
joined A-SPAN’s team of Outreach Workers in the Spring of 2008 and was promoted to Senior Outreach Worker last year. Solomon was recently accepted into an MSW program and is planning to spend more time with his family while attending. Thank you for your years of dedication to A-SPAN.
The Help the Homeless Walkathon is changing for 2012. Starting this year, there will be no walk on the National Mall. Instead we will focus on the community walks you have made so successful in the past. Does your club, organization, business, school or church want to host a community walk? Contact us and we’ll help you create an event that raises awareness about homelessness. Almost anything counts: a walk, movie night, a soccer game... Community events can be held from May 1-November 4, 2012. Contact JanMichael Sacharko to get started: (703)
842-0154 or jsacharko@a-span.org. A Special Thanks To Our Help the Homeless Walkathon Supporters:
Arlington Church of Christ Arlington Traditional School Ashlawn Elementary Carlin Springs Elementary CentralUnitedMethodistChurch
Faith Lutheran Pre-School Fitness First Arlington GrowAcademyofWashington,DC H.B. Woodlawn Jamestown Elementary NOVA Catholic Community Our Savior Lutheran School Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church Randolph Elementary St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Tuckahoe Elementary Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Wakefield High School
In Remembrance
Mr. Clark Carvaly 1955 - 2012
Clark Carvaly, 56 Clark Carvaly, 56, of Arlington, died January 19, 2012 in Georgetown. He was born August 12, 1955 and was a long time A-SPAN client. He is remembered as a “person who developed really good relationships,” by Executive Director Kathy Sibert, “and just a very kind person.”
The County envisions using two floors of the 70,000 square foot building to house the center, which will replace the existing hypothermia shelter. The center is envisioned as a “building within a building,” with a separate entrance, elevator and stairwell.
March 31 is a difficult day for A-SPAN staff and volunteers as they watch clients leave the Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS), realizing they will not be able to return for seven months after the doors are closed. Soon the doors will remain open year-round after the Arlington County Board adopted a resolution in December t h a t authorizes the County Manager to purchase the property at 2020 14th St. N. in Arlington for “public, private and government development that will transform the Courthouse area.”
The EWS is a key element of A-SPAN’s continuum of care, as space and sleeping arrangements for 88 allow case managers to meet regularly with clients. Ongoing care increases the effectiveness of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, medical care, and employment counseling. Through March 21, 2012 of this season, there have been 9,644 shelter stays.
One use will be a comprehensive, year-round services center for single adults experiencing homelessness.
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Arlington County Justice Center
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Arlington County Electoral Board
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Emergency Winter Shelter
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Ray’s The Steaks
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Mr. Carvaly is survived by a sister in California, who shared with Ms. Payton that she was happy that “someone else knew him personally and that he was connected to a program that was trying to help him.”
Arlington County Board Moves to Purchase Building to Include a Year Round Shelter and Service Center
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Outreach Worker Olivia Payton had known Mr. Carvaly her entire 10 years at A-SPAN. She plans to spread Mr. Carvaly’s ashes on the banks of the Potomac between Arlington and Washington DC, the two areas he lived.
Shelter Set to Close with Eye on Future
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Non-Profit U.S. Postage Paid Arlington, VA Permit #5201
P.O. Box 100731 Arlington, VA 22210
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