South Park Inn

Our mission is to assist homeless people to improve their life situation by providing temporary and long-term housing and supportive services, and to advocate for solutions to homelessness.

Description:
SOUTH PARK INN PROGRAMS:

EMERGENCY SHELTER

Our 85-bed Emergency Shelter accommodates men, women and families who become homeless while in Hartford on a temporary, first-come first-served basis without regard to race, age, language, disabilities, reason for homelessness or any other factor. We provide meals, around-the-clock staff and case management. Staff maintains liaisons with many other service agencies, as well as community groups, religious organizations and volunteers. Clients are encouraged to first begin to solve the problems that contributed to their becoming homeless, then secure income and appropriate housing. South Park Inn is the only agency in the area that can shelter large intact families. Adults are of all ages from 18 to 85, only limited by one's ability to manage activities of daily living. Children in the Shelter must be accompanied by a parent or other legal guardian.

Although permanent housing is the end goal, most clients must first tackle substance abuse, earnings, and education and health problems before they can manage housing. Children must often have medical check-ups and register for school. So we encourage people to seek help, if necessary, and provide on-site services to help them get started. These include substance abuse support groups, Alcoholics Anonymous, a clinic twice a week sponsored by the UConn Medical Students, outreach to mothers and pregnant women, mental health and counseling made available by other agencies.

The Shelter serves 900-1150 men, 300-450 women and 150-300 children annually. Clients stay an average of about two weeks, although some stay only a day or two while others remain much longer. All clients are given the help of a Service Coordinator and required to actively work on beginning to deal with problems that led them to become homeless. Coordinators find solutions to problems and seek alternate permanent housing for those who are unable to do so.

TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM
Our 33-bed Transitional Living Program assists men for up to 2 years while they prepare to become more self-sufficient. Men must be in need of additional job training or education, stabilization after treatment or deinstitutionalization (either from jail or hospital), or in need of a job or a better job. They must also exhibit the motivation and determination to follow through.

Each man must agree to a case plan with specific goals, and must continue to work toward them in order to remain in the program. The staffs assist the men with problems, and help them stay motivated. All the on-site services available in the Shelter are available to these men as well. Most men have several goals, such as obtaining a G.E.D. (high school equivalency), completing job training, getting a job (or in some cases getting a full time job), staying clean and sober, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, attend-ing a day program for the mentally ill, and so on.

Each year over 70 men participate in this program. On average, about 55% transition to permanent housing; two-thirds complete some or all their goals, leaving better prepared to support themselves than when they came, and about one-third lose interest and drop out.

SUPPORTIVE HOUSING (PLIMPTON HOUSE)

Plimpton House is a permanent supportive housing program for 35 homeless adults who are not able to live alone, but do not need institutionalization. These are generally people with some degree of mental impairment, low earning ability, few marketable skills, little ability to learn new skills and often a per-sonality disorder as well. They can manage with built-in staff support, even in some cases hold jobs, but have a history of falling apart when completely on their own.

The House operates as a communal living program. Most residents share rooms, eat meals in our dining room, and are expected to share the tasks of maintaining the House. The Service Coordinator arranges for individually needed services and helps residents deal with issues as they occur, so that small things will not escalate. Thus, the kinds of problems that led them to become chronically homeless in the past are not allowed to develop to such a significant extent.

Many Plimpton House residents have been in and out of the shelter system for years, sometimes living on the streets, sometimes obtaining but then losing apartments. Some came from difficult family situations and arrived at our Shelter with most of the characteristics of clients who tend to become chronically homeless. Once settled at Plimpton House most show slow but significant improvement in ability to socialize with others and manage some aspects of daily life. A few who were previously unemployable manage part-time jobs. So the moderate but consistent structure provided by staff is successful. South Park Inn is the only agency providing permanent congregate housing with 24-hour on-site staff. While not appropriate for everyone, this semi-independence works very well for a segment of the chronic homeless population.

HOMELESS OUTREACH

Our weekly outreach team collaborates with staff from Chrysalis Mental Health Day Center, the federal Veterans Administration, and Capital Region Mental Health. Knowledgeable staff from each agency come together and drive a van throughout the area, searching under bridges and in woods for the many homeless people who live outside. They take a bag lunch, blankets in winter, and provide psychiatric intervention and referral. The goal is to convince people who are generally afraid of mainline agencies to come to South Park Inn where we will help them. Each year we bring in about 40 people, are able to help the majority in some way, and help 10-12 in our Transitional Living Program and permanent housing.

POPULATION SERVED

The majority of people in our programs are very low income, unemployed or underemployed. Most have one or more of the following barriers: they have not completed high school, are functionally illiterate, are receiving public assistance, are young single parents, have mental health problems, other disabilities, substance-abuse problems, speak poor English and have little or no family support. Most have several of these factors, so they have great odds to overcome to join society's mainstream. The population is generally about 45-55% Black, 20-30% White, 20-30% Hispanic and 1-2% other.

History:
Under the direction of a group of citizens who were committed to aiding homeless persons, formerly the Hartford Coalition for Emergency Shelters, South Park Inn, Inc was formed in 1982 in order to assist homeless people and advocate for solutions to homelessness in the Greater Hartford area. Within 18 months, the group incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation, raised funds, purchased the former South Park Methodist Church, renovated it and opened the Emergency Shelter in July 1984.

Over the course of the next few years it was discovered that there was a severe lack of affordable housing and programs to assist people moving from homelessness. Therefore in November 1989, through private and government funding, the church sanctuary was renovated and became a Transitional Living Program for men. This program allows clients to stay for up to 18 months while they prepare to live independently by engaging in remedial education, job training, mental health or substance abuse treatment or other programs designed to increase their skills and/or ability to live independently.

The need for permanent supportive housing for people with severe limitations led to the purchase of a former rest home, which was then renovated to create permanent supportive housing for adults. In December 1995, Plimpton House opened as permanent housing for 35 homeless adults who need on-going daily support due to personal limitations such as mental or physical health problems or lack of family support.
South Park Inn continues to be active in local and statewide coalitions that advocate for solutions for homelessness including, affordable housing, supportive housing, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment and the provision of services to disenfranchised people.

Contact people:

Heather Pilarcik, Program Coordinator, (phone), (email) Brian Baker, Assistant Director, (phone), (email) Charlie Brennan, Kitchen/TLP Supervisor, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (860) 724-1692

Address:

75 Main Street Hartford, CT 06106 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.southparkinn.org

Last updated on May 18, 2009