Appendix 5-F: A Document Design Problem
CENTRAL CITY MEN’S SHELTER
Statement of Purpose: TO PROVIDE, DIRECTLY OR BY REFERRAL, EMERGENCY HOUSING
FOR HOMELESS MEN IN THIS CITY AND COORDINATED SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO
ENABLE HOMELESS MEN TO PARTICIPATE PRODUCTIVELY IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY.
The shelter provides safety, personal hygiene, and sleeping facilities for homeless adult males.
We have a legal occupancy limit of 95 and have housed up to 120 during the winter. The average stay is
less than a month.
Because of our special emphasis on PROTECTIVE SHELTER, our department of emergency
housing is open 24 hours a day. Residents also get access to food, clothing, personal hygiene, and
medical attention. Food, clothing, and basic personal hygiene are donated by an active volunteer effort
on the part of churches, civic groups, businesses, and individuals, facilitated by our Volunteer Service
Coordinator. Medical attention and training are coordinated through our medical consultant, the ECCO
Family Health Center, and a cadre of volunteer nurses who have furnished these services for over three
years. In addition, the emergency housing department also provides ADULT DAY SERVICES to our
residents and other homeless men, providing access to telephones, message service, and mailing
address--providing information and referral services and “locatability” to men trying to find
employment, housing, and/or assistance from other agencies.
The department of supportive services links individuals to the wide variety of services which
are needed to successfully “graduate” from homelessness. Active dialogue is maintained with those
agencies charged with responsibility for providing mental retardation and mental health services. If we
find that an essential service is not offered in the community, we work with other agencies to create
such services. We work to enhance the wide range of services available in the city for the homeless,
marginally housed, and disabled. The Safety Bank Club, of the Supportive Services Department, is an
example of the rare occasion when the Shelter creates a direct service not otherwise available in the
community; it is unique in the nation and has received national attention. The project was developed in
conjunction with the Leadership Development Project of the Chamber of Commerce and was funded
the first year by an American Express Project Hometown America Grant. This project provides a Bank
for homeless men, who may not have enough money to open a traditional bank account. The Safety
bank also provides temporary photo identification for its clients and counselling on money
management for men approaching “graduation” from the streets into permanent housing. It is worth
noting that the number of muggings of shelter residents has gone down since the beginning of the
“bank”.
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In the last four years....
5,500 different people have stayed at the Shelter.
111,000 nights of sleep have been provided to men who otherwise would have been on the streets or in
abandoned buildings.
85,000 meals have been provided by over 60 different churches, civic groups, businesses, and
individuals.
