Low Barriers: Meeting People Where They Are At - Article by Cynthia Latcham, Executive Director

Anawim Housing operates our Permanent Supportive Housing programs under the Housing First model. The core belief of Housing First is that everyone is housing ready, programs serving people experiencing homelessness need to offer flexible and responsive services and removing barriers to housing is effective in rapidly placing people into housing. In Housing First, people experiencing homelessness don’t have to earn their housing. This differs from the old service model of training people to become “housing ready” that proved ineffective and was ultimately abandoned by HUD and service providers. As Anawim Housing has become more committed to Housing First fidelity, our success rates of helping people maintain housing stability have greatly increased. Program managers meet frequently to discuss how to reduce barriers and employ harm reduction strategies in order to support our tenants in housing. Meeting people where they are at in their lives and partnering with them to achieve goals seems to be such an easy idea, but commitment to this idea and infusing it throughout the organization is a real paradigm shift.

Reducing barriers and utilizing harm reduction isn’t limited to just housing. Through removing barriers to employment, many people who had previously been considered “unemployable” or not “employment ready” have been able to start and remain employed through ReNew Crew, Anawim Housing’s social enterprise. Rather than expecting work seekers to attend a series of classes on how to find and keep a job, those who express an interest in working are immediately placed into employment and supported in remaining employed. Employment First and supportive employment models mirror the harm reduction and Housing First ideas of looking for meaningful accommodations in the work environment with the goal of supporting stable employment. “Through the creation of ReNew Crew we have been able to ensure those who are interested in employment aren’t excluded from the workforce. We are leveraging our experiences in removing barriers to housing, to include removing barriers to other life affirming activities, such as employment.” –Cynthia Latcham, Executive Director Anawim Housing.

Tracy’s story highlights how harm reduction and lowering barriers can work together in employment and housing services. Tracy and his program manager, Scott Sithonnorath, had been working together on setting and achieving goals that Tracy believed would make his life better. When Tracy expressed the desire to work, Scott introduced ReNew Crew as an employment option. Tracy appreciated he could begin work without having to create a resume, learn how to interview or take any employment readiness classes. “If we are willing to set aside our preconceptions of work and housing and are interested in everyone having housing and employment, looking for reasonable accommodations becomes part of the culture and goals of an organization. There is so much freedom and creativity that can result from giving up on those old ideas of work and housing readiness.” (Latcham) When challenges present themselves, ReNew Crew staff address and use the situation as a teaching or coaching moment. Through this approach, ReNew Crew has grown from 4 to over 20 employees. Anawim is working to expand ReNew Crew and is developing partnerships throughout the community to accomplish this goal.