Elizabeth Gregory Home Programs
EGH operates two programs that serve at-risk and homeless women: a day center where women have a safe place to receive basic human services and our long-term transitional housing program, from which we place homeless women into permanent housing. With case management support, women in both programs access the services that enable them to become self-sufficient and acquire the skills required to thrive, fulfilling our goal to be the last step for these women before stabilization and independence.
Our drop-in day center is the only one serving homeless women north of downtown to the county line. Services include phone and mail access, laundry, computers, clothing, meals, food distribution, life skills development classes and case management. Staffing is provided by the executive director, day center supervisor, AARP and YWCA volunteers, and numerous other participant and community volunteers. The Center is open Mon thru Fri, 9 - 5:00, for at-risk women ages 18 and over.
The EGH Transitional Housing program serves seven women for up to two years as individual client need dictates. We have succeeded in graduating over 70 women into stable community environments since 2006
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Through the efforts of visionary board members, volunteers and staff, EGH continues to increase service provision despite a challenging economy. For instance, we served 27% more women at our day center in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 2011.
Intra-agency community collaboration has contributed to our success at increasing offerings. For example, we work closely with Food Lifeline, Compass Housing Alliance and Share House in providing vital resources to homeless women. Another influential factor has been the creation of a Care Team at our day center. The team is comprised of five volunteer leaders: a pastor (spiritual support), social worker (case management), psychologist (counseling), benefits specialist (financial), and registered nurse (wellness). Each team provides 1:1 pro-bono services, while simultaneously collaborating on referrals, documentation, care conferences and resource acquisition with our paid staff. As the Care Team progresses, each professional will mentor other volunteer service providers for both sustainability of the model as well as increasing our capacity to accommodate the growing needs of homeless and at-risk women.
Our primary financial need is to improve programmatic infrastructure, including expanding technology (i.e., enhancing client computer and phone access); determining the feasibility of a day center shower; building shelving and storage for clothing, supplies and non-perishable food; and subsidizing client bus transportation.