Plymouth Housing Group Programs
Plymouth Housing Group operates on the premise that permanent, supportive housing is the key to ending chronic homelessness. All Plymouth residents participate in Plymouth Housing Group's Housing Support Program which provides the social services that our residents need to become stable in housing. These special services include one-on-one case management, chemical dependency counseling, nursing care services, mental health counseling referral, socialization counseling, and job opportunities. We also offer focused programs to address our residents’ individual needs.
Begin at Home Program
This intensive program serves the most medically-challenged residents just coming into housing from the streets--people struggling with severe medical issues, and/or severe alcoholism or chemical dependency. Our goal is to stabilize residents quickly and provide them access to medical and mental health services so they can immediately improve their health status and rebuild their lives.
Jail Diversion Program
This program serves homeless individuals cycling in and out of the King County Court System for reoccurring misdemeanor crimes. Our goal is to bring them quickly into permanent housing, work with the Court system to monitor their status and legal issues, and keep them from reoffending through counseling and job opportunities. Recently this program recognized 12 Plymouth residents who had remained stable in housing for over 2 years with no new offences.
Senior Residence
Plymouth's Langdon and Anne Simons Senior Apartments provides homes for homeless people who are aging. Our goal is to help elderly residents maintain their independence and provide them the health care resources and support they need to age in place in their own homes.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Plymouth Housing Group's successful Begin at Home program has been proven to save both lives and community cost. In a recent study, 20 homeless people who had cost King County over $1.6 million in medical and emergency room expenses in the previous 12 months were given permanent housing at Plymouth. They all received immediate, intensive counseling support services and medical care, and in the subsequent 12 months, they incurred only $400,000 in medical expenses--a savings of $1.2 million. Emergency Room visits fell from 191 to 50 and visits to the Sobering Center fell from 349 days to 11 days. This one example of how permanent, supportive housing improved the lives of 20 individuals is a true indication that "housing is medicine."
A Current Need
82% of Plymouth residents are disabled in some manner, and cannot work. The majority of Plymouth residents live well below the poverty line, and 10% of our residents have no income at all. Recent cuts to the Washington State Disability Lifeline is pushing that percentage even higher. Our Essential Supply Center, which is supported by community donations and volunteers, is the place residents can go to get essential supplies and personal toiletries like toothpaste, soap, toilet paper and cleaning supplies for their homes. We depend upon donations to keep this effort going, and need more community groups such as businesses and churches to hold supply drives to keep the center full of items. We also encourage community monetary donations to buy supplies for new residents just coming in from homelessness.