 MANHATTAN
OUTREACH CONSORTIUM
Goddard Riverside Community Center (lead agency)
Reviews the first three months of new NYC Street to
Home program
Since September 1st, 100 homeless individuals have
moved into housing through the efforts of a new model
program implemented by the Manhattan Outreach Consortium,
after collectively spending more than 500 years living
on the streets.
Through a new $4.5 million contract with the NYC
Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the Manhattan
Outreach Consortium is the single point of accountability
in the borough responsible for all street outreach
and housing placement services. The Manhattan Outreach
Consortium is an unprecedented collaboration which
brings together the expertise and resources of seven
neighborhood-based agencies with Goddard Riverside
Community Center as the lead agency and CUCS as the
lead support agency.
The new homeless outreach model targets those who
have been on the street the longest and are hardest
to reach. In a shift away from emergency services
and transport to shelters, the City is supporting
the Consortium in placing individuals directly into
housing from the street. Once housed, they receive
further help such as drug treatment and mental healthcare.
Behind these efforts is a sophisticated data-tracking
system which utilizes custom software to match clients
to available resources, eliminating duplication of
service among providers. The model supports Mayor
Bloomberg’s goal of a two-thirds reduction in
the number of people living on the streets by the
end of 2009.
Goddard Riverside Community
Center (lead agency) offers the following opportunity
to take a closer look at this model initiative, the
NYC Street to Home program.
Join the outreach
team in the mobile van from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.,
as staff help people living on the street find temporary
shelter and permanent housing, along with comprehensive
services. During the shift, outreach workers will
be seeking specific individuals on the streets or
in the parks who they are trying to assist. Activities
you will observe might include bringing coffee to
build trust with an isolated person who the team is
trying to engage, delivering the news to a client
that he has been matched with housing and taking him
to an appointment with the provider, doing sidewalk
case management such as a review of medical needs
and available benefits, and responding to a 311 call
about a homeless person in apparent need of urgent
help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overview: Manhattan
Outreach Consortium
The Manhattan Outreach Consortium is a coalition of
seven neighborhood-based organizations working together
to reduce the number of people living on Manhattan
streets by helping them obtain housing and reintegrate
into their communities. The Manhattan Outreach Consortium
is part of the City’s new NYC Street to Home
Program. Through a new $4.5 million contract with
the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the
Consortium is the single point of accountability in
the borough responsible for all outreach and housing
placement services. The Manhattan Outreach Consortium
includes Goddard Riverside Community Center (lead
agency), Center for Urban Community Services (lead
support agency), Common Ground Community, John Heuss
House, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, The Bridge,
Inc. and Urban Pathways. Each member has extensive
experience and expertise in serving homeless people,
including chronically homeless individuals.
Goddard Riverside,
lead agency
As the lead agency, Goddard Riverside holds the contract
with the City and administers the Consortium, providing
quality assurance and fiscal oversight. In addition,
Goddard Riverside is responsible for outreach and
housing placement in its catchment area, as well as
night and weekend outreach and coverage for the northern
part of Manhattan.
Goddard Riverside
direct services
Goddard Riverside workers identify and contact homeless
men and women – targeting chronic street dwellers
– in the agency’s catchment area through
outreach on foot and in vans. As a first step, outreach
workers offer housing options. All clients are evaluated
for mental illness, screened for TB and HIV, and offered
a complete physical. Goddard Riverside staff develops
a unique service plan to assist each client with the
ultimate goal of securing permanent housing. The plan
might include psychiatric or medical care, screening
for substance abuse and referrals to treatment, help
with obtaining entitlements, escort to housing sites,
employment services, or support in reconnecting with
family and other social networks. Each member of the
Manhattan Outreach Consortium provides these services
within their catchment area.
Hours of operation
and catchment area
The Manhattan Outreach Consortium operates 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. Outreach program business
hours for each of the seven member agencies are 5:30
a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. During these
hours, each agency’s program serves its catchment
area. Goddard Riverside’s catchment area is
110th to 59th Street on the West Side, including Central
Park. After hours and on weekends, Goddard Riverside’s
catchment expands to all of Upper Manhattan from Inwood
down to 59th Street (Urban Pathways covers 59th Street
to the South Street Seaport).
Goddard Riverside’s
programs for the homeless
Goddard Riverside has a 28-year track record of providing
effective services to homeless individuals, and is
especially expert in working with people with mental
illness and those who have been living outdoors for
long periods of time. In addition to outreach and
housing placement, Goddard Riverside offers rehabilitation,
social and professional guidance, competitive employment,
transitional and permanent supportive housing. The
Other Place gives its members a place to congregate
during the day with access to meals, health services,
counselors who provide life skills training and art
therapy. TOP Opportunities
offers job training and placement and is the venue
for two businesses: a horticulture service, Green
Keepers, and a mailing service that employ formerly
homeless adults. Safe
Haven, a temporary residence, provides intensive
support to those seeking permanent housing. ACT
(Assertive Community Treatment) Team is a unique model
of mobile mental health treatment for clients who
suffer from severe mental illness, many of whom are
or have been homeless. Goddard Riverside also operates
five permanent
supportive housing facilities.
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