St.Clare's housing program - Assignment Example

Outline St. Clare's Housing Program: St. Clare's Housing Program is a project that is geared towards providing resources for children living with HIV/AIDS through housing and support. I. Population served: A. HIV/AIDS and homeless B. HIV/AIDS and about to be rendered Homeless II. Organizational Structure and Group Dynamics A. Umbrella organ ARFC has several programs B. Close coordination among the programs III. Relations with Other Organizations and Agencies A. Good relations with other similar organizations IV. Forensic Practice in the Human Services A. Concerned with psychosocial polices concerning sexual and drug abuse B. Interns should be competent in sexual and drug abuse policies V. Change Overtime A. More commitment to its core principles Conclusion St. Clare's Housing Program St. Clare's Housing Program is a project that is geared towards providing resources for children living with HIV/AIDS through housing and support. This outfit was started by Terry and Faye Zealand in 1987 when it admitted its first child. This couple (Terry and Faye Zealand) had met this orphaned child with Aids when they had a tour of Children’s Hospital AIDS Programs (CHAPS). They had been cherishing a dream of starting an organization that would cater for orphaned children suffering from AIDS. In its inception, the program was called St. Clare’s Home foundation which was based in Elizabeth. Later in 1988, it opened another branch in Jersey City and later opened another one in Neptune in the year 1990. During that period, St. Clare’s Social Services and the Housing Program were started in 1989 and 1993 respectively. In the first two years of operation, the foundation was involved in the provision of caring services for orphaned children. The growth of the children’s support and services as well as their families led to the purchase of Haller house on 176 Roseville Avenue which effectively became the administrative nerve center of St. Clare’s Social Services. Much later in 2002, the Academy Street Firehouse was acquired which has aided the foundation to undergo instrumental growth. It has currently purchased 40 units of housing which were renovated and rented to its intended clientele who may own the houses after several years. The mission of this project is to provide resources in order to help children with HIV/AIDS. The setting was very comfortable within the Fire house and the staff was very nice and helpful during my internship. As such, the reason why I chose to apply to this program for my internship is primarily because of my current job which deals with housing (ARFC 1). My impression of this program is that many individuals need it especially those that have become desolate in life and are on the verge of giving up. The main issues that are dealt with in the institution are assisting people with HIV/AIDS. This being a charitable organization, it mainly depends on donations from well wishers in order to help further its noble cause. The NASW’s (National Association of Social Workers) code of ethics directly relates to my internship in this program because it assists people dealing and coping with the HIV/AIDS illness. The clients housed on this project are under a tight watch and must adhere to the rules and regulations of the program in order to benefit from affordable housing as well as other services that are offered. The program is usually run under the auspices of Aids Resource Foundation for children. I learned from an interview that I had with the housing director (Grier 1) that St. Clare’s HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People with Aids) used within the housing department because it was thought that their clients were being discriminated against by prospective Land lords. Although the name of the foundation is Aids Resources Foundation for children they are not limited to just serving children but families, women and men are also served. Population Served The general population that is targeted by this program is the homeless people living with HIV/AIDS. The cause of homelessness must be directed connected to their HIV status because there are many individuals that are on the streets and are not HIV positive. Many people who live with the HIV virus are usually stigmatized and as result, they are not able to afford the basic needs such as housing. It therefore becomes a challenge for them to pay their rent and in most cases they end up on the streets with their families. People that are eligible to benefit from this program must bring documentation to show that they are indeed homeless or they are on the brink of becoming homeless. In this regards, a thorough vetting process has to be undertaken and individuals who pass the scrutiny process are put on a waiting list ready for up take (Grier 1). There are different reasons why people become homeless and HIV/AIDS accounts for a very small percentage. However, it must be understood that chances of contracting HIV/AIDS become magnified once a person is rendered homeless. According to the official data held by Corporation for Supportive Housing (17), the population that is homeless due to HIV/AIDS is 6.2% of the total homeless population. The general cost of living in Newark (NJ) is higher than the general average of the cost of living in US cities. This being the case, people living with HIV/AIDS usually struggle to make amends and as a way of lightening their burden, this program provides them with housing at a subsidized cost. Depending on the level of income for different people housed in this program, some other services are provided which further lessens the cost of living on these people to make them more comfortable (Grier 1). Organizational Structure and Group Dynamics From the umbrella organ St. Clare’s Home for Children foundation, there are three programs. One of them is the Housing Opportunities for People with Aids program which is run by a director called Melonie Grier. Under the Director is a program co-coordinator who is involved in the daily running of the program. Owing to their noble work that the different programs are doing in the community, many interns and volunteers work there to help further their vision. Many of these interns are drawn from the social work discipline where they handle different tasks pertaining to paralegal work. On the other hand, the volunteers that offer their services there are drawn from different spheres of life and are driven by the need to help other less fortunate people (Grier 1). There are three main/permanent workers within the HOPWA program that are supported by volunteers and interns. All the three programs are interconnected and their work overlap which makes it impossible for any program to operate without help from the other programs. Among the notable programs that are important to the HOPWA program are The Academy Street Firehouse and St. Clare's Social Services. These three departments must coordinate closely because they closely serve all the people housed in the HOPWA program. Besides, housing the HIV/AIDS homeless people, the program caters for other needs such as medical services and food issues which are taken care of by Clare’s social services program. Moreover, when homeless families are housed in this project, they have children who have educational needs to be met. In order to meet these educational needs, the HOPWA program must coordinate with the academy street firehouse program to sponsor the most deserving students (ARFC 1). Relations with Other Organizations and Agencies In all charitable organizations that are humanitarian in nature, working and coordinating with other similar organizations is quite important. This working together creates very important partnerships especially in the area of funding where securing finances for running different programs may be a problem. Apart from working with other organizations for funding, other agencies provide human capital free of charge which helps meeting budgetary allowances. Among the organizations that work closely with HOPWA for human capital resources is the NASW which bring most of their students to work in different programs of the center. This is because the work carried out at ARFC revolves around social work and handling people that have been probably abused and are suffering from HIV/AIDS is important. With time, it has also become important to have good contacts with hospitals and other healthcare providers who from time to time are contacted to handle emergencies within the center (Grier 1). Forensic Practice in the Human Services St. Clare’s housing project addresses many psychosocial issues as well as challenges within the society. Among the issues being faced daily there are drug and physical abuse. The physical and sexual abuses are mostly carried against women who have been forced out on the streets. It is therefore important for persons working there to have a sound knowledge on sexual and drug abuse policies. The need for knowledge on these policies is clearly highlighted by the plight of most clients routinely handled by the center. In this case, the client was a 22 years’ old lady who had contracted the HIV virus in the year 2005. She had two children; a one and half year old son and an 8-year-old daughter that lived with her godmother. She was trying to get custody of her elder daughter because she was living with her godmother and she felt that it was not right while she was alive. One of the questions that was asked was whether she had been abused before and she replied in the affirmative. Currently, she was also in an abusive relationship which was not conducive for her children. I did not realize during the intake that the woman was wearing dark sunglasses to hide a black eye. But the intake assessed the situation and took the proper protocol for that situation (Grier 1). From then onwards, I took keen interest to acquire more knowledge about different human social services and actions to take in order to solve them. One of the principles that is embodied in this program is equitable and fairness in distribution of resources. All the people that benefit from this program have to undergo a thorough vetting process in which evidence must be adduced. Change Overtime The policies put in place to govern different issues in the center are very friendly and are geared towards helping its clients. With time I have come to like this program because I thought initially it was just like other charitable organizations. However, after doing my internship there I came to learn that it has a calling and it only expels clients from the program as a last result. This change can be attributed to the experiences that the center has acquired over the years and the different clients it has dealt with. One of the interesting things is that these people are usually undergoing rehabilitation and throwing them out into the streets again is like killing their hope in life completely. Many of those that have been previously kicked out of the housing project have died and reversed the gains of the project. Conclusion St. Clare's Housing Program is a project that is geared towards providing housing help and support to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. This outfit was started in 1993 by Aids resource funds for children (ARFC) and has since undergone instrumental growth. The program has achieved a lot especially in giving hope to hopeless people living with HIV on the streets. It is not only children that are served by this program but all people that have diverse needs and they merit help. Works Cited ARFC. St. Clare's Housing Program. Accessed 26th Nov. 2012. Web 2010 from http://www.aidsresource.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Serv_housing Corporation for Supportive Housing. New Jersey Point in Time Count of the Homeless Data Report. Accessed 27th Nov 2012. Web 26th Jan 2011 from www.csh.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/NJPITC2011.pdf Grier Melonie. Personal Interview. 20 Nov. 2012. Read More