By Robin Termple | Director of Development
Each and every day, the perseverance and tenacity of the families here at Genesis Home is moving - each is dedicated to improving their situation and building a better life for their family. Families like Malinda and her two sons and three daughters. Just one year ago, Malinda was pregnant and seeking to regain custody of her four children. Her greatest desire was to bring her family back together again under one roof when she heard of Genesis Home. Genesis Home provided her with a place to reunite her family and the opportunity to rebuild her life in the Family Matters program.
Today Malinda is a graduate of the "Going Places Network" at Dress for Success and has secured part-time employment where she is in enrolled in a management training program. She has secured permanent housing for her family. She credits Genesis Home's financial literacy and life skills programming for helping her secure permanent housing, and her case manager for helping her set goals and stay focused. "My goal is not to end up back in this situation again; therefore I must make the change," said Malinda upon graduating from the program.
Like Malinda, the majority of Genesis Home families have multiple issues with which they are dealing. Many of these issues stay with them after they leave the shelter. Genesis Home is implementing a program to increase its support to families after they leave the shelther. The Aftercare Program will provide case management services and volunteer support to move families into permanent, stable housing as quickly as possible with continued follow up support for up to one year to ensure housing retention. The role of the Aftercare case manager is to help families transition successfully to self-sufficiency in their own housing and to prevent returns to homelessness. We have been piloting new roles for volunteers as well. We believe the efficiency and effectiveness of the Aftercare model is heavily dependent on deploying our rich pool of talented, trained, and committed volunteers. Volunteers can provide a wide range of supportive services: from mentors who can assist with life skills development such as financial planning to Circles of Support volunteers who can provide practical and logistical support to families exiting the shelter system.
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