St Vincent Catholic Charities Agency

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

ST. VINCENT CATHOLIC CHARITIES

Christine L. Tacey

Siena Heights University

Running Head: ST. VINCENT CATHOLIC CHARITIES 2

ST. VINCENT CATHOLIC CHARITIES AGENCY

St. Vincent Catholic Charities is located at 2800 W. Willow St., Lansing, MI 48917. Their phone number is 517-323-4734, their website address: www.stvcc.org. CEO Andrea E. Seyka.

St. Vincent Catholic Charities employs 204 people. The organizational leadership chart for this agency is as follows: Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, and Assistant to the CEO. Under the CEO is the Vice President of Administrative Services and Director of Operations Children/Clinical Services. The Vice President of Administrative Services is responsible for the Human Resources Team who takes care of the training, quality, benefits, HR and payroll. The Facilities Director is responsible for facilities procurement, technology, and food service. Under the Director of Operations Children/Clinical Services is the Family Counseling Center that is responsible for Children’s Services, Foster care, Adoption, and Family Preservation. Also under the Chief Executive Officer is the Accounting and Finance. Under the Chief Executive Officer is the Director of Operations who is responsible for housing services, the Refugee Services, Immigration Law Clinic. Under the Chief Executive Officer is the Development Director who is responsible for the Development Team who takes care of the donor relations, ambassador mission, sustainability specialist and data clerk. The Marketing Director and Community Relations Manager are also under the Chief of Executive Officer.

The MISSION of St. Vincent Catholic Charities is the work of the Catholic Church, to share the love of Christ by performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

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Therefore……STVCC We will contribute to our community a greater self-worth and hope for the future by:

Serving the vulnerable with special emphasis on the poor

Advocating for those who cannot represent themselves

Defining community needs

Providing the leadership to address

Maintaining a supportive environment for staff and volunteers

Operating in a fiscally responsible manner

VISION: With faith in God and love for all, we aspire to create a healthier community.

CORE VALUES: Compassion, Service, Faith, Stewardship, Integrity.

SERVICES

The many services that St. Vincent Catholic Charities provides are as follows: Adoption, Foster Care, Children’s Home, Family Preservation, Pregnancy Counseling, Refugee Resettlement, and Housing Services for the Homeless, Immigration Law, Case Management, Education Services, Employment Services, and Counseling Services. There is a great need for volunteers. This agency is a non-profit agency dedicated to Human Services. This agency began in 1948 and was founded by Msgr. Slowey under direction of the Catholic Lansing Diocese and has continued to grow in response to the community’s needs. The combined expertise of their staff and the

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Investment of our community is an essential part of empowering children and families, foster housing ability, enhancing quality of life and advancing community health for the Greater Lansing Area.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to work in the Housing Department. STVCC services to the homeless populations began in 1994 with the opening of the Transitional Housing for Homeless Mothers (Also known as Ballentine Stepping Stones). Ballentine Stepping Stones is now with Lutheran Social Services. In 2006, homeless services were expanded to provide rental assistance and case management services to homeless families residing in Clinton and Ingham Counties. With the increase in homelessness STVCC worked to expand their services to meet the growing need. In 2007, STVCC began providing rental assistance and case management in a permanent supportive housing setting to homeless individuals with disabilities in Ingham County. In 2008, services were expanded to provide a community case manager working closely with the Ingham County Continuum of Care to provide case management to homeless populations who are in need of locating and acquiring stable housing. Today the program has the largest permanent supportive housing service programs for individual with disabilities in Mid- Michigan. One/Third of the homeless in Michigan is the working poor. There are over 60,000 homeless living in Michigan, with over 10,000 living in Mid-Michigan.

I worked as a case manager in the Permanent Housing Services for the homeless with disabilities. Our goals as case managers is to provide support in a number of areas to help foster

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Long term housing stability for those we serve. We help customers overcome barriers to self-sufficiency through personal assistance and connecting them with needed community education and management resources. Some of the services we help them in are obtaining and maintaining traditional and permanent housing. We help them in finding safety through the security of a home. We provide rental assistance based upon 30% of their gross adjusted income. We as caseworkers support in a number of areas to help foster long term housing stability for those we serve through goal development, financial and household management, education plans, healthcare, employment, acquiring mainstream resources and referrals to community resources. They must be a single adult with physical or emotional disabilities or substance dependency challenges.

Our clients are referred to us from a community organization that has been providing assistance for the applicant. We then must get disability documentation and have the client sign the appropriate releases. Once the releases are released, we then call the referring agency/case manager within days to review the referral. We must ask certain questions to make sure client referral is appropriate for our services. We must get proper forms and proof of income, disability, and proof of homelessness. Once we received everything, we then place them on the list by date when all the documentation has been completed. We call each client every month to let them know where they stand on our waiting list and also to see if they are still interested in our

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Program. Once a spot becomes available, the first client on the waiting list is contacted to come in for an intake. They need to bring in with them their Id, social security card, proof of homelessness, and income if appropriate. We allow 3 days for the client to respond to our telephone call. If we do not hear from them we go on to the next in line. The actual intake may take up to 3 hours long. We go over all their documents, program requirements, rules, policies and procedures, reasons for program termination and eviction, financial stability contract, grievance procedure for client, notice of privacy, HIPPA consent form, confidentiality agreement, workplace threat and violence policy, client rights and responsibilities, initial service plan, move in service plan, have them sign all releases for all agencies that they work with including BWL and Consumer’s Energy. Have client sign an apartment inspection release, and sign HMIS release. Then within ten days, we must conduct a background check, verify income, call references-shelter and non-shelter, complete rent and utility allowance calculation sheet, and complete consolidation homeless count information form, contact BWL and Consumer’s Energy for any previous bills, schedule final decision meeting with all case managers and with Program Coordinator for a final decision. When the client is accepted we help them find housing. Assist participant with State Emergency Relief (SER) application, Fax forms over to the DHS caseworker, SER Decision Notice, Meet with Management Company and client for lease signing.

For each participant in the program it is very important to develop an individualized case plan

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Which addresses various barriers to a participant’s self-sufficiency? As a caseworker I go over the 10 goals we feel will help with self-sufficiency: Rent/Budget/Utilities, employment/education, financial stability, physical health, mental health, substance abuse, skills development, personal support, legal, and housing. We must make visits to our client’s every two weeks to go over goals, do a budget (as we ask them to put some money into saving’s each pay period or monthly if getting SSI or SSDI, do a walk through the apartment to inspect apartment. We go over when the rent is due; those that have a monthly rental obligation must pay their rent to STVCC by the 1st of each month via check or money order. Those clients who do not pay their rent obligations by the fifth will receive a letter in the mail requesting that rent be paid immediately.

Going out and making visits to actually see the clients and match faces with names was important to me. I had read their charts and going the next step was a learning experience for me. Soon, I will be doing the actual interview with the client with Tinisha standing by in case I have any questions etc.

I feel if we did not have these services for our client’s there would be so many people out on the street living and sleeping on the sidewalks. It is a shame that more cannot be helped faster. This agency does so many special things for so many diverse populations that any place I have ever experienced. If any of the services that STVCC provides were not available to our community any longer there would be so many children, adults, foster children, children up for

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Adoption, housing, homeless, refugees left to fend for they and it would not be something anyone would like to see. This agency provides the best of services and could provide more if the money was available.

FUNDING, STRATEGIES, RESOURCES

Most all of our services provided by St. Vincent Catholic Charities are by contractual agreements with DHS, Child Protective Services, Courts, HUD (Housing Urban Development), City of Lansing, CAUW, CA Regency, grants, and private donations. They have a couple of fund raisers each year.

CONFLICTS OR OBSTACLES

Some of the obstacles that the housing department faces day in day out is that you are dealing with a very difficult population of people. Substance abuse users, criminals, and just not following through and not following care plan. Funding.

FEEDBACK FROM AGENCY STAFF

Many employees say there is a lot of politics and playing their games. There is a lot of communication and collaborating problems between departments. Most departments do not know what each department is doing...

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