Tag: Neighbors

Coordinated Entry: How It Works

The Coordinated Entry process is a laudable attempt by our government to make things easier both for people experiencing homelessness and for the agencies that provide services to them. In many cases, these folks reach out to social services organizations via phone, a personal visit, or by using a shelter in an effort to find a way out of their situation. Northwest Compass has been named the designated ‘Walk-In’ center for our part of the Chicago suburbs, which means we have the training, resources, and expertise to work with members of the community who drop by (or call) our facility to address their problem and explain how Coordinated Entry works.

We realize that walking through our doors for the first time can be a little intimidating, though. You don’t know what awaits you and whether you have what you need to get help and whether there’s someone inside who can understand your situation. Those who are on the verge of losing their housing or are already homeless are struggling to find a way out of their predicament and the last thing they need is additional uncertainty. We’re here to help, so we’ll try to take some of the mystery out of how it works and what happens next as you reach out to us.

What You’ll Need
To make the process move as quickly for you as possible, our best recommendation is to come prepared. Bring as much paperwork as you can find that might help us assess what’s going on in your life. If you’re in the process of being evicted, bring notices and letters. Your lease document would be helpful, and the basics like recent pay stubs, social security cards, drivers license, insurance information, car repair estimates (if appropriate) and so on will be useful. In other words, you want to bring as much along with you as you can to avoid having to go back for it later if needed.

As you enter the Northwest Compass building you’ll be greeted by a representative who will ask you to sign in. They’ll determine the reason for your visit and will direct you to a seat in our waiting area for a program specialist to meet with you. Once that person arrives you’ll be escorted to an office where they’ll walk you through what’s known as the Intake form. It’s a lot of information that gives the specialist a basic understanding of your problem. We’ll need to know the basics about you, your family, your housing situation, insurance status, and so on.

Since you’re probably looking for immediate help, all this data collection may seem to be time consuming and too detailed, but it’s absolutely necessary in order for us to identify appropriate resources and may also be required by agencies that provide funding to support our program and our clients. There are several options to help people who make use of our walk-in center and we need to be able to select the one that’ll provide the most benefit. To do that, we need information. Whatever you give us will be kept confidential and will only be passed along to any agency outside of Northwest Compass when required.

So, that’s the first step in how the Coordinated Entry process works. Show up at our building during business hours, bring along whatever paperwork you have to explain your situation to us, provide the information we need on the Intake form, and be prepared to work with our program specialist to move ahead. Let’s get started!

Discover more about the Coordinated Entry program.

School’s Out for Summer: Food for Thought

As we celebrate an Independence Day long weekend, we are reminded that Summer is in full swing and another school year is in the history books. For many in our community this is an exciting time of vacations and family reunions, looking for deals on Great America season passes, hanging out at the pool or even preparing to send children off to college in the Fall.

But for some of our neighbors, Summer is not all about fun and frivolity.

Couple the absence of school lunches with increased costs of full-day childcare or camp and some families in our community may struggle to meet their housing obligations or put healthy food on the table during the Summer. Unaccompanied young adult neighbors may feel blue about lack of Summer fun, working full time or, worse, find themselves temporarily homeless while host families enjoy Summer vacations and family time without them. And some parents may be concerned about recent studies showing that children lose ground in reading, writing and arithmetic during Summer break.

Northwest Compass is here to help, over the Summer and throughout the year. The following programs and services are offered free of charge to support the homeless, hungry, heroes and unaccompanied young adults in our community.

Northwest Compass is a member of the Alliance to End Homelessness and proud to be a lead agency in the North for Coordinated Entry, a program that strives to end homelessness while maximizing the coordination of valuable resources. On Wednesday, June 21, Northwest Compass celebrated the official opening of the agency’s Coordinated Entry Walk-in Center.

NWC Housing helps neighbors facing a housing crisis or homelessness, while NWC Food Connection helps families and individuals augment their budgets by providing healthy food options. NWC HYPE (Helping Youth on the Path to Empowerment) provides supportive services to help young adults prepare for life’s challenges and navigate crisis.

And thanks to volunteers from Arlington Heights Girl Scout troop 41614, Northwest Compass proudly offers a free lending library so parents and students can keep reading, even when school is out. No library card needed, no late fees or charges of any kind…just be a good neighbor and leave a book when you take a book. While parents pitched in with the planning, the troop members handled all of the digging and construction on their own. Without the support of a caring community, Northwest Compass cannot continue the important work we do.

Who Are Your Neighbors?

At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. Whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people’s attention to what we, as members of the human family, have in common, and the deep interconnected nature of our existence and welfare.

When I was a kid in the 60’s growing up on the Northwest side of Chicago, we knew all our neighbors and hung out with them every day. It was fun, and helped build a sense of community. During these days of two-paycheck parents commuting and cocooning because they’re afraid to let their kids run unsupervised outside, it is becoming increasingly common to buy a house and eight years later realize that you have never met your neighbors. Why is it so easy to just stay in a little bubble, and not interact with those around us? These times seem to hold a great deal of division instead of unity. February is a month dedicated to Love, and a great time to help your neighbors and community.

How would you describe your neighborhood today? Do you know everyone on the block? Do you feel safe and secure in there? Is your neighborhood comprised of a community of people working together toward a common goal or individual families living independent lives?

Some people are very fortunate to have great neighbors that they interact with every day. Some neighborhoods thrive on over-the-fence conversations each day. Having someone close by to socialize with can create wonderful friendships that may not have otherwise happened. Psychologists at the University of Michigan just completed new research that tested how socially connected people felt and how healthy they were. Turns out, feeling socially connected to your community reduces the risk of a heart attack…a lot. But building trust can be hard. A 2016 Pew Research survey revealed that only half of Americans (52%) say they trust all or most of their neighbors.

Being on friendly terms with your neighbors can lead to better life. Good neighbors watch out for each other and their property. Living in a proactive neighborhood can increase your family’s safety, as multiple sets of eyes and ears can help thwart criminal activity and promote a safer area. There’s an old cliché about borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor. It really is convenient to have someone close by who can help you out when you need an egg to finish a cake, borrow a shovel or drag in your trash cans when you’re gone. The crossing guard on the corner where my dad lives in Des Plaines noticed his need for help, and began to drive him grocery shopping once a week. These examples surround us.

Neighbors can unite in joint ventures, plant a mutual garden, host a community yard sale, or maybe a block party. If you get to know your neighbors more intimately they may share their troubles, which can be an opportunity for you to help. If you hear that a neighbor just got home from the hospital you could make them a casserole. The neighbor two doors away shares that he lost his job you can secretly donate a gift card. When you discover a family living in their car parked in the vacant lot down your block, invite them for dinner and listen to their story.

Giving to your neighbors is contagious. Once you start, it’s hard to stop. This month let’s reach out, get involved, plan an event or make a connection. Be the kind of neighbor you want to have.

Mindfulness Matters

The New Year is a perfect time to come to the quiet, examine your inner self and mindfully create new goals. The term mindfulness has become popular as more studies reveal that people who practice a type of meditation called “Mindfulness” are happier than those who don’t.

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. This state of mind involves acceptance, so pay attention to your thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in any given moment. I’m reminded of Jesse Jackson’s quote, “Never look down on someone unless you are helping him up.”

When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future. Find a quiet space, close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths. As you inhale think ‘I am’ and as you exhale think ‘relaxed’. Visualize poverty and the suffering that surrounds it. How does it make you feel? Does it bring forth a desire to help or anger? If anger surfaces, explore the reasons and attempt to let them go. Imagine one of your loved ones is hungry with no place to sleep.

Research suggests practicing regular mindfulness exercises makes us more likely to help someone in need, and increases activity in brain networks involved in understanding the suffering of others and regulating emotions. Evidence suggests it might boost self-compassion as well. Practicing mindfulness brings an element of compassion, gratitude, confidence, and kindness towards oneself. Once a person is mindful of his/her own intrinsic attributes, he/she can carry them over to others.

While we cannot eliminate the hardships people face in life, we can help empower those in need to overcome obstacles and trauma. The homeless services in our community provide people with tools to help build confidence, resilience, and a mindset to conquer difficulties and disadvantages, despite the many hurdles they face.

I have seen how inner reflection can turn into outward action, and helps people transcend barriers of race, gender, and economic status. My deep belief is that everyone deserves compassion, kindness, equal opportunity, education and security.

Join Northwest Compass with an open heart to raise awareness of the needs of your neighbors.

Intentions

Northwest Compass in Mt. Prospect, a long-standing organization in the Chicagoland Northwest suburbs, formerly partnered with CEDA, is busy rebranding its services to the homeless. We offer a variety of programs to lift clients from a crisis to an opportunity.

We are living in constant change and contrasts in our demographics, economy, and beliefs impacting homelessness. We live in the shadows of one of the wealthiest cities in America. Our neighborhoods are dotted with modern office complexes, gourmet restaurants, luxury homes and condos, yet on the same street a family of four lives in its car or is crowding up in the home of family or friends until they get back on their feet. Are you conscious of the face and scope of homelessness in your area?

There’s no single solution to the needs of those in crisis that can be addressed in one blog. An ever evolving economy, persistent terrorism, growing wealth inequality, an aging population, and shifting beliefs about philanthropy are a few of the issues that have fostered homelessness. We hope to open your eyes and your heart to the issues of the homeless in your own backyard.

Our monthly blog is dedicated to reflect on these issues in the context of the work the team does every day within the community we all share. This exploration will be driven by local knowledge, experience and insight developed through working hand in hand with other nonprofit, compassionate, organizations in the Northwest suburbs, and informed by the latest research and data on trends we can find.

We encourage you to join the conversation by posting your comments and experiences from your own community work and living.