SHAL Monthly Report
For November 2015
November Success Stories
The SHAL case management program continues to assist clients in applying for and receiving social security income. We have been having great success, and an additional 3 clients were approved this month!
• Case manager Amy Yancich was able to assist an unsheltered homeless man in getting back and forth to Miami for his declining vision. The client’s vision has become so poor he is left essentially blind and on the street. Since there was no assistance available in the Keys, she was referred to a specialist at a hospital in Miami. He now has corrective surgery scheduled and will receive it within the next month. (Update: SHAL Shelter Director Mike Tolbert has volunteered to drive this client back to Miami for his pre-op visit and cataract surgery.)
• An unsheltered male living in Big Pine was referred to our program for assistance. He was a young male who was trying to make it in the Keys. After multiple meetings and family intervention he was able to go home to Baltimore to a housing program which would offer him financial assistance and place him in a job.
Donations Needed
Although winter is unbelievably mild in the Keys, relatively chilly nights and days will soon be upon us, and homeless adults are in need of clothing, especially footwear and socks. Additional blankets will also add to the comfort as some Shelter residents sleep in the overflow area outside, under the awning. SHAL accepts donations for clients right at the Shelter behind the Sheriff’s office—mornings and evenings are best, but feel free to drop off items any time. Donors can leave items by the gate when the Shelter is closed.
And as we move to the end of 2016 and the opportunity for tax-deductible donations to charity is nigh, we hope donors will consider SHAL. There is significant need for additional funds to continue and expand our mission of reducing homelessness and improving the quality of life of all residents of our community. SHAL is a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit and contributions are tax deductible. We accept donations at our website (www.shalkw.org) or via the mail at PO Box 2990, Key West FL 33045.
SHAL SHELTER OPERATIONS
Shelter Usage
Client Track shows that there were an average of about 106 clients sleeping in the Shelter in November 2015 and the Shelter was not full by 9 pm on any evening. New and more reliable Client Track data also shows that 340 different (non-duplicated) individuals stayed at the Shelter during the month of November, which is a greater percentage of Monroe County homeless persons that might have been anticipated. We hope that the improved safety, cleanliness and operational changes SHAL has instituted mean that more homeless persons are utilizing the shelter, and that we can begin to integrate them better into SHAL programs and Case Management, and move them more quickly toward self-sufficiency.
There were 4 EMT calls made for Shelter clients in November. Clients with non-urgent medical needs are transported via the SHAL automobile, saving an ambulance run.
SHAL OUTREACH
Service Summary Report • November 2015
SHAL Outreach hopes to establish a more regular schedule in November and December, with a couple locations for morning case management panning out. Note that November relocations were zero, due to lack of funding, which has now been restored.
Total Services Rendered: 346, Case Management contacts: 95
Health Care Services Rendered: 28
Health Care Appointments: 22 Mental Health Referrals: 2
Other Services:
Case Management: 51 Information Services: 76
Cell Phones: 25 Mailing Address: 48
Food/Clothing: 2 Identification/Residency Services: 12
SS Issues: 9 Birth Certificate Assistance: 25
Long Distance Relocation: 0 Transportation Services: 8
EBT Services: 4 Residency/Homelessness Verification: 17
Coordinated Assessment System (CAS) Forms Completed: 34
Other Highlights this Month
Continued to provide temporary mailing address for SS, Food Stamps and Birth Certificates.
Were able to pay for clients’ medication for acute illnesses.
Continued outreach to the Middle Keys.
Continued case management services to jail clients.
SHAL continues to work with the Public Defender’s Office and the JIP program to assist clients upon release from jail.
Extended our outreach locations to a limited presence in Marathon funded by Monroe County. Program has had a successful start, enrolling a number of new clients to our program and providing services to many sheltered and unsheltered clients.
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