Homeless Shelters
When you mention that you work for a homeless nonprofit, everyone immediately thinks of a homeless shelter with men and women lined up at a soup kitchen and rows of cots. This type of facility certainly provides a place to sleep and a hot meal but because of the “business” model, homeless shelters do little to address the reasons someone became homeless nor do they assist individuals with the barriers to living a self-sufficient life such as drug and alcohol abuse, low self-esteem, past trauma, lack of education and work experience. Although there is, of course, definite need for emergency homeless services, a long term solution to ending homelessness — both on an individual, person by person level as well as at the societal level — requires a different approach.
How does the Weingart Center differ from traditional homeless shelters? Most conventional homeless agencies in Los Angeles and around the country provide shelter and meals for a maximum of 30 days, and because of their “business model”, they don’t typically provide dedicated and individualized assistance. For someone who has been living on the streets and/or incarcerated for years, it takes longer than those 30 days to change behaviors, address poor decision making, acquire job skills and find employment, repair credit, secure permanent housing, etc.
The homeless programs at the Weingart Center not only allow homeless people to stay for six months, a year or even two years, our programs also have dedicated case managers who work directly with our homeless participants to help them work through their issues and set goals. For some individuals, their case manger is the first person who has truly cared about them and their future. Case managers promote positive behavior while helping our participants keep their focus in reaching their goals.
The Weingart Center is so much more than a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. From substance abuse recovery to mental health services, improved health and education, job readiness and placement, and an overall wellness for our homeless participants, the Weingart Center takes a complete approach to ending homelessness.
