The Readiness Project: Helping People Prepare for Housing, Income and Emotional Stability

Our Readiness Project is based on experience which shows that holistic, "wrap-around" support which targets the root causes of homelessness, is what it takes to help people end homelessness and prevent future episodes. Far beyond simply meeting basic needs, this program strives to help each individual make meaningful changes in their own life. The Project is a dynamic, intense and comprehensive program available to all those who are guests in our shelters.

This program aims to increase individual stability and self-reliance and "readiness" for housing, employment and independent living. It extends beyond assistance with job readiness to include the development of life skills and community support. Professional staff, including Master's level clinicians, provide individualized therapeutic assistance to each person. This includes needs assessment, crisis intervention, treatment and goal planning, counseling, skill development, referral to additional resources, advocacy with social service and health providers, and life skills and job coaching.

Program participants work with our staff to achieve and maintain sobriety, to stabilize mental health disorders, to find and keep jobs, to improve personal relationships, to increase daily living skills (e.g., budgeting, household management, nutrition, etc.), and generally to work to improve their capacity for income, housing and emotional stability. Each year we have many success stories which demonstrate the dramatic changes that people make to achieve their goals. Again and again we learn that when we make an investment in people's lives, more than just meeting their basic needs, we do make a difference.

The Readiness Project is part one of a two-part continuum of services offered by Operation Hope. The second part, The Successful Tenancy Among Residents (STAR) program helps people who are in housing, but at-risk of homelessness, to maintain their housing.