REACH (Religious Effort to Assist and Care for the Homeless) of Washington County uses Human Services grant funding to connect individuals in need to housing through dedicated case management.

 

Religious Effort to Assist and Care for the Homeless of Washington County (REACH) was started in 1990 by volunteers from different houses of faith who worked together to create a 24-Hour Crisis Intervention program. Today, REACH has grown to include a cold Weather Shelter and a Day Resource Center, where people experiencing homelessness can receive case management and have access to vital services like laundry and mail. The organization’s 14-member staff and volunteer team of over 1,000 serve over 3,000 Washington County residents each year.  

According to the 2023 ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report, 41% of Washington County’s population are at or below the ALICE threshold, slightly higher than the state average of 39%. Similarly, Washington County has a 7% lower rate of labor force participation than the state average and a median household income 27% lower than the state average. Only 23.6% of the population in the County have a salaried position; the majority of employed residents hold hourly positions, which tend to result in fluctuations in income, making financial stability and security harder to achieve.  

All of this leaves many Washington County residents in need of the kinds of assistance REACH provides. REACH of Washington County is seeing growing demand for their services overall and in particular, increased visits from the elderly and disabled populations. The organization reports the continued lack of affordable housing across the county and the costs of obtaining housing are bringing more people in to get services from REACH.

The Rapid Rehousing program, which the Knott Foundation grant helped to support, provides case management services to help those in need get into permanent housing. In the past year, Case Managers have worked with over 200 clients, helping 67 obtain permanent housing and 69 gain employment or job training. The program helps with costs that often preclude access to housing, such as security deposits and application fees, as well as providing rental assistance to those facing financial hardship.  

REACH of Washington County staff described the kinds of challenges their clients face that often mean the difference between obtaining or maintaining housing and experiencing homelessness. Jeanne Asbury, Executive Director, shared the experience of a client who had everything they needed to be able to secure housing but could not do so because of a back debt of under $1,000 that needed to be paid. REACH of Washington County was able to help the client resolve this issue and get into permanent housing.  

The story above also illustrates how essential flexible funding is to programs like REACH. REACH understands there is not a one size fits all solution for their clients, and general operating funds allow for each client’s need to be addressed individually, funds to be used in variety of client case management needs, and issues to be resolved more quickly.  

REACH has a collaborative approach to their work, focusing on not only the services they provide but making sure people are linked to the help they need. They meet every other week with their partners in the community. As Jill Zamostny, Director of Housing and Case Management, explained, “We’re always in communication with our other partners… so we can see who’s helping who, what they’ve done to make sure we’re not duplicating services, and we’re helping the people that need it the most.” Jill added that she would advise any group doing similar work “to make sure they’re understanding what the other agencies do, so that if you’re trying to help ease some of the burden or open new services, to be aware of what’s already out there and what they’re doing. So that way it’s not a complete duplication of services. More of trying to work together towards the same goal.” 

By Jessica Feldti