By Helen Klein
In one room, an elderly woman sat talking about her difficulty getting prescriptions filled since being switched from Medicaid to Medicare. In another, a woman disabled by multiple sclerosis was working with a counselor on a housing issue. Nearby, women and men with toddlers in tow sat poised at computer monitors, searching for job or apartment listings. It’s an ordinary day at the Partnership for the Homeless’ Family Resource Center. The second floor suite of offices, at 100 Pennsylvania Avenue, opens its doors wide to area residents in need of assistance, said center Director Carolyn Hanesworth. “The bulk of our staff are family advocates,” Hanesworth explained. “The community residents can get whatever they need, as much or as little.” The center’s services, she stressed, “Are designed to promote the vision of ending poverty. We feel if we can connect people, especially children, with what they need, we can really attack poverty at its roots. If people have access to a healthy, safe environment, and their basic needs are met – a roof over their heads, food, a quality education – that goes a long way toward preventing homelessness.” “The value of the organization is immeasurable,” attested Jill Hunt, who has come to the agency for assistance since 2004. “They’re always here when I call up and I need them, no matter how long it’s been. And, no one speaks to me as if I’m a second-class citizen or I’m less than. They make me feel like my life is important. Everyone is well-equipped to do the job here, and I appreciate that, because I need help.” Among the services the not-for-profit agency provides are advocacy and benefit counseling; a food card access project which helps those entitled to food stamps cut through the red tape to get the help they need; and an education rights project, particularly focused on homeless children and special education students. For people who have been homeless but who have settled in East New York or Brownsville, the agency offers, “Services to support them in maintaining their housing,” said Hanesworth. “We also offer services to individuals who have never been homeless but are on the verge and need support,” she added. To a large degree, the family advocates help those who come to them navigate through bureaucratic red tape. “Government benefits can be totally confusing,” Hanesworth stressed. “People coming out of shelter are already stressed. They may be separated from family members, so when you add that on, it can be very confusing.” Job search and educational support are focuses of the agency, said Hanesworth. To that end, she explained, besides opening the computer room to the approximately 200 families who come to the center, family advocates will help those who come to the center write resumes or cover letters, or steer them to agencies which offer programs that can assist them. The arena of education is critical. Batya Novick, the education advocate at the Family Resource Center, said that efforts are underpinned by the belief that, “Education is one of the keys to ending homelessness and poverty. “We work directly with families and children that have educational needs due to homelessness, due to special education or due to lack of quality education, and provide direct advocacy for them,” Novick went on, “at times working with the schools and the Department of Education to address their needs and get them met while promoting self-advocacy for the families and students.” Besides handling advocacy for individual students, Novick said, the center also provides training to others so they can also help those in need. “We go to organizations and tell them what the rights are for students who have experienced homelessness and special education students,” Novick noted. The food card access program that the center offers is open to the entire community, noted Hanesworth. “If anybody in the community feels they might be eligible for food stamps, they should call us and we can screen them for eligibility over the phone, tell them if they are eligible and if so, how much they can receive. We also tell them what the next step is.” For people who are disabled and senior citizens, finding out whether they are eligible and getting the paperwork done doesn’t involve going to the Food Stamp office at all, said Denise Jones, the center’s outreach supervisor. “We do everything for them,” she told this newspaper. Currently, Hanesworth said, the center is screening approximately 180 families each month for food stamps. Besides screening people over the phone, she said, representatives of the center go to 36 sites within the neighborhood, “To engage people.” For further information on the programs offered at the Family Resource Center, call 800-554-8170 or 718-875-0027. Information on the center can also be found on the Internet, www. partnershipforthehomeless.
