Wilbur G. from the SARA program and Mary Gallini, Simpson Housing Specialist. Wilbur, a former Simpson shelter guest, was one of the first SARA program participants. He has been housed for two and a half years. “Wilbur is one of those guys who always helps out without being asked or expecting anything in return,” Mary reports.

Simpson Staff Profile: Mary Gallini

On any given night in Hennepin County, at least 2,800 people are experiencing homelessness, the majority in Minneapolis. After spending time with Mary Gallini, Housing Resource Specialist with the Simpson SARA program, you get the sense that she has met most of them.

Mary’s work is not an exact science. She is part counselor, part advocate, part ear-to-bend, part taskmaster. “This kind of work requires some hard decisions. It is about setting boundaries and expectations,” she says.

A large part of the success of the SARA program can be attributed to the weekly contact and open lines of communication between clients and advocates. “When we meet with the people in our program, we usually spend the first 20 minutes or so listening to what they have to say. That is what is missing in many of their lives; a family member or level-headed friend to help problem-solve. This is something we all need in our lives.”

Quite often, people experiencing homelessness have a combination of factors working against them. “Many of the folks in the SARA program have generational poverty in their families. Almost half were adopted, were in foster care or had runaway as children.” 81% of participants live with a chemical dependency and nearly 41% live with a mental illness. 41% have suffered from a head trauma at some point in their life. “Usually what has caused the person to be homeless is only made worse by the rough life on the street.”

The issue of homelessness and the numbers affected can seem daunting, yet those who work in the front lines remain generally optimistic. “This can be fixed if we really decide that we want to. It requires honestly assessing people’s strengths and barriers and creating a variety of housing options to meet their needs. The government will need to change its priorities for there to be enough money to make this happen. I always like to remind people that those in need of these programs are someone’s brother, aunt, or parent and now we’re seeing how likely each one is to succeed if they are given a chance and treated with dignity.”

Excerpted from an article that ran in the Southwest Journal (www.southwestjournal.com).

Profile: Advocating for a child’s education and future

Simpson education support advocates work with families to help break the cycle of homelessness

Every school-aged child in the Simpson Transitional Housing program is matched with an Education Support Advocate to help them succeed in school. How does success happen? The ESAs, as they are called, tutor, work with teachers, and make sure the kids get to school. But there is much more to it and many ways to define success.

Jean Loyd, Simpson ESA, says, “Our primary goal is to build relationships, to show the kids that no matter what, we will be there for them.” ESA Rachel Kuehl adds: “What a lot of our kids don’t have is a sense of consistency. We can be another positive adult in their lives, encouraging them and holding them accountable.” According to the ESAs, the fun part of the job is the one-on-one time spent with the kids, doing homework or talking about how their day went.

Other parts of the job are a bit more challenging. “A large part of our work is to be a bridge between the parents and the school. At least fifty percent of our time is spent with the parents,” Jean says. Frustrations rise in the parents and the school when a child isn’t doing well or is absent a lot. The ESAs help to establish a solid ground for communication. “Some parents need you to be their voice. What I strive for is to help the parents learn to communicate with the schools on their own; to stop and plan what they want to say and how to say it and that advocating for their kids isn’t scary,” adds Jean.

On a typical day, Jean and Rachel could do any or all of the following: bring a kindergartener to school who missed his or her bus; meet with a teacher to discuss reading-level progress; help find a school uniform; eat lunch with a fifth-grader in the school cafeteria; sit-in on a meeting between a principal and a parent; pick-up a child who was suspended; help a third-grader learn their times tables; coordinate the weekly tutoring program; plan the monthly parenting workshop; spend an hour hanging out and chatting with a teen in the program.

Children in the transitional housing program are provided certain rights under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. According to the act, school-aged children experiencing homelessness have the right to continue in the school they were attending when they became homeless. “Almost always, if things are going well at a school, we are for keeping the kids in it,” says Rachel.

School-aged children in families who are experiencing homelessness sometimes report a stigma of being homeless; of being a shelter kid. Jean and Rachel do not see a lot of this in the families in the Family Housing program. “I see parents protecting their children from knowing that they are homeless,” says Jean. “Sometimes a child won’t want me to see them at school, but that is usually not the case. I remember one little girl proudly saying out loud ‘This is my advocate!’” Rachel says.

Photo #1: Simpson ESA Jean leads a game of hopscotch at the annual Family Housing Summer Camping Trip. The trip is an opportunity for all the families to get out of the city for a weekend in the country.

Photo #2: Simpson ESA Rachel congratulates a child with outstanding school attendance at a program held every year at the Family Housing Program Summer Barbeque.

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