Deborah’s Place Spring Program News

STAYING A LEADER IN CHANGE
and RECENT HAPPENINGS

When it comes to delivering effective services to women who are homeless and formerly homeless, it is important to stay ahead of the curve. That’s why Deborah’s Place is always looking for innovative and creative ways to help women achieve their goals of stable housing, sustainable income and greater self-determination.

This Spring, Deborah’s Place is continuing to uphold this commitment with the beginning of our annual intern recruitment process. Each year, three Intern Information Meetings are held to recruit interns for the upcoming year. Schools of Social Work, Psychology, and Art Therapy, such as the Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work and the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art Therapy, are contacted and asked to refer to bachelor’s- and master’s-level students to our meetings. So far this year we have received more than 75 student inquiries about how they can become interns at Deborah’s Place. This is important because interns provide vital and cost-effective support to staff and participants; their services as Case Managers, Counselors, Learning Center Assistants, Art Therapists, or Program Assistants provide permanent staff assistance, help free up and leverage new resources, and present participants with more opportunities for one-on-one support services. Not only do interns provide us invaluable support, but they themselves also receive unparalleled field experience which will help them succeed on their pathway to becoming social service professionals.

Deborah’s Place staff members also pride themselves in their continuing education of innovation solutions to homelessness. Case Managers and other staff are trained in evidence-based practices such as Motivational Interviewing, and other progressive philosophies and models such as Harm Reduction and The Recovery Model. Several trainings are available each month and program staff are required to complete trainings series on each of these models and practices.

The results from all this hard work? It’s clear: 400 women a year obtain access to comprehensive award-winning support services that they may not have otherwise. As the largest provider of supportive housing for women, Deborah’s Place knows that these creative practices and philosophies are necessary to continue to help women break out of their cycles of homelessness. And they are. During the past six weeks, Teresa’s Interim Housing helped move 6 women into permanent housing, and welcomed 6 new women into the program. This means that in just that one program, we broke the cycle of homelessness for 12 women in just six short weeks. A great accomplishment made possible by dedicated individuals with great goals.

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Over the last few months we have all felt change in the air; some good, some bad, some just change. One of the biggest change-inspiring events has been of course the inauguration of our 44th President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. On January 20th, Deborah’s Place participants, staff, volunteers and board members came together across the programs to share this historic day. At Marah’s Permanent Housing in Lakeview, the thirty tenants held a “Black and White Ball” to celebrate the grand occasion. Women dressed in their best and joined in the dining hall for dinner and to watch the coverage. Across town, in the Learning Center at the Rebecca Johnson Apartments, staff led discussions about the Obama administration policies and the lives and importance of the variety of inaugural speakers. Later in the evening, the women had an inauguration dinner sponsored by Deborah’s Place board member Kim Cole, followed by a raucous game of Bingo. Thank you to Kim and all of the friends and volunteers at all of our programs that joined us for this memorable day!

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Singing, laughing, and story-telling boomed throughout the gym at 2822 W. Jackson on February 12th when participants at the Rebecca Johnson Apartments gathered together to celebrate Black History Month. Staff, tenants and volunteers all displayed their diverse talents with a variety show honoring the lives and legacies of African Americans. Participants donned costumes and African robes to act out the lives of influential African Americans such as Zora Neal Hurston, Maya Angelou, Betsy Coleman and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. The crowd was repeatedly in awe of the performances such as the group and solo songs performed by the Deborah’s Place Choir, a powerfully poignant reading of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, read by a RJA tenant, and the intense acapella harmonies of the visiting men’s choir, “Men of Destiny.” This was a night of celebration and inspiration – a night that will go down in Deborah’s Place history.

Presenters and performers gather together for a picture at the RJA Black History Month Celebration. Included are the guest performers, “Men of Destiny”; the Deborah’s Place Choir; Education Services Program Administrator, Juanita Brown; and participants who read speeches and acted out stories of history-changing African Americans.