Project Renewal

By Patrick Germain

Mitchell Netburn, our President & CEO, and I are going around to every Project Renewal and MBMC site to hold RISE Implementation Forums where we are talking about our Strategic Plan, and hearing from all staff on how RISE can be implemented across the organization. So far, we have talked with over 200 staff, and we are only about a third of the way done!

So far, we have met with the EDC team, Fort Washington Men’s Shelter, Leona Blanche House, Geffner House, Parole Support and Treatment Program, Next Step, and half of the Varick Street administrative staff. We are scheduled to go to the other programs in the next couple of weeks and we can’t wait to talk to you all about this!

In these Forums, we are having discussions about each of the strategic priorities that make up R.I.S.E (Recommit, Integrate, Strengthen, Expand) and we are collecting ideas from all staff about how Project Renewal can achieve those goals. We have heard some great ideas and hearing the passion and dedication that all of our staff have is truly humbling and inspiring. Mitchell and I are excited to have this opportunity to listen to the great ideas that everyone has. I want to say a big thank you to the people who have helped organize this and to everyone for participating, and I am looking forward to updating everyone on some of the next steps for our strategy once we finish these RISE Implementation Forums!

Stay tuned for more information about how you can be involved in helping Project Renewal RISE into the future.

HOPE volunteers find over 3,000 homeless New Yorkers living on streets and in subways

In February New York City’s Department of Homeless Services and hundreds of volunteers completed its annual point-in-time HOPE census of the unsheltered homeless population, first conducted in 2005. The report details changes in the count of unsheltered homeless men and women by borough, and identifies whether they are found living in the subway stations and trains underground or at street level.

At Project Renewal we focus on serving the hardest to reach homeless men and women—those with mental illness, drug addiction, or both. These clients are most often homeless without shelter (those represented by the HOPE Survey) or are among the 11,000 single adults living in emergency housing.

Four nights every week we partner with Manhattan Outreach Consortium to increase outreach to homeless men and women not in shelters by providing primary care through our medical vans.

These mobile clinics bring healthcare to homeless men and women where they are, delivering primary care to those who are also struggling with mental illness and addiction.

On those nights, healthcare providers seek out street homeless clients in places where they gather including behind the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the Harlem Y. The goal is to treat health needs before they escalate to emergency room visits and to encourage patients to seek ongoing care ideally in a residential treatment program.

$15
Provides needed items such as socks and sweatshirts, which ensures follow-up visits for continued care

$50
Stocks the MedVan with first aid and over-the-counter medications for a week

$5,000
Gives 25 patients access to the MedVan, our mobile clinic that provides healthcare, psychiatry, lab testing, and pharmacy all in one van

Apr 25

Meet our Parole Support and Treatment Staff

Bertha Alford, PSTP

PSTP held a pot luck lunch on Wednesday April 25th so program staff and other Project Renewal Staff at Varick could mingle.

It was a lunch filled with a lot of laughs, networking and plenty of good food. Everyone enjoyed the event. It was also an opportunity to say farewell to Garra Faber of S.T.E.P, and welcome our new employees.

Apr 24

How can you advocate to end homelessness in NYC?

Our mission is to end homelessness in New York City and we do that through our life-changing programs that help struggling men and women find renewed health, homes, and jobs.

Many of our programs depend on funding from various agencies at the city, state, and federal level. Our advocacy efforts focus on preserving and growing support for the best methods for ending homelessness.

Project Renewal is honored to partner with a new coalition to end homelessness in New York City. United to End Homelessness brings together key stakeholders with the goal of impacting the upcoming mayoral campaign by outlining essential steps needed to curb the recent rise in homelessness and meet the needs of struggling New Yorkers:

Client’s Speak Out to End Homelessness

Homelessness can rob a person of their sense of independence and self-worth. But as the men and women we work with regain their health, self-sufficiency, and housing we empower them to become their own advocate.

A newly formed coalition—United to End Homelessness—launched their campaign on the steps of City Hall last month, and our clients were there to make their voice heard. Joseph White, Recreation Specialist at Ft. Washington Men’s Shelter, reports on the day:

By: Joseph White

April 9th was a very good day; I and several clients went down to City Hall and joined with the United to End Homelessness campaign to speak about the importance of housing. The steps of City Hall were filled with various organizations that all came together for the same cause.

The Homeless United demonstration held on the steps of City Hall was an inspirational and uplifting event. It was an event that stood for Hope and Fairness, an event that brought different organizations from all over the city together. In a united fashion, over two hundred strong, we stood. We stood and we were heard. THE STEPS OF CITY HALL WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

Several clients attended; here are their experiences in their own words:

Derrick Neptune
My experience at the demonstration was very fulfilling for myself and the benefit for others that are homeless. I feel like I’m a part of a revolution for the neglected.

Michael Jordan
It was one of the most uplifting experiences I had in my life. I met very important people who gave me hope. The system works if you work the system. I’m looking forward to housing, and I’m also looking forward to participating in any other future events that support my cause.

Jose Rodriguez
I felt like I was a part of something big.

John Webb
It was hot but I was happy to be here.

Matthew Pukala
It was an honor to be here, I felt like I helped my cause. I gained a sense of what it is like to be in a situation representing the public in a matter of importance to many people.

It was a great day for the men. I always love when the clients feel like they’re a part of the solution and the world.

A special thank you to Ft. Washington Director Etta Graham for setting up and organizing the field trip for us.

United to End Homelessness is a new coalition of advocates, homeless and formerly homeless individuals, service providers, faith leaders, and experts on the issue of homelessness in New York City.

Mar 28

Staff and Tenants Visit NYC City Hall to Rally for Supportive Housing

Supportive housing ends homelessness! Geffner House staff members joined City Council Member Annabel Palma at a City Hall rally on March 18 to urge restoration of social service funding slashed in the Mayor’s proposed budget for FY 2014.

Clinical Director Amy DeFilippi (lower left) gave her first-hand account of how case managers help tenants regain health and stay out of shelters, prisons, and emergency rooms. Her work experience is backed up by a 2010 HASA study that found that on-site case managers reduced emergency room visits by 90% and resulted in savings of $80,000 in acute care PER person per year.

In Amy’s own words:
The right to housing and the right to healthcare are necessary, together, to end homelessness in New York. Homelessness and poor health are locked in a cycle of cause and effect. Poor health puts one at risk for homelessness, as it is estimated that one half of the personal bankruptcy cases in the US are caused by health problems. Many of these people, particularly those with mental health and substance abuse problems, end up in the costly shelter system and flood our emergency rooms with needs better served by primary care physicians.

Supportive housing works to end the cycle of homelessness for our city’s neediest people. It is a permanent solution to homelessness that links people with mental illnesses, substance abuse issues, HIV/AIDS to cost affective, affordable and stable homes.   With on-site case management and a full time clinical staff, tenants have the support they need to address their ongoing health, mental health, and addiction issues.

I am the Clinical Director Project Renewal’s Geffner House, a 307 unit SRO, or Single Room Occupancy, in Times Square. A large percentage of our clients are from HASA. In New York City alone there are 4,500 tenants with HIV/AIDS living in supportive housing. I have been working as a supervisor and case manager for several years and in this time I have seen the work that on-site case management does to stabilize people which limits their recidivism into the shelter system, prison, and emergency rooms.

In working with one of my clients I have witnessed his four yearly inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations dwindle to two years without any inpatient visits. With my support he has found the right mental health providers to stabilize him psychiatrically, and I have provided him with the consistent reminders necessary to take all of his medications daily. He has now developed a healthy routine that he did not feel was possible from his many years of being street homeless. With my support and encouragement he has established consistent medical services. The stability in his health has given him the courage to battle his 45 year substance abuse and dependence problems. I am happy to say that he is now one year sober and counting. He attributes this to the daily support and encouragement our consistent therapeutic relationship has provided him. To use his words “you have reminded me that I have something to live for”.

I have come here today to say that the proposed budget cuts will not save tax-payers money. Churchill, Truman, Dostoyevsky have all said something along the lines of “A society is indeed measured on how we treat our most vulnerable population”. If we truly believe this as a society, then these proposed budget cuts are preposterous.   They won’t save our city money, but they will deprive some of our most needy fellow New Yorkers of the much needed services and support required to live an independent life.

These proposed cuts will not save tax payers money. In 2010 HASA did an analysis of HASA funded supportive housing sponsored by Harlem United. They found that the result of on-site case managers reduced emergency room visits by 90%, and nursing home reliance by 54%. This resulted in a savings of $80,000 dollars in acute care PER person per year.

I am here to thank you for restoring the budget cuts from last year, and to thank the City Council for its ongoing support of HASA programs. But I am here, for the third year in a row, to ask you to continue to make supportive housing programs a priority for some of our neediest New Yorkers and to restore the proposed budget cuts.

Geffner House staff and tenants celebrate a “lucky” evening

On the night of March 15th a party to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day took place at Geffner House. About 50 tenants attended and ate meals consisting of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, and salad. A beautifully decorated and delicious sheet cake was for dessert.

Boxed meals were brought to about 13 homebound tenants. Music of the Chieftains as well as soul, and R & B was played. A good time was had by all!

Mar 25

We Heart NYC: Improving the health of homeless New Yorkers

Alarmingly, homeless New Yorkers have a 1.5- to 11.5-times greater risk of dying relative to the general population, depending on age, gender, shelter status, and incidence of disease.

According to this 2012 study by the NYC Department of Homeless Services, the top cause of death for both the NYC homeless population and the general population is heart disease.[1]

Regular visits with a primary care provider are essential to identifying heart disease and helping homeless patients to manage this health condition before it escalates to crisis levels. Our comprehensive services to homeless New Yorkers include integrated healthcare—patients are connected to care through our shelter-based clinics, medical vans, and referrals in our transitional and permanent housing residences.

Prevention begins on the streets where our medical vans are providing critical interventions to assess patients’ heart disease risk: in the past year, we assessed 61% of clients for cardiovascular disease risk. The vans are also reducing patients’ risk by helping them to manage co-occurring conditions which could lead to heart disease, such as smoking and high blood pressure. In the past year, our vans provided tobacco cessation interventions to 77% of patients and helped 60% of hypertensive patients to control their blood pressure levels.

________________________________

[1] NYC DHS. Bronx Health and Housing Consortium: Opportunities for Collaboration. Shared Approaches to Death Prevention Among Homeless Individuals. Dec. 2012

Feb 28

US Department of Health and Human Services spotlights Project Renewal for quality healthcare

Project Renewal: Homeless Patients, High Quality Healthcare February 2013 Quality Improvement Grantee Spotlight

To successfully treat more than 8,600 homeless patients a year, you have to be dedicated and diligent. HRSA-supported health center Project Renewal finds that it also pays to hold yourself to the same quality standards as providers who practice in a less challenging environment.

Controlling hypertension is never easy, but when your patients tend to seek care irregularly, move frequently, have a high prevalence of both chronic and acute conditions and distrust the medical system, it seems almost impossible.

But that’s exactly what Project Renewal has done. In 2011, 51 percent of hypertensive patients had their blood pressure under control; a 2012 chart review shows the number has climbed to 60 percent, thanks to close monitoring of medication compliance with an assist from local pharmacy students working with the program.

Go to the Mountain

Knowing that the many homeless patients will not come to Project Renewal, Project Renewal goes to the homeless patients.

Three mobile clinics (CARE – A – VANS), certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as Level 1 Patient Centered Medical Homes, regularly and at all hours go to homeless shelters, emergency housing and even New York City parks where homeless people are known to congregate.

They start small, first just walking around and becoming familiar to the homeless people. Over time, their presence in the community earns a level of trust and they begin to offer health services.

Because hypertension is so common and such a health threat, Project Renewal focuses on its prevention and treatment by providing health checks that include blood pressure and cholesterol testing at the first opportunity.

To help ensure patients follow treatment plans and remain in care, Project Renewal connects patients with other resources, verifies their eligibility for Medicaid and uses the electronic health record to schedule follow up appointments, order medications and exchange patient health information across providers.

Patients who later seek care at another Project Renewal mobile or freestanding clinic find providers who have instant access to their full health records and are fully prepared to respond in a patient-focused way that is consistent across providers.

Feb 19

Update on construction (and art!) for new Bronx Boulevard Shelter

Linda Cunningham, an artist who lives and works in the Bronx, was selected to build a decorative wrought-iron grille for the front façade of the building. It will screen the outdoor front entryway space from the street, and provide color and texture to the front façade. The grille is currently being fabricated by Linda and her team of student assistants, who are bending very long, 2” wide bars of steel into curved, organic shapes to look like blades of grass. These curved bars will then be welded to rectangular frames to create four panels. The panels will interlock when they are installed at the front of the building, and the resulting work of art will span around 23 feet. The ironwork will blend in nicely with the brick and stone façade, and the grille will last many decades because of the durable wrought-iron construction. The grille will also define a welcoming border space by the front door for those going in and out of the shelter, defining the outer edge of a patio area with comfortable wood benches and a view to the street.