The people with whom [Heritage] deals ... are at the bottom of the housing ladder; people whose lives are on the edge of disintegration; people trying day by day to beat the disease of alcoholism, or mental illness, or substance abuse. That is our clientele. … Without government assistance to house this population, they will be in everyone’s backyard, and in their parks, and under their highways, and in their train stations.
And housing is only the first step. They need counseling. They need individual support. They need treatment.
… for this country to remain great, it must deal with and find a way to use the great potential this large disadvantaged population represents in terms of manpower (personpower), diversity and creativity.
- Ana Pereria
This is a 6 bed intensive short-term transitional housing program for homeless individuals who have spent significant time living on the streets or in encampments, and who have an aversion to homeless shelters or traditional housing programs. These individuals are usually unprepared for, and not predisposed to a rigidly structured environment, but desire relief from the crisis parameters of homelessness. Pathways assists clients in securing services and entitlements, and in learning the daily living skills they need in order to transition into more permanent housing. The goal of this short-term (6 month) housing program is to engage long-term homeless individuals who have resisted previous outreach efforts. Our experience is that while 40% of the consumers in Pathways will use the program for temporary crisis intervention, or as a temporary safe haven only, approximately 60% of Pathway’s clients will successfully complete the program and move on to less intensively supervised housing situations.