The Client Advocacy Program helps mentally and physically disabled homeless adults who have been languishing on the streets or in shelters for years to obtain critical benefits and find permanent supportive housing.
Undiagnosed mental illness or physical disability is an invisible anchor for many homeless people — making it nearly impossible for them to get necessary help and find a way out of homelessness.
The Coalition’s Client Advocacy Program (CAP), launched in 2001, reaches out to long-term street or shelter residents accustomed to being overlooked and forgotten. CAP helps this fragile population secure critical federal disability benefits (SSDI or SSI) — a lengthy, complex and often overwhelming process for even those in the best of health. Our case managers then help the clients find placements in permanent supportive housing, where they are able live with dignity.
The highly personalized approach of CAP staff is critical to the program’s success. During each phase of the program — from initial engagement to transitioning into housing — the case managers work to foster the trust of individuals who may not have had a close relationship for years, making sure they have appropriate medical care, food and other necessities.
Having a home of their own empowers these men and women — who have shown such resilience despite their disabilities — to become active agents in their own welfare and livelihood for the rest of their lives.
The Client Advocacy Program helps roughly 130 long-term street or shelter residents each year with:
