Compassion Coalition is working with the Mayors’ Office of the Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness to welcome people who have been homeless back into the community. Through a faith-based mentoring program, members of local congregations are helping people who have been chronically homeless be successful as they are placed into permanent supportive housing.

The cornerstone of the Knoxville-Knox County Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness is permanent supportive housing. Through the efforts of case management outreach, chronically homeless individuals are identified, assessed, and placed into appropriate permanent supportive housing as quickly as possible. The housing is permanent – there is no time limit after which the individual is expected to move on to the next program or living situation. The key to each new resident’s success in remaining housed is wrap-around support services individualized to meet each person’s needs. Case management and social services are provided to address mental health, addiction, educational and employment issues.

It is every bit as important, however, to help these individuals re-integrate into the mainstream community. For better, or more likely worse, life on the streets has been the only “community” for the chronically homeless. To successfully remain housed, these new neighbors must leave all that behind and strive to become part of a community that provides positive reinforcement and leads to a more stable and productive way of life.

The faith community is an ideal resource to meet this need. Mentor teams created from congregational groups possess knowledge, resources, and most importantly, a positive, nurturing network that an individual needs to become a stable member of society.

Working with the Ten Year Plan, Compassion Coalition created the Circles of Support mentoring program. Small teams of mentors are invited from congregations throughout Knox County to participate. The program’s coordinator provides training so that the teams will understand the basic purpose, expectations, and goals of a mentoring team and provides an understanding of the issues faced by the chronically homeless.

Each mentor team is matched with a formerly homeless neighbor and is partnered with a professional case manager and other social workers. Mentor teams are focused on helping their neighbor understand and relate to the community at large. This could be anything from simple housekeeping, decorating an apartment, understanding basic money management, or engaging in social and recreational activities.

Please contact Compassion Coalition to find out more about this exciting opportunity to help end chronic homelessness in our community!

For more information contact 251-1591 ext. 8 or serving@compassioncoalition.org