New day center set to bolster homeless services downtown before onset of winter

A new downtown center will open later this year at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church to provide daytime services for homeless men and women prior to the onset of winter weather, thanks to a $1.7 million grant announced last month by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Managed by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, the new facility will offer social services provided by Pathways to Housing DC and multiple government agencies, as stated in an Aug. 23 news release.

“As we continue our work to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring, the Downtown Day Services Center will enable us to reach more individuals and get more residents connected to the resources and supports they need to stay safe and secure permanent housing,” Bowser said in the release.

The center is expected to open by Nov. 1 and will serve approximately 100 clients each day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. According to the mayor’s office, the center will provide individuals with meals, computer access, showers and laundry facilities. Case management, behavioral health resources, housing assessments and employment support will also be available on-site.

The center is expected to be 6,500 square feet on the lower level of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 1313 New York Ave. NW. The DowntownDC BID is in the design phases of the project.

The BID operated a similar center at First Congregational United Church of Christ from 1998 through 2007, but it closed when the church site at 10th and G streets NW was redeveloped. Without a new site, the BID shifted the focus of its homeless programs to outreach, according to its website.

Last year, Linda Kaufman — who ran the BID’s daytime services center until it closed — returned to the DowntownDC BID as its director of homeless services. She will serve as director of the new center, according to a post on the BID’s website.

In April, Downtown BID reached an agreement with New York Avenue Presbyterian Church — located just a few blocks from the Metro Center and McPherson Square Metrorail stations — to establish the service center in the building if funding became available. The BID submitted a proposal for the service center to DC government, which later approved the grant. The BID will supplement the $1.7 million from the city with an additional $250,000 in services and funds to support the effort, said Neil Albert, BID president and executive director.

“It is something the Downtown BID has long been involved in and long tried to re-create here in Downtown DC,” Albert said. “We saw a real need — and see a real need everyday — for these services.”

Pathways to Housing DC — which has a long-standing partnership with the DowntownDC BID — follows the Housing First Model, which originated in New York City in 1992 and was brought to DC in 2004. The model aims to provide immediate, long-term housing to vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness as well as ongoing services and support for mental and physical health, substance or addiction abuse, education and employment.

DowntownDC BID and Pathways to Housing DC joined forces in 2007 to provide outreach and social services for individuals experiencing homelessness on the streets of DC, with the goal of moving them into permanent, stable housing.

“The Downtown BID far and away is the single largest private investment to come through,” Jeremy Weatherly, development manager at Pathways to Housing DC, said in an interview earlier this summer. “What [the BID] is doing should be an example of what needs to be done in cities nationwide. The partnership we have with them and their investment in outreach is having a huge impact on our mission to end homelessness in DC.”

The DowntownDC BID and the Golden Triangle BID provide funding for a flagship Pathways to Housing DC initiative called the Homeless Street Outreach Program, which deploys outreach staff onto downtown streets to offer support, services and resources for homeless individuals. Outreach staff members provide homeless individuals living in DC with services such as food, clothing, showers and laundry. Staff members also help them obtain government-issued identification and in some cases provide referrals for housing opportunities — the initial step in the housing-first model.

Services for homeless individuals are scattered across the city, offered by various nonprofits and DC government agencies. The centrally located services at the new downtown center will include a medical suite for drop-in appointments as well as information, resources and referrals to government agencies such as the DC Department of Motor Vehicles and U.S. Social Security Administration for documentation and IDs, and the DC Department of Employment Services for job training and work opportunities.

“The difference is now there is a location and a steady stream of funding available to provide for those services and needs,” Albert said.  

While Pathways to Housing DC will provide social services at the new center, the organization will continue its existing portfolio of offerings.

Every month, Pathways to Housing DC — like other nonprofits and agencies with a housing-first mission — uses a “coordinated entry” assessment tool to assign individuals housing by gauging a person’s vulnerability and the urgency of his or her housing need, Weatherly explained. In addition to its own clients, Pathways to Housing DC handles referrals from other agencies.

“We have to use that system because there are not enough resources in order to give [housing right now to] everyone who needs housing,” he said. “It’s something we are fighting for, lobbying for and advocating for, but right now we have to make hard choices. We are very strategic and targeted about who we are getting off the streets first.”

Pathways to Housing DC facilitates the acquisition of apartments but does not own any of the properties. Pathways works with over 150 landlords with apartments spread throughout the city’s eight wards. Once someone is placed in an apartment, he or she must adhere to the terms of the lease. Pathways to Housing clients receive housing vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the DC Department of Human Services and the DC Housing Authority.

Once in housing, each resident receives ongoing support and services from specialists at Pathways to Housing DC through a program called Assertive Community Treatment.

“We have entire teams dedicated to providing services to people in their homes,” Weatherly said. “These teams include social workers, tier specialists, employment and addiction specialists, [and] nurses to provide healthcare to people in their homes. They work with people who have the highest level of need.”

The new downtown center will help bolster the group’s existing programs by providing accessible and centralized support for individuals experiencing homelessness, Weatherly said prior to the formal announcement. “The hope is for the center to be a one-stop shop for services,” he said.