The homeless services nonprofit Haven for Hope in San Antonio is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its young adult program.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Haven for Hope provides social services like drug counseling, drug training, and transitional housing, all on a single campus. Its “one-stop-shop” model has been credited with reducing unsheltered homelessness in San Antonio’s downtown area by 77%.
One of its more recently deployed services has been the young adult program, which has helped more than 200 people in need of assistance. It aims to provide resources for people ages 18-24.
“Whatever their housing goal is, whatever their employment goal is, whether it’s an educational goal, we want to provide that wraparound service,” said David Huete, Haven for Hope’s vice president of transformational services, speaking with KENS 5. “We’re really lucky to have such great partners in the community on the Haven campus like SAMMinistries, like Thrive Youth Center that help us with housing options for young adults.”
Of the 200-plus young adults that have participated in Haven for Hope’s program, nearly 40 have moved into their own housing.
“Just getting on your own two feet and being able to start off your life the proper way, this is a wonderful way to start,” said 23-year-old Cody Mitchell, who has been staying at the Haven for Hope campus for the past seven months while he gets his affairs in order and seeks employment as a warehouse worker.
Despite polling showing that 75% of Dallas residents think homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling continue to be “major” problems throughout the city, officials have yet to experiment with Haven for Hope’s “one-stop-shop” strategy utilized by Haven for Hope, even though polling also shows that residents would be in favor of such a project.
Some local stakeholders are looking to bring the model to Dallas, but it remains to be seen whether City officials will embrace the approach.