A new beginning…
Genesis, a program through Community Outreach, engages the community in providing families and individuals with opportunities to achieve safe and permanent housing. Genesis partners with the local faith community, service organizations, and businesses. Families and individuals that are homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless are partnered with trained mentors. Mentors help Genesis participants set housing, employment, education and other long term stability goals. Mentors work with Genesis participants to take steps to meet these goals, as well as complete financial literacy education and parenting curriculum over a period of 18 weeks. Mentors also connect participants to resources in our community that will ensure their long-term stability.
In addition to the supportive education, partners provide participants with a $1,000 stipend that is matched by Sioux Empire United Way. The financial assistance is used by the Genesis participants for security deposits, rental fees, and expenses for furniture, education, or other basic needs. A case manager works closely with the mentors and participants, ensuring goals are met, participants are connected with appropriate resources, and to provide support to the mentors.
Advancing the common good...
When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. Together we can create opportunities for a better life for everyone in the Sioux Empire. To learn more about how you or your group can become involved, click here.
Homelessness in the Sioux Empire…
In the 2008-2009 school year, 1024 children were identified as homeless within our public school systems. In addition, over 7,300 children qualify for free and reduced meals (income of $22,000 or less for a family of four). According to the HELP!Line Center, in 2008, 5,257 people in our community were seeking resources for financial assistance and support, a 25% increase from the year before. Over 2,000 households currently receive housing assistance through Sioux Falls Housing & Redevelopment Commission, but an additional 3,027 households are on a waiting list, and it can take as much as two years to reach the top of this list.
The picture of homelessness in the Sioux Empire is not one of individuals on the street, finding shelter in cardboard boxes – it is of adults finding shelter in their vehicles, of children sharing one bed with their siblings and cousins, of families living in a motel faced with washing their laundry, bathing, and preparing food all in a bathroom.
Impact of being homeless…
Homeless families relocate 16 times more often than the average American family. Effects on children include:
- 66% of students who miss 20 or more days of school during grades 1, 2 or 3 drop out of school
- Suffer from anxiety and depression
- Poor nutrition
- Lack of sleep
And effects on parents/adults include:
- Experience higher rates of depressive disorders
- Homelessness frequently breaks up families