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[Back to index of February 2008 articles] Partnering Arms By Lucy Chumbley The faith-based nonprofit Transitional Housing Corporation has been working under the gun to open its third transitional facility, Partner Arms III, by its February 1 deadline. The District of Columbia's Department of Human Services recently purchased the newly renovated red brick building on 37th Street, SE, as part of a commitment to provide more supportive permanent housing to the city's homeless families. THC put in a bid to manage the property in November, said Milada Weaver, director of volunteers and communications. On Jan. 2, it learned from the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness that its proposal – to run a two-year program with supportive services – had been approved, and the contract was signed on Jan. 15. The only catch? The District required that families be able to move in to the building by February. "We committed to opening 24 days after we got the contract," said THC's executive director Polly Donaldson. "The staff is going all out to make this happen, quite frankly, but the motivation is high because it's a good thing for us and it's a good thing for the homeless population and the city." The corporation has been recruiting maintenance, security, administrative and professional personnel for the new facility and to augment its existing team. THC will manage the Partner Arms III staff whose salaries will be paid by the city. A key member of the new team, case manager Marilyn Nelson, has been hired to work at the new site, which consists of 13 two-bedroom units and is located near Fort DuPont Park in Ward 7. Families will meet with Nelson for an initial intake interview before receiving their keys, Donaldson said, and will continue to meet with her each week for the duration of their stay. Partner Arms III will increase THC's housing capacity by a third, to a total of 40 units, Donaldson said, and will be the organization's first facility in Southeast D.C. Since 1993, the two-year Partner Arms program has provided 27 apartments to successful applicants, along with a range of services, including youth enrichment, substance abuse and credit counseling, GED classes and parenting, wellness and home ownership workshops. The program has helped more than 190 families make the transition from homelessness to permanent housing, with an 86 percent success rate after one year. THC hopes to build on the success of Partner Arms I and II, both located in the Georgia Avenue corridor of Northwest D.C. The new initiative will include the same range of supportive services, Weaver said, but the application process will be slightly different. "This time, the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness will be working with us to identify families," she said. The Partner Arms III program also will serve a somewhat needier population, Donaldson said. "It is similar, but we're targeting a subgroup of the Partner Arms community, and that is the most vulnerable group," she said. This includes families with disabilities, substance abuse issues or mental illness and will require a higher staff to client ratio. "These are families that have been in shelters where the services are not adequate," Donaldson said. "[Partner Arms III] will keep the families together, but keeps them in a very supportive environment." Partner Arms III will be evaluated by the city in six months time. "We're charting new territory here," Weaver said. "We've never done this. The city's never done this. We just really want to make it successful, because if we do, [the city] will do it again, and that will go a long way to alleviating homelessness." "We know we can do more and this helps us do more," Donaldson said. "It's slightly different, but I think it's up to organizations such as ours to get as creative as possible to expand the number of units we have." Because of the tight timeline, the DHS purchased furniture for the units, although THC staff have been responsible for moving it in and setting up on-site offices. "We've been working so hard, and we also have some volunteers that are working with us to get all of the individual units ready," Weaver said. Although most of the furniture is in place, THC is asking parishes and individuals to help by donating items (or making a financial contribution) to furnish and stock the kitchens and bathrooms, such as small appliances, silverware and dishes. Also needed are new twin-size bed linens and towels, Weaver said. (For a complete list, contact Weaver at 202/291-5535 or mweaver@thcdc.org.) After graduating from Partner Arms, she said, residents are allowed to keep their household goods and furnishings, so these items are in constant need of replenishment. Parishes are encouraged to support the program by signing up to adopt an apartment. In addition to expanding its scope by taking on a project like Partner Arms III, the THC also has been putting the groundwork in place for an affordable housing initiative. In June 2006, it created an affiliate, THC Affordable Housing, Inc, and in January 2007 it purchased a 34-unit building in the District's Brightwood neighborhood that it plans to develop into long-term affordable housing with some supportive services. Renovation plans for the building, which has been vacant since 2004 and will need to be completely gutted, are on track, Donaldson said, and the organization hopes to close on the property in the late spring and begin construction work in the summer. This summer, THC also plans to launch Housing With Care, an affordable housing program that will provide 19 units of reduced cost permanent housing with case management services to low income families in the District's Wards 1, 4 and 5. "We're hoping when we start the program the first people in it will be Partner Arms graduates," Weaver said. "This is something that's very exciting for us as we want to be able to reach everybody," Donaldson said. "THC's Board of Directors is very clear that we must do more. We can, and we must." [Back to index of February 2008 articles]
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