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Mission

For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide hand to your brother.

We are helping homeless people find a place to live, shake addictions, and get a job. Our goal is to help them move out of chronic homelessness by putting them in housing where they can get supportive services like medical care, mental health guidance, financial management training, job training, and basic education.

Having no home is an emergency condition. The causes of that condition are complex. Causes can include natural disasters (like Hurricane Katrina), or the situations mentioned under The Need, or a group of conditions so persistent that it has exhausted the helping capability of relatives and friends.

We will emphasize accountability and responsibility. We are following the nationally-successful model of Housing First, followed by supportive case management, financial management, and health care management. We are seeking a large group of Friends of the Homeless who will help our clients identify causes of their personal emergency, provide financial guidance (as their SSI, SS, or VA representative payee if needed), and guide them to the many agencies that can help.

Friends of the Homeless will be trained with the help of Linn County Mental Health Services staff; by Roxanne Beach, Program Manager of Cascades West Senior & Disability Services, and by Barbara Thayer, a Certified Christian Life Coach and Homeless Advocate.


ChristWalk Program

Our program will have several components:

  • Transitional supportive housing in rented houses,with five clients living as a family, where overnight paid staff and daytime volunteers will monitor guests 24/7 and provide life coaching. From this group we will select one individual at a time to move into a private apartment. That will make room for another client in the home, and we can transition others in. ChristWalk House for men for men was the first of these homes. We now have an apartment for up to two women as well.
  • Supportive housing in studio (or larger) apartments, furniture provided by us or the landlord. We will help with move–in payments, subsidize any rent amounts above 30% of our client’s income, and provide an initial stock of food and clothing for our client. Clients will be visited by representatives of local service agencies whose goal is to help the client maintain the apartment and get his/her life in order. Volunteers can also fulfill this function. This apartment plan will eventually house qualified, responsible families.
  • Friends of the Homeless will visit our clients regularly to assure they are able to cope and offer assistance as needed with health care, paperwork, resum�s, job searches, etc.
  • We propose a warming shelter for the cold months, accepting all comers with the intent to move as many as possible into supportive housing. We hope to model this on Portland's program in selected church sites, on a temporary, rotating basis during severe weather only, if local churches will help.