Bowery Residents Committee, Inc.

On the streets and in the subways, in bus terminals and business districts, and along the commuter rails of New York City, Westchester and Long Island, you'll find BRC Homeless Outreach workers. BRC is there around the clock, motivating homeless individuals sleeping in public spaces to take a step toward reclaiming their lives. Outreach offers a hand-up, not hand-out, and every day men and women who once lived in a public space accept our outstretched hand and take a step inside. BRC also trains volunteers who commit to a regular schedule, to work side-by-side with our outreach teams. 2,600 times in 2011, our outreach teams assisted individuals to appropriate shelter. And many of the places homeless people choose to go are at BRC. At any hour of the day or night, the Chemical Dependency Crisis Center welcomes both those in need of residential detoxification from drugs and alcohol, and those in imminent risk of relapse. Licensed by New York State's Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the Crisis Center's 24-beds for men and women operate with 24-hour nursing supervision. Unlike hospitals, the Crisis Center does not require insurance; the only thing required is the desire to be sober. In 2011, the Crisis Center served 1,637 individuals, and more than half continued on with further treatment after discharge. The Crisis Center also is home to the Medical Respite Program, which BRC operates jointly with Saint Vincent's Hospital, providing easy access to health care for individuals with serious medical needs that do not require hospitalization. Adhering to a philosophy of harm reduction, and with the objective of making it easy for a homeless person to access services, the BRC Safe Havens (on the Bowery and in Washington Heights), and The Moving Home Initiative (located in the Bronx), provide a safe and welcoming environment for chronically homeless adults who have been living on the street and subways. Here, assistance in obtaining housing and employment is available, and health, mental health, and substance abuse services are offered, but not mandated. Beds, showers, clean clothes, and our own cooked meals are provided in a safe and supportive environment, making these BRC programs a welcome alternative to a municipal homeless shelter. In FY2011, these three harm reduction programs combined helped 81 chronically homeless men and women move from sleeping in public spaces to living in their own homes. Over one in six individuals incarcerated in America is living with mental illness. BRC's Service Planning and Assistance Network (SPAN), with offices in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, offers individuals recently released from jail and prison - and in particular those who have mental health needs - access to the housing and services they need to lead healthier and more productive lives, with the objective of preventing further interaction with the criminal justice system. In FY2011, 1,541 individuals obtained assistance from BRC's SPAN program. Preventing homelessness, incarceration and relapse is as important as responding to it. BRC's case management programs focus on that. BRC's Home-Based Case Management programs offer one-to-one service coordination to seriously and persistently mentally-ill individuals, and other adults whose living situations may be unstable, and for whom service participation has proved challenging.

Please see above.

All data collection and evaluation at BRC is overseen by BRC’s Director of Research and Evaluation as part of our agency-wide performance management program.  On a quarterly basis, program directors, deputy executive directors, the Chief Program Officer and the Executive Director come together to discuss program performance, trends in overall client progress and ways to improve program performance.  Members of BRC’s Board of Directors, as well as guests from academia and peer organizations are often in attendance as well.  This level of transparency and interdisciplinary communication is essential to maintaining BRC’s holistic model for service.

Numerous circumstances lead to homelessness, and BRC has developed a diverse array of residential communities where individuals can live while they address the challenges that have impeded their ability to find and keep a home. BRC operates several residences for individuals living with mental illness. Fulton House, Cecil Ivory House and Casa de los Vecinos are three BRC residential programs with a combined capacity of 104 beds that are licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health as Community Residences. BRC also offers the 77-bed Reception Center, the 101-bed Boulevard Residence, and the 200-bed Jack Ryan Residence for homeless adults living with mental illness. While residing in these programs, individuals gain insight into their illness, and develop the skills to manage their health and live independently. Many resume their educations, and obtain employment. As their health and confidence improves, they graduate to their own apartment (see Permanent Housing, below), or to a shared-living program, like BRC's Metropolitan Apartment Program (MAP). In MAP, 87 individuals who have made great progress in their treatment are given the opportunity, under supervision, to demonstrate their ability to integrate into the community and live independently in an apartment, on their own or with a peer. Eventually, they too graduate to permanent housing. For those homeless adults not challenged by mental illness, BRC offers the 110-bed Palace Employment Residence (on the Bowery) and the 103-bed Lexington Avenue Women's Residence (in Bedford-Stuyvesant). Each offer the opportunity to set and attain goals in housing and employment, while also addressing other needs, such as: surviving domestic violence, managing healthcare needs, furthering their education, living sober, and reuniting with children and other family members. These residences partner closely with BRC's employment services program, Horizons. Combined, BRC's transitional housing programs assisted over 700 homeless people find and move home in FY11.

Please see above.

All data collection and evaluation at BRC is overseen by BRC’s Director of Research and Evaluation as part of our agency-wide performance management program.  On a quarterly basis, program directors, deputy executive directors, the Chief Program Officer and the Executive Director come together to discuss program performance, trends in overall client progress and ways to improve program performance.  Members of BRC’s Board of Directors, as well as guests from academia and peer organizations are often in attendance as well.  This level of transparency and interdisciplinary communication is essential to maintaining BRC’s holistic model for service.

Preventing homelessness, incarceration and relapse is as important as responding to it. BRC's outpatient programs focus on that. For those dealing with addictions, BRC offers the Fred Cooper Substance Abuse Service Center (licensed by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services). For the seriously and persistently mentally-ill, there is the Continuing Day Treatment Program (licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health). Both offer individuals committed to maintaining their sobriety, their mental health - and very often both - a safe space to go every weekday - and most evenings. Here, they gain insight into their illness, participate in skill development activities, and develop social support networks. In 2011, 442 individuals participated in these outpatient programs.

Please see above.

All data collection and evaluation at BRC is overseen by BRC’s Director of Research and Evaluation as part of our agency-wide performance management program.  On a quarterly basis, program directors, deputy executive directors, the Chief Program Officer and the Executive Director come together to discuss program performance, trends in overall client progress and ways to improve program performance.  Members of BRC’s Board of Directors, as well as guests from academia and peer organizations are often in attendance as well.  This level of transparency and interdisciplinary communication is essential to maintaining BRC’s holistic model for service.

Employment is a means to achieving economic independence. It is also a means of defining oneself as someone who is desired and valued, a powerful statement for men and women who may have been seen as just the opposite for quite some time. Horizons is BRC's agency-wide employment services program, offering assistance in finding and maintaining employment, as well as paid internships in BRC programs. Through Horizons, BRC's men and women have access to career counselors who help clients find jobs that match their skills, and then prepare for the interview; paid training internships in food services, maintenance and clerical areas within BRC for clients with the need to develop skills; educational programs; and workshops on finding and keeping a job, and managing the responsibilities that come with it. In 2011, 260 Horizons clients started a new job, of which, 64% are still employed six months later.

Please see above.

Please see above.

All data collection and evaluation at BRC is overseen by BRC’s Director of Research and Evaluation as part of our agency-wide performance management program.  On a quarterly basis, program directors, deputy executive directors, the Chief Program Officer and the Executive Director come together to discuss program performance, trends in overall client progress and ways to improve program performance.  Members of BRC’s Board of Directors, as well as guests from academia and peer organizations are often in attendance as well.  This level of transparency and interdisciplinary communication is essential to maintaining BRC’s holistic model for service.

Finding an affordable place to live is a challenge for any New Yorker, no less so for those BRC serves. But the length of the journey neither deters nor slows our clients. Last year over 800 men and women who were once homeless moved home. That's more than twice a day. To assist them in their journey home, BRC offers over 550 units of permanent housing, where residents have signed leases and tenancy rights. These include five supported housing programs BRC has built: The Glass Factory (45 units), Los Vecinos SRO (35 units), Clyde Burton House (33 units), the Palace SRO (24 units) and Liberty Homes (46 units). In these buildings BRC is the landlord, but a benevolent one. While rent collections are consistently at or above 95%, that is not the objective. On site staff provide support to tenants as they make the transition to independent living, and help to build a community of support among peers. Tenants establish linkages to services in the neighborhood with the goal of preventing the return of the issues that led to their once becoming homeless. The other permanent homes BRC provides are part of our 370 scatter-site apartment programs. Residents lease apartments directly from private landlords. BRC staff provides case management services and community-building activities, just like in the SROs described above, with the distinction being that tenants are not all in the same building. Tenants of these programs reside in apartments in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Please see above.

All data collection and evaluation at BRC is overseen by BRC’s Director of Research and Evaluation as part of our agency-wide performance management program.  On a quarterly basis, program directors, deputy executive directors, the Chief Program Officer and the Executive Director come together to discuss program performance, trends in overall client progress and ways to improve program performance.  Members of BRC’s Board of Directors, as well as guests from academia and peer organizations are often in attendance as well.  This level of transparency and interdisciplinary communication is essential to maintaining BRC’s holistic model for service.