United Caring Shelters

Our mission is to provide values-based, low barrier, sustainable, and high-quality homeless shelters, services, and solutions. As a part of the continuum of care, we are on the front lines helping people survive with the basics of life so they may flourish in permanent housing, employment and in good health.

UCS has four main strategies to make mission happen:

1) Building trust -- we desire to meeting the guests of our services where they are, knowing them for who they are, and helping them.
2) Being a low barrier shelter -- to the best of our abilities and the safety and security of everyone we seek to serve those in need.
3) Building partnership and community -- we seek to build a community of caring for our guests, donors and volunteers/ We wish to be inspirational and collaborative partners in our greater community, among the continuum of care.
4) Innovative ideas -- UCS seeks to operate beyond the status quo, exploring and pursuing programs like the medical respite program, to engage people and intersect issues with solutions rather than simply managing the problem.

1) Building better crisis communication and de-escalation skills for staff while focusing on our core values of compassion and dignity. Knowing people by name.
2) Always seeking to review, discuss, and eliminate unjust rules and lower punishment levels for infractions.
3) Operate outside of the UCS silo and intentionally bring agencies together to meet people's needs and ensure all services are being provided in the community. Engage donors and volunteers beyond the transaction, but rather, strive to be transformational in services tasks and relationship building.
4) Continually research and seek opportunities to better support the nearly 200 people a day who utilize our services and those who needs are not being met. Identify people's struggles, advocate for those who are slipping through the cracks, and lead community solution efforts -- bring people together to solve problems and not just talk about it.

Additional communications in-service training have been added.
Several rules have been eliminated with others' ramifications lessened. A new Program Manual is under review/in the creation process to bring things into greater consistency across programs.
While 'normal' monthly agency meetings are being maintained, an additional shelter group was formed to build better collaboration which started with a shared donation drive idea. Some mission/services idea and a community engagement idea are in the works too.
Exploration has started on the creation of a crisis stabilization unit/center to address issues of substance abuse and mental health issues.