Vogel Alcove

Children thrive when families thrive. Our Family Support Department’s goal is to help create healthy, self-sufficient families. Our licensed master social workers help families address their most immediate needs—from food, clothing, and diapers to crisis intervention, mental health support, housing, and employment.

Parents and their social workers work together to set goals and develop a plan to reach their idea of self-sufficiency, including enrolling them in GED or ESL classes or referring them to job training programs.

Vogel Alcove's Parent Opportunity Center (POC) provides Job Ready Training, Career Ready Training, and Networking/Support activities. The POC has a full computer lab and resource center that parents use to work on resumes, take online classes, or look for jobs. Regular workshops are conducted on parenting strategies, financial literacy, and budgeting, as well as peer-support group sessions to connect families with each other for development of a support system.

From June – August, Vogel Alcove offers a comprehensive and therapeutic summer camp program (Camp Vogel) for the older siblings of the children we serve. These children (Kindergarten – 8th grade) participate in a full-day camp that provides a wide range of activities, including arts/crafts, swimming lessons, field trips, outdoor adventures, sports, social/emotional programming, and activities to keep reading and math skills sharp during the summer months.

Vogel Alcove's health clinic is staffed by a licensed pediatric nurse practitioner. In addition to providing first-aid, our nurse oversees medication management, consults with parents, and makes recommendations for specialized care when necessary. Our nurse also ensures that all children in our care receive well-child or well-baby exams.

We partner with Children’s Health and Parkland Hospital through the Homeless Outreach Medical Services (HOMES) program to provide routine, onsite medical and dental care for the entire family. Our team of contract developmental therapists includes physical, speech, and occupational therapists who work with our young children to make sure they meet their developmental milestones.

Behavioral health care services are a critical part of providing trauma-informed care for families striving to overcome the lasting and traumatic effects of homelessness.

Vogel Alcove launched our mental health care program in 2019 to meet the needs of our families who lack access to consistent, free behavioral health care services.

Since that time, we have grown to providing therapy services to 93 individuals during our 2021 fiscal year (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) As part of the family intake process, we have implemented a screening tool called Connected Minds that every parent may complete using a tablet or their cell phone. Our social workers recommend parents schedule visits to our in-house therapists as needed. The program is evolving to meet our families' needs. We now offer one-on-one therapy for older siblings and immediate family members. This year we have hired a fulltime onsite adult therapist and we contract with 6 licensed therapists.