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Outreach programs are an essential component within the homeless service continuum of care. They help individuals establish trusting relationships with Coalition staff and with services to move them from long periods of living on the streets or in shelters toward stable housing.
The basic goals of street outreach programs are to address immediate needs of safety, provide crisis intervention, and ultimately to connect people to housing, medical and mental health care, public benefits, clothing, food and other supports.
Outreach programs engage people “where they are” in their own environment such as greenbelts, parks, doorways and alleys, vehicles, tents, temporary shelters or under bridges. People living in these settings are often isolated and highly vulnerable due to physical and mental illness – issues that make it difficult for them to seek out services on their own.
A homeless individual’s transition to mainstream services and permanent housing may take months or years to achieve. The duration of each outreach relationship is based on each unique individual and there is no uniform timeline or formula for engagement of clients.
Outreach services were provided to 6,643 individuals through 23,998 encounters, and 490 people were placed in housing in 2010.