JFCS continues efforts to combat homelessness

As the city and county continue to work to address homelessness issues in the region, Jewish Family and Children’s Service of the Suncoast is working to stop homelessness before it begins.

The JFCS Building Stronger Families program, designed to prevent family homelessness, began 10 years ago. JFCS leaders say the program has been effective in improving the area’s homelessness issues, with 88% of participants remaining in their home six months after receiving financial assistance.

Kerry Gantner, a social worker who has worked with homelessness and related issues for six years, is the program director. Gantner said the program serves about 500 families and more than 1,700 people a year. The five staff members work with families at risk of becoming homeless by offering intensive case management services.

“We work on mediation with landlords, budgeting, money-management skills, life skills — all sorts of things,” Gantner said. “We do it on an individualized basis, assessing the family, seeing what the needs are.”

The program, which began in the city, has expanded into Manatee County and the southern part of Sarasota County. Thanks to donors and government grants, it has grown from an initial $50,000 donation in 2004 to give as much as $800,000 in financial assistance in 2009.

JFCS’s efforts have also grown beyond homelessness prevention. Gantner said about 10% of the people in the Building Stronger Families program are homeless, and the group formed the Operation Military Assistance program three years ago. Led by Wilfredo Tellado, the program focuses on housing homeless veterans.

Tellado said the program’s staffers find veterans in homeless camps; then they locate shelters and develop a strategy to find them housing as quickly as possible. Through federal grants and donations, the program is able to help cover rent expenses. The two programs work together, lending support wherever possible.

“It’s definitely a collaborative effort to either house someone or prevent someone from being homeless,” Tellado said.

Gantner and Tellado said that locating affordable housing was one of the largest obstacles they face. Gantner said they work closely with landlords to help mitigate any issues, but difficulties remain given the real estate environment.

“If we’re not talking affordable housing, the challenge will always remain there,” Tellado said.

City Manager Tom Barwin is working to unite Sarasota’s service providers to address local homelessness issues — particularly veterans’ issues — in the short term.

Barwin has reached out to JFCS in his efforts to combat homelessness, and the group is eager to participate. Limited by the available resources, the directors believe the principles behind those programs could help if applied on a larger scale.

“We’re part of this larger community initiative that the city manager is talking about,” Gantner said. “We are right in the thick of it.”

Contact David Conway at [email protected]