Proposal Overview
This is a proposal of a continuous volunteer project involving the collection of data for the Friendship House of Skagit County in Mount Vernon, Washington. The main theories relevant to this project include ethics of care, feminist political, economic understanding, and politics of interconnection. The main goal of this project is to reduce the incidence of substance abuse by analyzing data from individual accounts. The style of engagement will be that of research. The process of validating the economic, political, as well as cultural realities of the homeless in Skagit County will enable the organization to suitably group individuals. Thus, there will be allotment of resources more efficiently to assist those with substance abuse problems due to the availability of background knowledge. In due course, we will be able to reduce the number of substance abuse cases in the shelters and rehabilitate more people with drug problems who require a place to stay.
Organization Description
The Friendship House of Skagit County - Mount Vernon, Washington is a not for profit organization that aims to provide those in need with basic amenities such as food, shelter, clothes, and support. Their specific objectives are centered on affording necessities to all the people who seek assistance from the organization. They also aim to promote self-sufficiency amongst these people through a transformation process characterized by an environment of kindness and respect. This organization focuses on the provision of emergency shelters and transitional housing and provides daily meals for current occupants. Other services provided include clothing, toiletries, and showers. In 2014, the number of men, women, and children housed was 307, 316, and 64 respectively. The total net assets as of 2013 amounted to $1, 342, 002 (Friendship House 5).
The organization offers emergency shelter services and transitional housing services. Some programs currently take place that are aimed at benefiting the residents of Skagit County. The Friendship House’s Transitional Housing Program is among these. It offers houses for individuals who wish to save up or those seeking stability and is run by the Transitional Housing Manager – Kristie (Friendship House 1). However, before being enrolled in this program, one must spend at least a month at the emergency shelters. The organizational structure of Friendship House is the top-down framework, which is efficient due to the organizational size and capacity which is relatively large. The Friendship House in Skagit has separate shelters for men and women this makes it practical to identify women and men with substance problems and offer them assistance. The gap in the organization that necessitates this project is the lack of a specific program that helps those with substance abuse problems.
Proposal Narrative
The work of the Friendship House organization matters because the men and women of Skagit County who are homeless benefit from having a secure place to live safe from extreme weather and other dangers of living on the streets. What other similar organizations are doing is offering emergency shelters to individuals who need a place to stay. Friendship House is a unique organization because it provides a daily meal to its residents as well as provides transitional housing which is a better environment than the emergency shelters that other organizations have. This organization operates under the top-down model which allows for accountability regarding resources for instance Kristie Kaaland – the Transitional housing official is in charge of the Transitional Housing Program and consequently its success (Friendship House 1). The Friendship House organization approaches the issue of substance abuse through their supportive case management (Friendship House 3).
The “gaps” presented at the organization that allows for this project are the lack of a formal project to assist men and women with substance abuse problems living in the shelter as well as widespread disorganization. Social support is integral to the rehabilitation of alcohol and drug addicts; this support system is lacking at Friendship House. The lack of a properly structured leadership system at the shelters promotes chaos. The workers are also unconcerned because they are also homeless. There is a gap in availing rehabilitative treatment to homeless people. The number of government sponsored programs, which offer prevention and treatment to homeless populations are few (National Coalition for the Homeless 1). Didenko and Pankratz (10) ascertain the role of stable housing in reducing the risk of relapse for an individual receiving rehabilitative treatment. These housing programs offer basic amenities, such as daily meals, peer support, and help the individual reintegrate back into their community. Friendship is an excellent example of an organization with housing programs that can help treat drug and alcohol addicts as well as assist them to re-establish housing stability.
This gap presents an area of improvement for the Friendship House. According to Greaves et al. (388), the time individuals spend in shelters is an opportune time to influence their behavior of substance abuse. Substance abuse is interrelated with homelessness, and this allows for shelters such as the Friendship House to offer assistance and support for individuals struggling with drug and alcohol problems (Didenko and Pankratz 9). Losing one’s house is a contributing factor to many the substance abuse cases observed in shelters according to the National Coalition for the Homeless (1). Homeless groups of people account for higher incidences of substance abuse than the rest of the population. Didenko and Pankratz (9) suggest that some of the homeless individuals result to drug use to be accepted within the “homeless community.” Two-thirds of the homeless population also blames substance abuse for their predicament. There is a need for a social support network to help to recover addicts who wish to defeat their addiction. Harm-reduction strategies have proven more effective than abstinence programs in the rehabilitation of addicts (National Coalition for the Homeless, 1).
I believe I am the right person to fill this gap in the organization because I feel a deep concern for men and women who have suffered due to addiction to drugs and alcohol. I also have a few hours to spare in my week and wish to do something to help my community become a better place. I have excellent communication skills that I would like to put to good use; I also like to improve the living situation for others because I feel obliged to promote my local community. I do not wish to receive any payment or credit for the work I do.
The top-down model of the organization arises issues of accountability and sustainability. Following the feminist political, economic understanding of need, it is possible to recognize how the different social identities affect the power of individuals as political and economic actors making the process of data collection indispensable in the Friendship House organization. Personal accounts of are more detailed concerning data sources and thus representative of the main social issue (Greaves et al. 390). The Friendship House should ensure it upholds a politics of interconnection as well as the ethic of care to improve its service. My motivation to conduct this project is to help those who need specific care and treatment to gain such to improve the quality of their lives. The main reason I wish to be involved in resolving the issue of substance abuse for housed individuals is that I believe that everyone deserves a second chance to make up for their mistakes. Shelters and transitional housing programs provide a unique avenue to help people who have been overcome with the problem of substance abuse.
My relationship with the organization is that I have had no previous contact with the Friendship House before, and therefore this is a first time association. The current needs of the organization are to fix the kitchen in the men’s shelter that has not been in use and introduce a more effective feeding program, to receive contributions of clothing and toiletries, and help those with a substance abuse problem (Friendship House 3). The current obstacles include lack of sufficient financial support for the existing programs and lack of enough staff and volunteers (Friendship House 4). The current needs and obstacles at Friendship House might provide a hindrance to the success of the project but can, however, be addressed side by side. There is reciprocity in this engagement with Friendship House as I believe I have a better experience helping people with substance abuse problems in the future while the organization will benefit from having a volunteer and a potential donor
The project will entail many steps that will contribute to its ultimate success in meeting the need for a comprehensive substance abuse program at Friendship House and consequently avoid the issue of relapsing for individuals which help promote the objective of affording self-sufficiency to residents. First, I find at least three volunteers in the first week to help me with this endeavor; carrying out a background check will be part of this step. The second week will be my meeting with Kristie to determine the role I will undertake in the position. The volunteers will be trained in the third week. It will also be the time for this group to be acquainted with the research environment. In the fourth and sixth weeks will be transcription process weeks for the two groups – Focus Group 1 and 2 with subsequent weeks entailing discussions with Kristie to determine improvement status. In the eighth week the training process of transcribers will begin, then a meeting with Kristie to train others on how to facilitate a Focus Group and in the tenth week we will facilitate a Focus Group.
The obstacles associated with this project are mainly limited finances and man power. The residential areas require a lot of renovations which would, in turn, require money and volunteers. The need for these renovations is to ensure that it is impossible for residents to hide alcohol or drugs in the premise. The lack of proper directorship at the shelter is also a challenge as it is necessary to have people in charge implementing the project consistently. There is a need for volunteers and staff to spearhead this project to ensure its success. In summary, I consider myself a good fit in aiding the Friendship House Organization to collect narrative based data because I bring a politics of interconnection, the ethic of care, and social capital. This enables me to have a high appreciation for this process of data collection while maintaining the focus of the organization on their current goals.
Objectives
Organization Goal #1: Foster, a safe and secure environment for individuals with substance abuse problems, can share their experiences of struggling with addiction.
Organization Goal #2: Examine and use the accounts collected to suitably introduce change in current and future programs and actions.
Organization Goal #3: Create an initiative for the collection of narrative data from focus both in Skagit County and beyond and feature other groups such as victims of violence.
Personal Goal #1: Implement strategies of acceptance and validation that enable me to conquer any individual biases and foster a safe environment in which these groups can tell their personal narratives without any reservations.
Personal Goal #2: Gain knowledge of necessary instruments and methods in facilitating an effective focus group; uphold such conditions for all the focus groups.
Personal Goal #3: Fashion a working relationship with Friendship House that enables me to advance my involvement in gathering and analyzing narrative-based information from focus groups.
Timeline
Works Cited
Didenk, Eugenia and Nicole Pankratz. Substance Use: Pathways to homelessness? Or a way of adapting to street life?” Visions: BC’s Mental Health and Addictions Journal, 4.1 (2007): 9-10.
Friendship House. Newsletter of Friendship House, Mount Vernon, WA. The Friendship Times, 2015. Print
Greaves, Lorraine, Chabot, Cathy, Jategaonkar, Natasha, Poole, Nancy and McCullough Lucy. Substance Use among Women in Shelters for Abused Women and Children. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 97.5 (2006): 388-392. Print
National Coalition for the Homeless. Substance Abuse and Homelessness, 2009. Print
