A Compassionate Community Response To Homelessness
In today's newsletter, we have a conversation with Teresa Gowan, the director of Community Partnerships. Her role is vital in building community connections to organizations on the ground helping our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Teresa's passion and ability to bring many people to the table make her an invaluable part of our team.
What do you do at City Relief?
I am the Director of Community Partnerships. This role allows me to build bridges/relationships between organizations assisting our guests. This role helps our team to make guest connections or referrals and helps them answer questions such as, "how do I get the help I need?" and "where do I go now?".
I aim to minimize the obstacles to the care needed by also providing partners with on-site outreach space to meet with our guests. Eliminating barriers improves the possibility of a guest being cared for well.
How did you get into this career path?
My journey began many years ago, as a youth delivering home-made dinners prepared by my grandmother, in the NYC Housing Projects, to people living within the community. My grandmother often reminded me that we were to share what we had with others who may be hungry or in need. She gave freely, and I could see the gratitude on the faces of those receiving the meals.
As a young adult, I began to use after-church dates as an opportunity to prepare sandwiches and bagged lunches. It's incredible to see how many sandwiches one pound of bologna can make! I'd intentionally push my sandwich-filled shopping cart, seeking people to sit and share the meal. This allowed me to see and hear people who felt invisible and devalued because of their current circumstances. I realized that I wanted to be equipped so that I could help people better and use my voice to speak for those who felt voiceless.
What is your typical day like at City Relief?
My typical day involves exploring and developing new partner relationships while maintaining existing ones. As I learn about an organization's services, location & other details, the underlying question is always, "is this a good fit for both our guests and organization?" and "will our guests be treated here with dignity and respect?".
I often visit existing and potential partners. For existing partners, I want to show appreciation and show them how valuable they are and that they matter. I also want to know how we can improve our working relationship for the betterment of us all. For potential partners, I want to see first-hand how City Relief guests would receive services and meet the staff who will care for the guests. I can't emphasize enough the importance of developing and maintaining partnership relationships.
Can you highlight a partner organization that is doing innovative work?
I began working with City Relief in 2013; Housing Works was my first Community Partner relationship. They provided innovative guest support through referrals and on-site services. This included transportation and appointments needed for critical mental & physical health services for those with or without insurance which often led to housing placement. Housing Works continues to be instrumental and innovative regarding quality guest care.
Can you tell us about a recent win resulting from a strategic community partnership?
One of our consistent on-site partners is VNS Health, which has a Medicaid health plan component. They specifically provide services to very vulnerable populations, such as our guests. VNS Staff has often communicated their appreciation of how we care for guests and care for VNS as a partner. The relationship between our teams has grown stronger. I don't take their time, expertise, and care for granted. The strength of our partnership encourages more collaborative work on our guest's behalf. Their success and well-being are of utmost importance and translate into guest satisfaction. For example, VNS has worked collaboratively with guests who needed their service but didn't have Medicaid. I encourage our partners to interact and become collectively involved in the care of our guests. VNS sought assistance from another partner to help enroll the guest into Medicaid, then further connected that person to an on-site phone provider. Eventually, the guest received excellent care from our Outreach Team, was enrolled in Medicaid, and received both health insurance and a phone. That interaction turned into a win for everyone!
How can people compassionately respond to someone experiencing homelessness's request for help?
There are so many options. An initial response might encourage people to pause and be aware of their perspectives, mindset, and biases—these shape how a homeless person may be viewed. Hopefully, someone will see humanity and not view the person as an automatic problem or enemy.
Sometimes people forget or don't know how easily homelessness can happen to any of us. It only takes hospitalization and the inability to pay your rent, even if the funds are available, to lose one's home or room. A minor mindset adjustment can make a difference. From that perspective, a compassionate choice can be made to possibly give a pair of socks, one of our outreach flyers, or money if they want. One of the other choices is to decline to provide anything but to acknowledge perhaps that the person was seen and is genuinely not invisible.