Did you know that Flagstaff Shelter Services has recently been been accepted into the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s 2022 Arizona Supportive Housing Institute? CSH is a national organization specializing in providing trainings and resources to housing service providers (like us!) in order to build a stronger and more sustainable model for permanent supportive housing services nationwide!
What is Permanent Supportive Housing? PSH combines affordable housing with services, that help people facing complex (medical, mental health, etc.) challenges to live with stability, autonomy, and dignity. Using a Housing First Approach, quickly housing people experiencing homelessness therefore reducing additional trauma caused by not having housing. The focus is on building quality supportive housing that is racially equitable, centered on cultural humility, and in close partnership with health and healing services.
Who benefits from PSH?
- Individuals who are chronically homeless.
- Those who are at risk for longterm stays in homelessness.
- Folks who are living with chronic health conditions.
- Neighbors who have been discharged from institutions and/or medical/behavioral health systems of care.
- People who have intellectual disabilities.
- The community at large! “Supportive Housing Generates Significant Cost Savings to Public Systems Cost studies in six different states and cities found that supportive housing results in tenants’ decreased use of shelters, hospitals, emergency rooms, jails and prisons.” (csh.org)
CSH goes beyond simply advocating for longterm supportive housing for the folks who need it… thanks to the weekly trainings that our FSS Housing Staff have been participating in – we are learning so much more about how to truly redesign programs and even physical spaces to better suite the individual needs of our clients.
Ross Schaefer is the executive director at Flagstaff Shelter Services, the largest emergency shelter in northern Arizona. The nonprofit is open around the clock to anyone in crisis, regardless of faith, mental health or sobriety. In addition to offering emergency shelter for individuals, the organization also provides permanent, stable housing to families experiencing homelessness. An average of two families a week are moved into permanent housing and more than 85 percent of them do not return to homelessness.
