Author: Yuwei

We received feedback on our recommendation from Peter Lombardo, the Director of Community Learning at the Center for the Homeless.

Date: May 2, 2017

Location: LaFortune, University of Notre Dame

Team Participants: Matt McCormick, Paul Cepak, Sarah Riehl, and Yuwei Tu

Takeaways:

• Housing First will require rent, but guests can receive grants
• Toochi is a synthetic marijuana that as become common in South Bend
• Center for Homeless doesn’t allow current drug users, so it will refer them to Life Treatment Center, which has residential options for patients

 

Recommendations: 

• Peter recommends having 2 professional counselors at Housing First, along with interns (possibly from ND’s Psychology Masters and PhD students)
• 2 Steps: Identify those who will stay at Housing First, then connect the appropriate social worker to them
• Prioritize the mentally ill at Housing First, because they are often targeted and taken advantage of on the streets

In response to Sarah’s post, I would like to remind viewers that our card sort only represents a small portion of the homeless population in South Bend, and the results may not be true and applicable for others. The card sort may be skewed as result of:

1. The interviewees’ reluctance to reveal the truth (We know substance abuse is a major problem, yet alcohol and drugs are ranked low in our card sort)
2. Our sample population was mainly middle aged, White males at the United Church Soup Kitchen. They are most likely not representative of the South Bend homeless population.

Takeaway: We’ve realized our sample population is not diverse enough to be representative of the general South Bend homeless population. Therefore, we either need to reach out to other minorities, or narrow the scope of our project to fit our research.

Ethnography Summary: Yuwei Tu, Paul Cepak, and Amanda Berusch interviewed Paul Go about his perspective on the homeless situation in South Bend. Paul has been volunteering weekly at the soup kitchen for 5 years, preparing meals and serving the homeless.

Date:2/17/17

Location: Downtown Soup Kitchen at First United Methodist Church

User Characteristic: Retired ND employee, middle aged

Key Takeaways:

-Many homeless don’t operate well in the normal society, don’t want to be around other people

-Mental disorder and alcohol/drug abuse big problem

-Not many people use shelters, because they are comfortable where they are

-Wood crafters in Grand Rapids that provides employment for homeless, could be opportunity for South Bend

-Homeless take advantage of resources like food stamps, but not so much job placements

Quotes:

“They don’t like normal jobs. They don’t want to.”

“We have resources associated with Memorial Hospital, and they do a very good job.”

“As long as they’re not harm to others, in a sense they are allowed to sleep in tents. So what the city can do, is they can open up places like this…to at least give some warm.”