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  More than 3,300 adults and children participated in MHS homeless assistance services during our 2007 fiscal year.

Homeless Assistance
Comprehensive, coordinated care.

MHS homeless assistance programs comprise the most comprehensive, single-agency system of care in Ohio for homeless people who have severe mental disorders or other disabling conditions.

Most homeless individuals who participate in MHS psychiatric and supportive services have a severe mental disorder -- most often, a schizophrenic, schizoaffective, or bipolar disorder.   Clients may participate in all programs that help them achieve their goals. They graduate to other programs when their needs change, and as they master the skills needed for independence and autonomy. Programs provide outreach, emergency shelter, community support services of varied intensity and structure, and transitional and permanent housing with a range of supportive services. To learn about these programs, please click on the links below.  Click here to learn about the clients these programs serve, and the services provided.

Outreach Shelter

Housing with Supportive Services

Three programs provide assertive street outreach from early morning to evening. Supportive services are also offered seven days per week.

A 135-bed shelter for homeless women and children. A 50-bed shelter for men with severe mental disorders or other disabling conditions.

Two Safe Havens, two transitional housing programs, and two permanent housing programs, all with on-site or easily accessible services. Community support services for all, including those living independently.

PATH Outreach

Women's shelter

Safe Havens & Young Adult Pgm.

Outreach & Payee

Men's shelter

Permanent housing programs

SPOT Support


Community support


The importance of a coordinated system of care that is easily accessed by those in need was highlighted by the final report of The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. It noted that "people with mental illness, by the very nature of the illness, are the least equipped to navigate their way through the complexities of the mental health system" (page 4). To help clients get services not offered by MHS, we collaborate with a broad range of healthcare and supportive-service organizations in the greater Cleveland area. We maintain affiliation agreements with many organizations in order to promote the continuity and effective coordination of care.

Eric Morse, LISW, is Director of Homeless Services.

Eric Morse, LISW
is Director of Homeless Services.

He earned his Master’s Degree in Social Services Administration from Case Western Reserve University and is licensed as an independent social worker in Ohio.

Eric has been with MHS for seven years, and now directs homeless assistance and supportive services for more than 3,000 clients each year. His impressive clinical, organizational, and information management skills have made him an important resource for both the agency and the community.


MHS programs that provide comprehensive and coordinated homeless assistance services are briefly described below. Click on any link in the left column to learn more about a program.

P A T H Outreach

A program of assertive outreach for homeless persons with severe mental disabilities. PATH is an acronym for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, a federal program created in 1991 to provide essential, community-based services for homeless people who have serious mental illnesses. Its staff of three make contact with 400-500 homeless people each year.

Outreach
and Payee

The Outreach and Representative Payee program (OPP) has a mission similar to that of the PATH program, but for a broader target population. OPP serves homeless people who have any disabling condition, including physical disabilities, and disabilities resulting from alcohol and drug addictions. OPP also provides representative payeeship services.

SPOT
outreach
and support

Services Provided through Outreach and Treatment (SPOT) serves as a safety net for homeless individuals who are not participating in services offered by the community. From 1-9 p.m., seven days a week, SPOT provides a welcoming environment and an array of services to help clients achieve housing, health, and self-determination. Many of our Safe Haven clients come from this program.

Emergency
Shelter for
Disabled Men

This 50-bed Emergency Shelter serves men with mental or physical disabilities who are not easily served in larger shelters because of behaviors associated with psychosis, dementia, or other illnesses. Shelter staff members encourage participation in services, and promote clients' recovery efforts.

Community
Women's
Shelter

This shelter provides emergency shelter and supportive services for homeless adult women and children of Cuyahoga County. It has beds for 135 homeless women and children, and can accommodate an additional 50 on mats. Many of the women have conduct and anxiety disorders that arise from physical and sexual abuse. During the 2007 fiscal year, the shelter served 939 women, and 160 children.

Community
Support

A program of rehabilitative, supportive, and skill-building services that help clients achieve recovery, housing, health, and independence in the community. These services are more commonly known as case management, but are now formally called Community Psychiatric Supportive Treatment (CPST). Clients who participate in CPST services are homeless adults who have a schizophrenic disorder or other severe mental disorder.

Safe Havens
and
Transitional
Housing

Four residential programs offer homeless persons with severe disabilities opportunities to practice and master skills needed to achieve stable housing. Each facility offers community meals, furnished rooms/apartments, and recreational/socialization activities. Clients have the opportunity to participate in the development of operational policies.

Permanent
Housing

Three programs offer permanent housing with supportive services for persistently homeless individuals with severe mental disorders. The first portion of Kingsway Manor was launched in September 2004; the other, in April 2005. Emerald Commons opened in 2007, offering 52 permanent housing units for mentally ill people. It was created by the Emerald Development and Economic Network, Inc. (EDEN), a non-profit housing development organization.


The mission of MHS is to help people gain control of their lives by forging solutions that resolve mental health crises and end homelessness.

Learn about client characteristics, or their employment and income.

Or, review summary statistics about the types and duration of services.


MHS has well-established procedures for the collection, analysis, and utilization of outcome data.  These data demonstrate that MHS programs have been effective in helping clients achieve meaningful goals.

Outcomes of Care
To examine the remarkable outcomes achieved by clients who have participated in MHS Homeless Assistance programs, click here.


Let's look it up!

MHS uses the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's definition of homelessness, and the definition of severe mental disability published by the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH).


Let's find out!

How many are homeless
in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA?
Click here for recent counts and estimates.




Click here to open a separate window to the secure website of the Network for Good, where you may make a donation, and even set up recurring donations.

Copyright ©
Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS)
1744 Payne Avenue; Cleveland, Ohio 44114 U.S.A.
216-623-6555 - TTY/TDD: 216-623-6540


The URL of this page is
http://www.mhs-inc.org/HomelessAssistance.asp
It was most recently updated on 11 April 2007.
We welcome your comments.
Please write to Joel[at]mhs-inc.org


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