| Back to Community Priority Areas Safe, Stable Households Our goal: Help families and individuals sustain safe and independent homes. To help meet this goal, the Capital Area United Way awarded $250,000 in funds to 16 programs. What we fund: Safe, independent households, parenting skills, financial literacy, job retention, literacy, domestic violence prevention Funded Programs: Capital Area Center for Independent Living: Mid-Adult Day Program Adults with severe disabilities and who might traditionally be at risk of institutionalization have a structured program to attend 4 days/week for 4 hours each day. Additionally their care givers receive respite from these duties while their loved ones attend the program. Educational and recreational activities including enhanced fitness, nutrition, computer classes and relationship-building are just some of the areas covered. Participants are empowered to maintain family and community connections in this safe environment through meaningful and enjoyable activities. CASA for Kids, Inc. /Barry and Eaton Counties: CASA of Eaton County Community volunteers are recruited and trained to provide advocacy services for abused and neglected children, ages 0 to 19, under the jurisdiction of the family court in Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS): Family Growth Center - Parent Education and Support Parents in crisis, those referred by other community agencies, or those that simply recognize that they need help in learning how to parent are targeted for education and support. The Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS): Post Adoption Support Services Families who have adopted special-needs children are provided with support to help stabilize their families and to prevent crisis situations. The program goal is to reduce the number of adoptions of children with emotional and/or behavioral problems from deteriorating to the point of disruption and the return of a child to the foster care system. Parents get help in developing necessary skills to raise special-needs children and can lean on formal and informal networks that provide support groups, needs assessment, home visits, case management, recreational and respite activities, community outreach and more. End Violent Encounters (EVE), Inc.: Domestic Violence Intervention/Prevention EVE provides safe shelter and supportive services for the victims of domestic violence, as well as seeking to end this violence through public awareness and community education. The operation includes a shelter for the temporary housing of women and children victims, planning and implementation of residential and nonresidential programs for abused women and children to help restructure their lives, community education, a 24-hour crisis phone line, and work for system changes to reduce incidences of domestic violence and make the existing system more responsive to victims. End Violent Encounters (EVE), Inc.: Personal Safety and Legal Protections for Victims This work increases the safety of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims with a coordinated set of services. Help includes: provision of a central location for information, assistance with paperwork and filing procedures, preparation of materials for judges based on required criteria, assisting with the development of information for the Prosecutor’s Office, attending PPO (personal protection orders) hearings to support victims, and training for law enforcement, prosecutors, court staff and attorneys on how to handle PPOs and address the needs of victims. Clients are unsafe and need legal protections granted by the court to protect them from their assailant. Expectant Parents Organization: Prenatal and Parenting Classes Low-income expectant parents in the tri-county need to build their skills and knowledge in order to care for infants and young children, changing attitudes to enhance infant health and safety. The program includes prenatal and parenting classes, as well as a clinic education program. There is also a teen prenatal series and outreach to local schools. Financial assistance is available for the low-income target group. Mothers-to-be targeted for help often do not seek prenatal care until late in their pregnancies, increasing their risk for problems for themselves and their babies; this is the only community program offering a broad range of help for expectant parents. Legal Services of South Central Michigan: Legal Services for Domestic Violence Survivors Free legal services are provided to low-income individuals, victims of domestic violence, in Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties. Such help includes legal advice to survivors and their children in family law cases related to domestic assault situations, preparation of legal documents and in-court representation, and help with ancillary legal matters such as housing and public benefits that may impact the ability to live independent of the assailant. This is the only agency in the community offering free attorney representation to domestic violence survivors. Michigan State University Safe Place: Support Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Stalking and Community Education The support services offered by Safe Place provide immediate safety and prevent or minimize future violence; improve prevention efforts and community responsiveness to relationship violence and stalking; offer a learning environment for members of the community through volunteer and internship opportunities; and help victims become free of future abuse through advocacy, safety planning and educational scholarships. Services are provided to anyone experiencing current or past relationship violence or stalking. This program consists of two houses, providing a total of ten (10) beds for homeless and chronically homeless adult men. These individuals are able to stay as long as needed provided they are making progress on their goals. Using intensive case management services, the Center helps homeless men strengthen their life-skills, learn to manage the stressors of daily living, and obtain an income at a level to at least meet their on-going basic needs in order to break this cycle of chronic homelessness. Relief After Violent Encounter, Inc. (RAVE): Emergency Intervention This is Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP): Capital Area Interfaith Respite This is home-based respite care and visiting for two to four hours each week by trained volunteers. Those visited are chronically ill homebound seniors or disabled individuals. This gives full-time caregivers a consistent break and a stronger likelihood of maintaining emotional, physical and spiritual health themselves. In-home visits include a variety of activities including reminiscing, working on a hobby, help with running errands, or just friendly conversation. With such help, families are more likely to be able to keep their loved one living independently, at home. Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP): Senior Companion Program This program recruits low-income seniors to provide respite and socialization to seniors and their families in need of respite and friendly visiting services. These volunteers offer one-on-one companionship to the frail elderly, the developmentally disabled and chronically mentally ill individuals, giving a range of 20 to 40 hours a week to each client. They receive a small hourly stipend to offset transportation and other expenses they may incur. Families are able to keep their loved ones in the home with this kind of support. Siren/Eaton Shelter, Inc.: Emergency Services for Domestic Violence Survivors This shelter provides counseling, emergency shelter, food and more for victims of family violence, as well as a 24-hour crisis line. This is the only domestic violence shelter in the county, but individuals from St. Vincent Catholic Charities: Family Preservation The Family Preservation service provides parenting education to families identified as being at-risk of abusing or neglecting their children with the objective of keeping children safe and strengthening parental functions. Other objectives include avoiding out-of-home placement of children and providing help and guidance in the safe reunification of families. Family needs are assessed and help is given to set goals for the family, including safety, housekeeping, discipline, budgeting, parenting and listening skills. Families are referred to the program by the DHS and program staff work with families in their homes on average, 2-4 hours each week. St. Vincent Catholic Charities: Permanent Supportive Housing The Permanent Supportive Housing program offers leasing assistance and case management services to homeless individuals with disabilities in Ingham County. The goal of this program is to help individuals maintain permanent housing while accessing community resources to increase self-sufficiency. Safe and affordable housing is located for eligible participants and leasing assistance is provided until program completion. Mandatory case management services are provided to support participants in maintaining stable housing and self-sufficiency.
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