Housed and healthy: An urban initiative integrating health services and supportive housing

It is becoming more widely accepted that housing is one of the most important determinants for good health. But while obtaining housing is a vital step to achieving a sense of wellness, it is not a panacea for folks with more complex health needs. Housing retention and successfully engaging in health services to address these complex needs are the other pieces to the puzzle, and they often prove to be the more challenging component. The complex needs of these individuals call for a coordination of care between the people who are working with them. Often there is a large number of shared clientele between local housing services and healthcare providers, providing an opportunity for important partnerships and communication building. This presentation will be an overview of the challenges faced by housing and healthcare providers when serving a community that is often chronically homeless, receiving little to no income, and facing chronic physical health conditions and severe mental illness. The main focus of the session will be on the Housed and Healthy project, Central City Concern's initiative to develop strong communication and partnerships between housing and health services to better address the health-related challenges faced by our residents and the staff working to support them. The Housed and Healthy project has proven to be successful in identifying health needs, developing communication lines and care coordination processes between health care providers and housing services, and delivering promising and replicable approaches to supporting clients managing health issues once they have entered supportive housing. Housed and Healthy highlights the value of collaboration and provides a strong case for the need to work towards stronger relationships between health care services and housing support staff. Neither side can address the complex needs that many of their clients face without the assistance of community partners. The presentation on the Housed and Healthy project will describe how Central City Concern identified the needs of a community and how we are continuing to build upon relationships with our own health centers, Old Town Clinic and Old Town Recovery Center, as well as outside health care facilities, to provide our clients with ample support to meet their health needs and lead them towards self-sufficiency. While many major stakeholders in the project are a part of Central City Concern, the efforts of Housed and Healthy can be replicated in other organizations. The collaboration between CCC and outside agency partners truly exemplifies how health care providers can partner with external housing providers to build in care coordination practices and better support those they serve.