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| Friday, May 16, 2008 |
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Purpose: To help homeless and near-homeless women and children achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence.
The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center provides stabilizing resources for homeless and near-homeless women and their children. The Center's goal is to offer basic needs, information, strategic referrals, support, and skill development so women can achieve and maintain self-sufficiency and family stability.
24-Hour Shelter
The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center offers 24-hour shelter for homeless women and their children. The Center maintains 16 bedrooms, sharing a kitchen, two living areas, children's playroom, laundry room, computer work stations and private meeting spaces. Women and children can live in the shelter for up to 90 days. The atmosphere is safe, supportive, yet structured to help clients achieve their goals of independence and self-sufficiency.
Daytime Resources
The Center also offers a daytime drop-in program on Monday - Friday, from 9a.m. - 3p.m. to provide women and children with access to basic needs such as a hot meal, shower, laundry facilities, newspapers, telephone, clothing, food, diapers and other toiletries.
Case Management
The case management service model helps women identify, prioritize and resolve problems to improve their situations. The on-site case manager provides one-on-one guidance, encouragement, accountability and direction to the most appropriate community resources who can help with barriers such as affordable housing, mental illness, legal services, job skills, substance abuse treatment, affordable child care, domestic violence and more. The case manager helps clients set goals, provides them with appropriate information, and plots realistic solutions to be attained during their stay at shelter and beyond.
Post-Shelter Outreach Support
A post-shelter outreach specialist provides a continuation of case management services in women's homes to assist with working toward goal achievement for up to one year after departing from The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center. The Specialist offers a holistic approach to working with each client to guide them in tackling the seemingly insurmountable challenges that they face to help them maintain long-term self-sufficiency. The Specialist assists clients by working with appropriate services within the community, offsetting discouragement, monitoring progress toward goals, improving her self-concept, and assisting with establishing a support network.
Advocacy and Support Groups
The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center provides one-on-one support, peer support and group support for homeless and near-homeless women. In addition, Waypoint offers the same services to women and children who are victims of domestic violence, a situation that often contributes to homelessness.
Child Advocacy
An on-site child advocate assesses and supports the needs of each child living at The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center and provides positive interaction and planned activities during their stay. The child advocate also provides parent support and education, and works with area schools and other agencies to advocate for children who come to the shelter.
Skills Training and Seminars
The Center provides job and life skills training by working with a network of community businesses, organizations and individual volunteers. Seminars and classes are offered on topics such as computer training, job skills, balancing a budget, parenting and nutrition. The Center has comfortable meeting areas and its own computer equipment for these training sessions.
Community Education
Another important goal of our program is to provide awareness and education to the public about the causes of homelessness and what can be done to end this problem in our communities. Our staff is available to speak to community organizations, schools and businesses by calling Waypoint at 319/365-1458.
| Causes of Homelessness |
- Lack of affordable housing
- Lack of affordable child care
- Unemployment/underemployment
- Poverty
- Domestic violence
- Mental illness
- Substance abuse
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Testimonials
"I had lost my job and then my home due to my child's illness. The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center 24-hour shelter gave me a home until I could get on my own again. It was an enormous blessing."
"After six years, I finally gained enough courage to leave my husband. Although I had a full-time job, it just wasn't enough money to cover my rent, car payment and other bills. I needed assistance. I was scared the day I came to the doors of the Waypoint Madge Phillips Center but they helped me through it and gave me a place to stay. I'm back on my feet with the right assistance to have an independent life for myself."
"I am a single parent with three children. We have our own home but live on a fixed income. The Waypoint Madge Phillips Center daytime resource program provides an affordable laundry service and helps my family meet our basic needs including food, clothing and toiletries. It also helps me provide school supplies and holiday gifts for my children."
Who is Madge Phillips?
Madge Phillips, May 1916 - May 2006, championed causes of women, children and the elderly.
Madge became a visionary and innovator in providing human service to our area as Director of the Linn County Health Center (now called the Department of Community Services). Her efforts there resulted in the establishment of the Child Protection Center, located at St. Luke's Hospital, a national recognized program to help protect sexually abused children from the horror of repeated demands to tell their stories.
Click here for more information on Madge Phillips.
To request more information on the Madge Phillips Center for the homeless, CLICK HERE to go to our contact page. Be sure to select Madge Phillips Center for the homeless in the 'What would you like to know more about?' dropdown menu before submitting the form.
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