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Advocacy Breaking out of the cycle of homelessness takes more than a temporary place to live. If often involves navigating the maze of services, agencies and programs that lead to self sufficiency.
At Morningside, our client advocates refer shelter residents to appropriate services, enabling residents to accomplish their goals of securing and maintaining independent living. If a resident is unfamiliar with a particular service, the client advocate may accompany the resident to the initial appointment. This can include prospective employers, other private/public service agencies and landlords. Morningside Shelter’s Resident Advocate, Nicole Sanborn, is usually the first person someone meets when they arrive at the shelter. She will do an initial interview and determine what a person’s or family’s needs are and will begin a plan to meet those needs. The advocate then meets individually with each resident daily to help them set and achieve goals. That process may include helping someone apply for food stamps and health insurance, writing resumes, finding jobs and childcare, and connecting with mental health and substance abuse counseling. Organizing weekly staff meetings is also an important part of the advocate position. The advocate is the “go to” person during the day at the shelter, which means also being responsible for some of the more mundane, but vital, tasks such as doing laundry and answering the phone.
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