# Presentation: 482736

## Arecibo-Fajardo-Mayagüez- 

- Arecibo-Fajardo-Mayagüez-
- Ponce-San Juan

- Contact Person:  María F. Levis-Peralta
- PO Box 71528
- San Juan, PR 00936-8628
- Tel. (787) 474-6713
- Fax. (787) 474-6884
- Correo Electrónico: _[daybyday@coqui.net](mailto:daybyday@coqui.net)_

## The Chana and Samuel Levis Foundation – a philanthropic foundation that operates towards the achievement of a more agreeable coexistence and the overall well-being of our society 

We focus our efforts in two fundamental areas:
The education of our youth, in order to develop their maximum individual and socioeconomic potential
The recovery and reintegration of homeless people into society through the removal of barriers that perpetuate their homelessness

To attain these aims we create alliances, mobilize resources and create consciousness. We combine outright grants with our own initiatives, as well as capacity development, knowledge transfer, and support of best practices.

- We focus our efforts in two fundamental areas:
- The education of our youth, in order to develop their maximum individual and socioeconomic potential
- The recovery and reintegration of homeless people into society through the removal of barriers that perpetuate their homelessness
- To attain these aims we create alliances, mobilize resources and create consciousness. We combine outright grants with our own initiatives, as well as capacity development, knowledge transfer, and support of best practices.

**Mission**

## SOLIDARITY WITH THE HOMELESS

- Solidarity is a movement to raise awareness about homelessness in Puerto Rico and activate citizen participation.
- We encourage the creation of alliances between government, non-profits, academia, and corporations focused on eliminating the circumstances that cause and perpetuate homelessness while offering alternatives and opportunities that support stable permanent housing.
- We believe in assessment as a strategy that will improve our daily tasks and promote research and evaluations about homeless persons’ needs and services.
- We support action plans that respond to the findings of these assessments.

## DAY OF SOLIDARITY 2002
Focus:
Provide direct services to the homeless.
Raise awareness about homelessness.
Attain Mayor’s support for local Continuum of Care processes.
Motivate collaboration between the public and private sector to help the homeless.
Conduct studies on homelessness to help access federal funding. 
Where:
Municipality of Aguadilla 	▪ Municipality of Arecibo
Municipality of Guayama 	▪ Municipality of Carolina
Municipality of Mayaguez 	
Municipality of Ponce 	
Municipality of Caguas
Municipality of San Juan 	
Municipality of Bayamón
When:
November 26, 2002 – 9 am to 2 pm

OVER 900 HOMELESS AND 2,000 VOLUNTEERS

**Focus:**
- Provide direct services to the homeless.
- Raise awareness about homelessness.
- Attain Mayor’s support for local Continuum of Care processes.
- Motivate collaboration between the public and private sector to help the homeless.
- Conduct studies on homelessness to help access federal funding.
**Where:**
- Municipality of Aguadilla 	▪ Municipality of Arecibo
- Municipality of Guayama 	▪ Municipality of Carolina
- Municipality of Mayaguez
- Municipality of Ponce
- Municipality of Caguas
- Municipality of San Juan **	**
- Municipality of Bayamón
**When:**
- November 26, 2002 – 9 am to 2 pm
**OVER 900 HOMELESS AND 2,000 VOLUNTEERS**

**HISTORY & PURPOSE**

**Access to the State Health Insurance Card**

## DAY OF SOLIDARITY 2003 
Focus:
Raise awareness about homelessness 
Promote planning process
Attain mayor’s support for local continuum of care processes
Facilitate collaboration between the public and private sector to help the homeless 
Where & When:
November 24–25, 2003
Municipality of Arecibo
Municipality of Aguadilla
Municipality of Carolina
Municipality of Mayaguez
Municipality of Guayama
Municipality of Ponce
Municipality of Bayamón
Municipality of San Juan
Municipality of Yabucoa

OVER 1,100  HOMELESS AND 2,000 VOLUNTEERS

**Focus:**
- Raise awareness about homelessness
- Promote planning process
- Attain mayor’s support for local continuum of care processes
- Facilitate collaboration between the public and private sector to help the homeless
**Where & When:**
- November 24–25, 2003
- Municipality of Arecibo
- Municipality of Aguadilla
- Municipality of Carolina
- Municipality of Mayaguez
- Municipality of Guayama
- Municipality of Ponce
- Municipality of Bayamón
- Municipality of San Juan
- Municipality of Yabucoa
**OVER 1,100**** **** HOMELESS AND 2,000 VOLUNTEERS**

**HISTORY & PURPOSE**

**Entrepenuers and Media Personalities become homeless for a day**

## SOLIDARITY 2004

**Focus:**
- Raise awareness
- Commit mayors to develop 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness
- Systems integration and partnerships
- Identify service barriers and eliminate them
- Assessment of continuum of care

## THE ALLIANCE OF SOLIDARITY 

**MUNICIPAL**
**GOV’T**

**STATE**
**AGENCIES**

**CORPS, **
**NPO & **
**FBOs**

**VOLUNTEERS**

**PSH**

- SOLIDARITY

**MUNICIPAL GOV’T: **Health, Housing, Citizen Help, Planning & Development, other...
**STATE AGENCIES: **Departments of Health,_ Family_,Labor, Housing, Education, ASES, Elections Commission, other...
**CORPS, NPOs & FBOs: **Non-Profits, Faith Based and Community Based Organizations,Developers, Hospitals, Foundations, others...
**VOLUNTEERS: **Academia (Schools & Universities); Citizens, others...

**Homeless**

## 1st Mayoral Summit on Homelessness

**Purpose:**	Get commitment from all mayors in Puerto Rico to end 			homelessness in 10 years
**Attendance:**	7 Mayors and 17 additional municipalities represented
**Results:****	**~ 9 mayors have signed MOUs to end chronic 				homelesseness
- 			~ Fundación, OCAM and HUD have developed a TA and 		planning infrastructure for the planning process

**Mayor of Aguas Buenas, Executive Director of ICH, Mayor of San Juan, Executive Director Fundación, Mayors of Caguas, Quebradillas and Cataño, President and CEO Doral Financial Corporation.**

## HomelessBasketball Tournament

- The Municipalities of San Juan, Ponce and Mayagüez competed for the winner’s cup in this basketball tournament.  Each city government was represented by a group of homeless or previously homeless persons whose purpose, other than winning, was to send a message that homeless persons want to live healthy lifestyles.
- Each team was coached &/or
- supported by National
- Basketball Team Members
- who donated their time to this
- initiative.
- Fans and family members
- cheered the teams on.

**The San Juan Team**

## Group Processes

- Meetings are conducted with local groups from June to November. The purpose of these meetings are to:
- Involve a variety of stakeholders in the issue of homelessness
- Create a forum for homeless issues in the community
- Develop a local vision and mission of the Solidarity Process
- Establish the group’s goals and objectives
- Identify the strengths of each collaborator
- Develop an action plan

## Day of Solidarity with the Homeless

**Services Offered:**
- Food
- Primary Health Services
- Vaccines
- Access to Drug Treatment Programs,
- 	including Methadone Program
- Access to the State Health Insurance Card
- Showers
- Access to the State TANF/PAN Card
- Clothes
- Makeovers
- Information about housing
- Information about training and
- 	job opportunities
- Access to Mental Health Services
- Referrals to Service Facilites
- Transportation

**High School Volunteers**

**Profesional School Volunteers**

## Assessment and Followup

- The Day of Solidarity with the Homeless offers us an oportunity to assess our continuum of care strategy operating at its best.
- Each participant is evaluated and needs are assessed upon arrival when the participant arrives. At the end of the activity we measure our effectiveness in offereing the services requested.
- This information is later used in planning our local stategy to end homelessness

## Partners

**Mayors and Municipal Governments**
- Mayor of Arecibo – Hon. Frankie Hernández
- Mayor of Aguadilla - Hon. Carlos Méndez
- Mayor of Bayamón - Hon. Ramón Luis Rivera
- Mayor of Caguas - Hon. William Miranda Marín
- Mayor of Carolina - Hon. José Aponte
- Mayor of Fajardo - Hon. Aníbal Meléndez
- Mayor of Guayama - Hon. Héctor Colón
- Mayor of Mayaguez - Hon. José Guillermo Rodríguez
- Mayor of Ponce - Hon. Delis Castillo
- Mayor of San Juan - Hon. Jorge Santini
- Mayor of Yabucoa - Hon. Angel García

## Partners

**Secretaries and State Agencies**
- Hon. Yolanda Zayas - Department of Family and President of the Commission for the Implementation of Public Policy on Homelessness
- Hon. Johnny Rullán – Department of Health
- The Register of Vital Statistics
- Administration of Mental Health and Addiction
- State Health Medical Insurance Card
- Hon. Ileana Echegoyen - Department of Housing
- Luis Ramos González - Ombudsman of Veterans Affairs
- Hon. César Rey – Department of Education
- Hon. Agustín Cartagena –Hon. Román Manuel Velazquez - Department of Labor
- Lcdo. Enrique Vicens - Health Insurance Administration

## Partners 

**Nonprofit Service Providers:**
- Coalition of Continued Support for the Homeless in San Juan
- Coalición Pro Derechos a Personas Sin Hogar del Noroeste
- Coalición Criolla de Cuidado Continuo a Personas Sin Hogar
- Coalición de Servicios Integrados
- Coalición Pro Deambulantes
- Coalición Occidental Pro Bienestar del  Deambulante
- Coalición Pro Deambulantes del Este
- Alianza de servicios integrados a Personas sin Hogar
- Hogar Crea
- Fondita de Jesús
- Cristo Pobre
- Amor que Sana
- Others...
**Approximately 100 NPOs are represented**

## Partners 

**Universities and Profesional Schools**
- Instituto de Banca
- Universidad Interamericana
- Universidad de Sagrado Corazón
- Trinity College
- Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico
- Universidad Carlos Albizu
**High Schools**
- Colegio Puertorriqueño de Niñas
- Colegio Bautista de Puerto Nuevo
- Escuela Perpetuo Socorro
- Superior Trina Padilla Sanz
- Intermedia Carmen Salas de Torrado
- Segunda Unidad Higinio Figueroa and others...
**ABOUT 20 HIGH SCHOOLS PARTICIPATED**

## Partners 

**Banks**
- Doral Bank
- Banco Popular
- RG Bank
**Insurance Companies**
- Triple S/Blue Cross
- Humana
- MCS

## Partners 

**Churches and FBOs**
**Hospitals**
**Local Commerce**

## Media - Partners 

**Printed Media**
- El Nuevo Día
- Vocero
- Primera Hora
- San Juan Star
**Television**
- Univisión
**Media Tour**

## Barriers

- Political will – many public officials do not believe homeless persons can succeed
- Bureaucracy
- Systems allienate homeless persons
- Personal agendas
- Fragmented communities and/or services
- Non-constructive feedback

## Other Outcomes

- 250 Homeless Persons Accessed Treatment
- Department of Health developed a protocol for registration to the State Health Insurance that was suitable for homeless persons
- Over 500 persons recieved their State health insurance card
- A homeless person was given an award as a hero of our times by a local bank
- Over 2,000 volunteers have participated in the events
- Community planning processes are taking place

## Other Outcomes

- Several op eds and articles have been written about homelessness
- Emergency room and methadone protocols have been modified to attend homeless persons
- Access to other mainstream services (PAN, TANF, ASSMCA, PATH, PH, Food Stamps)
- Local actors wrote and developed a play after their experience in solidarity
- A service organization was formed to serve the gaps identified in solidarity