Homeless Outreach Program

Park Center’s Homeless Outreach Program was founded in May 2006 as a pilot project of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission.

Our program consists of two components: SSI/SSDI (SOAR) and Street Outreach. Both our SOAR Outreach Coordinators and Street Outreach Specialists work seamlessly together within the greater Nashville community to help connect our homeless members with vital resources and services. Our goal is to return our members to the community as healthy, working and independent adults.

What is SSI/SSDI and SOAR?

SSI – Supplemental Security Income
SSDI –Social Security Disability Income
SOAR - SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery

Street Outreach Specialists help homeless individuals navigate the complex social services system and obtain social security cards, birth certificates, IDs, clothing, case management, medication, transportation, and housing, which provides homeless individuals with a sense of stability and dignity. Street Outreach Specialists also provide a consistent presence for individuals who are often overlooked and abandoned by society at large.

SOAR Outreach Coordinators work to increase access to disability benefits (SSI/SSDI) for people who are chronically homeless and have a mental illness through the Social Security Administration. Though the application process is often complicated and full of barriers for homeless individuals (i.e. the lack of a consistent address, income, telephone, transportation and medical treatment), receiving such benefits is a stepping stone to recovery as it provides individuals with stability, housing and hope. Park Center's Homeless Outreach Program utilizes SOAR strategies and our efforts have gained state and national acclaim. The SOAR curriculum is different from others in that it trains case managers to actively assist applicants, it focuses on the initial application and avoids appeals, it emphasizes documenting disabilities to reduce the need for consultative exams, and it is highly cost effective.

Referral criteria for SSI/SSDI assistance (SOAR)

Individual must be chronically homeless (1 year continuous or 4 episodes of sleeping on the streets or in a shelter over the last 3 years).
Individual must be living within Davidson County.
Individual must have a documented mental illness diagnosis.
Claim cannot already be in the application process with Social Security. Claim must be started from the beginning.

If you or someone you know meets these criteria and would like to send a referral to SOAR, please contact one of the following SSI/SSDI Homeless Outreach Coordinators:

Ashley Wright: 579-9510
Lauren Russell: 438-9894

Completed referrals can be faxed to (615) 227-6392. Once referral is made, a screening appointment will set with one of the SOAR Coordinators to assess eligibility for our program.

Awards and SOAR Success Statistics

Awards

Heroes in the Fight Award in 2008 from the Eli Lilly and Company, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Mental Health America advocacy organizations.
July 2008 program presentation of strategies and successes at the National Alliance to End Homelessness’s annual conference in Washington D.C.
Outstanding Community Service Award in 2007 from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, presented at Tennessee’s annual Ending Homelessness Conference
Mental Health Program of the Year Award in 2007 from the Nashville Chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness

SOAR Success Statistics

In Tennessee, less than 25% of all applicants who apply for SSI/SSDI are approved on initial application, and it is estimated that only 10–15% of homeless applicants are approved. Our program, however, has demonstrated a 97% success rate with homeless individuals (145 out of 150 approved as of June 2009), and while applications normally take anywhere from 120 days to two years, our average rate of determination is 55 days from application date. Consider that if the 145 of 150 clients who were approved for disability benefits so far through Park Center’s program maintain their SSI/SSDI eligibility for only one year, over $1,172,760 in federal funds will enter our state in the form of cash benefits from SSI/SSDI.

Contact Info

Corey Gephart, Homeless Outreach Program Supervisor: 887-8460

Jeannie Alexander, Street Outreach Specialist: 438-9706

Ashley Wright, SSI/SSDI Homeless Outreach Coordinators: 579-9510

Lauren Russell, SSI/SSDI Homeless Outreach Coordinators: 438-9894

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