by Lucy Webb Clinician at Interaction

In many places — and Windham and Windsor counties are no exception — the impact of homelessness is increasingly visible. Housing in our region is in short supply for people at any income or wealth level. Hotel and housing vouchers are scarce. Many members of our communities don’t have a safe place to stay. Mental health challenges, trauma, and substance misuse struggles are often exacerbated by the stress of finding food, sleep, and stability, even as those same challenges make finding secure housing difficult.

Systems currently in place can’t keep up with local needs. On top of that, harmful public rhetoric only adds stigma, making it even harder for people who want help to reach for it.

Many of Interaction’s programs are working with people to address those needs: Of course, our Clinical Department offers therapeutic and assessment services for people with a wide range of mental health and substance use needs, including clients who are unhoused. Through Youth Programs, our shelters provide housing and invaluable independent living skills to youth and young adults. The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project supports eligible youth and young adults with state issued housing vouchers through case management and landlord navigation. And in systems in which people who are unhoused are disproportionately vulnerable to criminal prosecution, many of our Restorative Justice Programs, particularly Tamarack and pre-trial services, connect people with behavioral health and substance use treatment.

Meeting these challenges requires persistence and partnership, but each step we take has the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives.