Announcing the Opening of Featherfist's F.O.R.T. II
The Jim Proffitt Apartments
Transitional Living for Homeless Veterans
Featherfist is pleased to announce the opening of its new 32-bed, transitional living facility for homeless Veterans, located at 7254 S. Blackstone Avenue, Chicago IL 60619.
Environment
The facility offers a safe, secure and stable environment for single, adult, male homeless veterans. Each resident has his own bed and private place to keep his personal belongings, and access to laundry facilities and community kitchens. Support service staff is on site daily and 24-hour personnel and state-of-the art security technology are provided to guarantee the safety of both residents and staff. The facility also has several community areas where residents may gather to get to know one another and share experiences. This environment is conducive to developing a sense of ‘community’ among residents. Access to public transportation is within two blocks of the facility.
The Service Model
Each FORT II resident is an individual and has unique needs. A fundamentally respectful, slow-paced approach to relationship building that began during the outreach phase of engagement, on the part of each case manager, is essential to program success. Based on the Veterans’ Administration’s recommended services, FORT II case management staff and the resident work together to prepare additional Individual Service Plan (ISP) components based on needs identified during the initial assessment. Each resident must have a specific plan for obtaining residential stability through permanent housing, increasing skills and/or income levels, and achieving greater self-determination. FORT II service staff work in collaboration with the VA to support each veteran’s achievement of these objectives. Additionally, weekly house meetings are held to address facility concerns and residents are encouraged to share their previous week’s activities that focused on their ISPs. Goals are set on a realistic timeline and weekly meetings between resident and case manager help to keep the goals within reach. Residents are regularly engaged in activities such as attending classes, completing job training, applying for documentation and entitlements as needed, housing searches and improving daily life skills. Those participants requiring specialized case management to address barriers such as substance abuse, mental health issues, PTSD, etc., are referred for these services. Featherfist vehicles are available to transport residents to services unavailable at FORT II but required by VA and FORT ISPs.
Background
Featherfist and Jim Proffitt have a long-standing relationship. Back in the early 80s when Featherfist was out on the streets as a ‘volunteer’ organization, Jim Proffitt was also out there providing coffee and sandwiches to the vets. The Featherfist volunteers and Jim Proffitt and his volunteers would constantly run into each other in the same locations serving the homeless. They began sharing information about the homeless and assisting one another with services. Throughout the years, Jim Proffitt and Featherfist have continued to network together to help provide the most comprehensive and effective services for homeless veterans.
The FORT II is an enhancement of Featherfist’s FORT I facility opened in 2000 and located at 5714-16 S. Calumet Avenue, Chicago IL 60637. This 24-bed transitional living facility also provides supportive services to single, adult, male homeless individuals, but only 10-12 beds are dedicated to veterans. Featherfist developed the FORT II because of the increased number of homeless veterans and the demand for comprehensive, specialized services for them.
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