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The sounds of hammers and talkative construction workers greet you as you enter the double doors of Hancock Manor. The towering building used to house a YMCA until it was transformed into Impact Service’s first transitional housing project in 1995. Now it is undergoing a much-needed face-lift.
Hancock Manor is the home of Impact Service’s HomeBase program, the second level in the corporation’s Veterans Supportive Housing program. Impact Services began as a work program in 1974. It has since served over 17,000 needy Philadelphians each year. The program now operates in seven Philadelphia locations. The veterans housing program, located in Philadelphia’s Fairhill neighborhood, is one of the nation’s most renowned.
The renovation of Hancock Manor will add 15 new units and increase the number of veterans assisted by Impact. The program currently assists over 300 veterans per year.
“The HomeBase program is a self-sufficient program for veterans that are homeless,” says the program’s case manager Hasan Nasir.
Nasir has been with the program for four years and has seen the reconstruction of Hancock Manor blossom from an idea to a full-blown reality in October 2009. He doesn’t seem to mind that the walk to his office involves careful navigation around ladders, toolboxes and construction workers enjoying their lunches. Instead, his mind is on the new clients he will soon be assisting.
“Most of our clients come from different facilities, different Veterans Affairs Hospitals around the surrounding areas,” he says. “What we do is provide housing, one year temporary housing.”
Many of the clients at HomeBase make their way there after graduating from Impact’s introduction program located just three blocks away. HomeBase is
level two for the veterans from the Dual Diaganosis Program (DDX) and the Veterans Shared Housing Initiative (VSHI). These veterans have kept themselves clean of drugs and alcohol through level one’s therapy programs. They have also shown enough self-sufficiency to begin looking for employment. Nasir smiles proudly as he explains the services he provides to the veterans that have pulled themselves out of homelessness and addiction.
“Basically my job is to guide them along, I do a weekly sit down with my clients each week just to see where they’re at and if I have any suggestions I can give them to help them along in the process,” he says.
One such client is Larry Little, a former machine engineer in the Navy. Nasir leads the way to Little’s apartment in a recently completed section of the manor, a journey that feels like walking through a maze. Little stands at the door of his apartment wearing a crisp, blue dress shirt and sporting a neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard. His demeanor is polite and welcoming, but he is also reserved and soft-spoken.
“I think it’s fair,” Little says of the HomeBase program. “I can’t speak for no one else, I think a lot of people here they want a lot more out of it and I’m a simpleton.”
The HomeBase program is Little’s third attempt at getting sober, a fact he acknowledges with confidence and ease. Prior to coming to Impact Little did a stay at Pennsylvania’s Coatesville Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital, but found that the hospital’s rural setting hindered his search for employment.
“It’s an alright spot,” he says. “But the thing that’s wrong with it is I like to be in a place where you’re accessible to a lot of things. There’s no transportation out there, it’s hard to find work.”
Although Little is still, as he says, “desperately seeking employment,” Hancock Manor’s location on the lively Allegheny Avenue in Fairhill ensures that he has access to public transportation that will facilitate his search. The HomeBase program also helps by providing veterans with a home for twelve months and case managers, like Nasir, who assure they receive their veteran benefits.
“We do have a labor department that will help them get employment,” Nasir says. “Another thing is a lot of veterans are on fixed incomes, whether they are getting pension from the VA or social security and they are employable so we can give them the resources to find employment.”
Giving veterans the tools they need to find their own paths, rather than holding their hands every step of the way, is exactly what the HomeBase program is built on. The case managers and temporary housing are there as supportive structures while the veterans build on their self-sufficiency. But in the end, it’s all up to them.
“They’re very informant, they’ll help you but they ain’t gonna do the work for you,” says Little. “They’ll point the way, you just have to do your own leg work, which I appreciate.”
Follow the link to learn about Impact Service’s entry level Veterans Supportive Housing Program, VSHI/DDX.
Where’s the housing & career help for homeless veterans who are not crazy, are not addicted, who drink responsibly & will continue to drink responsibly?