Did Ms. Barnett ask: how much did it cost to save these people? Who paid the bill? How many full-time jobs were necessary to house, feed, counsel, and support these people? And have any of these people given back any compensation to the state or nonprofits who helped them? Are they currently employed; do they pay taxes?
CityTeam is almost entirely privately funded (save for City funding for their emergency shelter on SE Grand), so it's people of means and foundations stepping up to invest in the health of communities. This model is especially solid because public funding has never been sufficient to the task and is now increasingly unreliable. But it also requires savvy, vision and resourcefulness. Lance Orton, the executive director and himself a recovering addict (talk about cred), is a good example of what it takes to make a privately funded model work.
All of the people I interviewed for this story are either working right now or will be once they reach a certain level of stability; jobs - meaningful paid work - are integrated into the program because the whole point is to put people on a sustainable path, out on their own as contributing members of society.
Randall Krueger, who is only 27, works for a company that builds tiny homes for the homeless. He loves it; he's proud and feels a sense of purpose, which we all need.
Many addicts are motivated to go into drug and alcohol counseling because they want to give back and, with the incredible effectiveness of peer counseling in this kind of situation, we all need them to do that. So one of the paths that CityTeam helps with is supporting residents to get their counseling credentials.
Richard, thank you for this important question. Let me provide some insight. For the first 4-6 months, everything is paid for by private donors at CityTeam Portland who are invested in the transformation of our program clients. Once clients are stabilized and ready to enter our "work-phase" (employment is a requirement for graduation) they pay a program free (around $300/month or 30% of their income) back to CityTeam. This helps instill the behavior of fiscal responsibility, while also helping support our operations. And, yes, they pay normal taxes at this point. They also give back by contributing 10 hours per week doing various operational chores such as cooking, cleaning, and even driving for CityTeam. I hope this helps answer your questions. We are firm believers in compassion and accountability!
PS: Our total annual operating budget is $1.5M for both the men's and women's/Kid's program combined.
This is a very good article focused on the experiences of those suffering from addiction and ways that they found recovery.
Did Ms. Barnett ask: how much did it cost to save these people? Who paid the bill? How many full-time jobs were necessary to house, feed, counsel, and support these people? And have any of these people given back any compensation to the state or nonprofits who helped them? Are they currently employed; do they pay taxes?
Be nice to know.
Good questions.
CityTeam is almost entirely privately funded (save for City funding for their emergency shelter on SE Grand), so it's people of means and foundations stepping up to invest in the health of communities. This model is especially solid because public funding has never been sufficient to the task and is now increasingly unreliable. But it also requires savvy, vision and resourcefulness. Lance Orton, the executive director and himself a recovering addict (talk about cred), is a good example of what it takes to make a privately funded model work.
All of the people I interviewed for this story are either working right now or will be once they reach a certain level of stability; jobs - meaningful paid work - are integrated into the program because the whole point is to put people on a sustainable path, out on their own as contributing members of society.
Randall Krueger, who is only 27, works for a company that builds tiny homes for the homeless. He loves it; he's proud and feels a sense of purpose, which we all need.
Many addicts are motivated to go into drug and alcohol counseling because they want to give back and, with the incredible effectiveness of peer counseling in this kind of situation, we all need them to do that. So one of the paths that CityTeam helps with is supporting residents to get their counseling credentials.
I hope this helps. Thanks for reading the story.
Erin
Richard, thank you for this important question. Let me provide some insight. For the first 4-6 months, everything is paid for by private donors at CityTeam Portland who are invested in the transformation of our program clients. Once clients are stabilized and ready to enter our "work-phase" (employment is a requirement for graduation) they pay a program free (around $300/month or 30% of their income) back to CityTeam. This helps instill the behavior of fiscal responsibility, while also helping support our operations. And, yes, they pay normal taxes at this point. They also give back by contributing 10 hours per week doing various operational chores such as cooking, cleaning, and even driving for CityTeam. I hope this helps answer your questions. We are firm believers in compassion and accountability!
PS: Our total annual operating budget is $1.5M for both the men's and women's/Kid's program combined.