Prevention and Retention is designed to help people retain their housing and prevent them from recycling into, or entering the homeless system. HOW accomplishes this in several ways:

• Cash grants made to those who need one-time rent or utility assistance to prevent them from becoming homeless. As this program continues to grow and is able to serve a greater number of individuals, it will ultimately reduce homelessness by stabilizing low-income families before homelessness occurs.
  

• HOW provides on-going support services to women who have been in HOW's programs and moved into independent housing in the community. Individual and group services include crisis intervention, resource advocacy, and linkages to community services. Follow-up case management services help support women in retaining housing and employment and maintaining sobriety and stability.
  

  Supportive Services

  Supportive services is a core component of HOW programming and is the "support" in HOW's Permanent Supportive Housing Program. These services help women establish and achieve employment goals, reconnect to the community, access community services, build social networks, and stabilize their lives.

  Comprehensive Case Management
  Case Managers work with women to develop a Transition Plan to establish short- and long-term goals. Case Managers provide the support and assistance each woman requires in order to accomplish her goals.

  Employment Services
  Economic independence is vital to regaining self-sufficiency and retaining housing. An Employment Specialist and Job Developer work in conjunction to ensure clients secure and maintain living wage employment. This program has an expanded community outreach component, "Community Partners" to further assist formerly homeless, homeless and very low-income individuals to secure career advancing, living wage jobs.

  
  

  Groups
  Support groups give women the opportunity to share their experiences and receive mutual support. These include relapse prevention, domestic violence, parenting, and empowerment groups.

  Educational groups provide information and impart life skills that help women stabilize their lives and achieve self-sufficiency. These include topics such as tenant-based workshops, and home maintenance groups. In FY06, HOW also added financial literacy to the topics, to further ensure success.

  
  

  Children & Youth Services Assists children and youth in HOW's programs in healing and overcoming the trauma of homelessness and helps them to live up to their fullest potential.

  
  

  Patient Navigator/Health Services HOW's health care program provides clients with a comprehensive services including Recovery Support, Domestic Violence Advocacy and Support, Chronic Health Care Services, Physical and Mental Health support led by a Patient Navigator, and Health and Wellness Activities.

  
  

  Community Outreach
  

  Partners for Rogers Park HOW is the lead organization in a newly established community and faith-based collaborative. This group works to ensure the continued and long-term social and economic well-being of the Rogers Park community.

  Housing Locator Services A full-time Housing Locator assists community residents at-risk of homelessness in securing affordable housing in the Rogers Park community as a further community-based effort to prevent an initial occurence of homelessness.
  

  Service Connector/Community Partners
  Additionally from FY06-FY08 HOW served as a Service Connector agency, helping to empower CHA residents living in private housing to achieve and maintain permanent self-suffiency. The success of this initiative served as a catalyst for a community employment program,"Community Partners" that views living-wage, career advancing employment as a key prerequite to achieving permanent economic independence.