DMH Awarded SAMHSA Grant to Help End Homeless for Vermonter’s With Mental

BURLINGTON, VT – September 18, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The Vermont Department of Mental Health is pleased to announce a new grant award from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to help end homelessness for Vermonters with mental illnesses. 

In collaboration with Pathways to Housing, a national leader in serving homeless people, the Vermont Partnership will use two evidence-based approaches to assist chronically homeless people in both rural and city settings find and keep housing. Recognizing that safe housing is the first step in individual recovery the Vermont Partnership will use the “housing first” approach in which no-strings housing is combined with assertive community treatment and care outreach teams to meet the complex needs of individuals with mental health, substance abuse, health care needs, and co-occurring illnesses.

This SAMHSA “Services and Supportive Housing Grant” is a five year award of just under $400,000.00 annually to Vermont. In the first year of the project an estimated sixty individuals will be served in the Burlington area. In the following years of the project the approach will be adapted to rural locations and will service up to one-hundred and fifty additional individuals across the state.