Service Groups and Faith Alliance Meeting

Apex Immigration Services

September 21, 2021

Attendees:

David Brown, President of Apex Immigration Service
Nicole Bernard
Niki Miller
Apex Chief Armstrong
Danica Coleman
Jim Ahler
Kim Adcock
Nancy Hagan
Gaby Iduate
Gladys D’Estefano
Marisol Paren
Officer Kenneth Ragland
Deb Vinci
Western Wake CM
Mindy Varkevisser
Western Wake CM

919-619-3952

Nicole introduced the connection of Undocumented Immigrants and their vulnerability to trafficking.  Nancy Hagan has expertise in this area and will contribute as appropriate.

David Brown has led charge for Immigration Services in the Apex area and Nicole came to know him from Western Wake Crisis Ministry.  This is a key service for United Methodist Church.  

David has been in Apex since 1995 and retired from GSK and is not a lawyer.  He shared the following information about Immigration Services of Apex via slides with us:

FOUNDED WITH:

Trusted source of information and low-cost, high-quality immigration legal services and funded by 4 Methodist churches in our area and individuals.

Nonprofit formed in 2016 serving since 2017…Pam Kenan serves as head of organization

Their offices are open Wednesdays from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Apex Immigration is DOJ-recognized to provide low-cost immigration legal services.  David is DOJ rep accredited by DOJ to practice immigration law as a non-lawyer…43 total firms in NC that offer low-cost immigration legal services. 4 in Raleigh, 4 in Durham, 1 in Cary, 1 in Apex 

CLINIC OPERATIONS:

• Partially accredited DOJ Rep… can’t represent client in front of judge or in detention with ICE
• Client services/data entry
• Staffed by volunteers and 2 parttime paralegals
• Currently have a Spanish translator only
• Can only provide immigration legal advice
• Charge nominal fee based on income

WHO WE HELP:

• Low-income refugees and immigrants from all over the world who need:
  • Green card
  • Family Visas
  • Citizenship applications
  • DACA applications
  • Travel documents
  • Temporary protected status applications
  • Referral networks of attorneys and agencies for complex cases

CLIENT PROFILE:

• Refugees are from all over the world
• Many immigrants from Latin and Central America
• Clients from all over the state, most are referred by a church
• Those who need help with DACA renewal, citizenship and Green card renewal make up over 50% of services

David shared client success story Equadorian who is now citizen 

Another story about Eh who was refugee from Burma who has started interpreter business to help clients and became citizen this year.

Takes a lot of work to help these folks…takes a family to help a family.

UNDOCUMENTED

• High level of fear and mistrust – forging partnership with local church and community support organizations
• Over 95% we cannot help as they have no path to a Green Card.  Issues include entry without inspection, falsification of documentation SS#, Multiple exits and entries to US, most face a 10 year or lifetime ban to reentry into US if they leave
• They help with Power of Attorney planning in case of deportation of one or both of parents

FUTURE PLANS

• Train staff on social justice issues ie, possible victims of abuse and human trafficking and public benefits
• Expansion of offsite support close to specific areas of NC where the need is greatest
• Develop and implement pro-bono attorney network

SUPPORT NEEDS

• Help identify collaboration opportunities to better serve their clients
• Increase awareness of resources among refugees and immigrants
• Donations of time or funds are always welcome

PRIMARY NEEDS:   

• Income for their clients/job opportunities
• Help with Schooling and other needs of their client’s children
• Domestic Violence psychological support
• Emotional Abuse psychological support
• Food

QUESTIONS:

If specialist/professional wanted to offer life skills classes, are you able to accommodate for that? They are not, but partner agencies are able to do so for them, such as Fiesta Cristiana. Needed classes would include ESL, Citizenship class, teaching Spanish-only speaking clients how to read and write in Spanish.

There is a Battered Immigrant Program offered by Legal Aid. However, hard to get through by phone and requires patience.  

NC Human trafficking commission (Nancy) shared she has been working with a group of attorneys and service providers (pro-bono) to compile list of information on the complex issues of immigration and will it eventually be posted on NC Human trafficking website.    Unethical legal providers take advantage of those that need help.  Immigration reform is so needed.

First United Methodist Church in Cary participant…multiple re-entries question.  Must have protected status to exit and re-entry.

Risk of exploitation: Nicole noted many possible vulnerabilities of immigrants during David’s presentation:  couch surfing (homeless); work needed.  David shared that if serving refugee, they have protected status and will not be deported.  For immigrants, pay attention to the details of their story in order to assist appropriately – utilize community resources so they can get into the system to receive good reliable advice.

Nicole asked if Nancy would she provide indicators someone might be exploited: legal status matters, ie spouse has legal status and other doesn’t so it can be a point of abuse; apply for status through a family member which creates dependence; temporary work visas (seasonal) and have expiration date create tie to the employer allowing opportunity for abuse.

David also shared there are cases when an individual has been cheated out of wages, but resolution is almost impossible.

Service Groups and Faith Alliance

Foster Care

May 18, 2021

Attendees:

Kim Adcock ,Ryan Doherty, Wanda Reives, Kimaree Sanders ,Cheryl Stallings, Dean Duncan, Nancy Hagan, Sonya

Edwards, Mary Mackins, Mindy Varkevisser, Jodi Bailey, Danica Coleman,Britney Williams, Nicole Dozier, Deb Vinci, Jodi Bailey, Elizabeth Hunter

Announcements:

White Oak Foundation will provide tutoring June 13-Aug 14, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00-7:30. If you know of a student who may have fallen behind during the pandemic and in need of academic help over the summer please contact Juanita Young at juanita.young31@yahoo.com or 919-362-6799. In addition, if you know of any teachers who might be interested in providing their services, please let them know per diem will be paid.

Ms. Adcock informed us thatMay is National Foster Care Month. She emphasized the fact that foster care offers support to families and is not meant to be a substitute for birth parents. The plan is also to reunite the children with their parents. The Five Protective Factors were reviewed from last month’s meeting: parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parent and child dev, concrete support in terms of need, social connections.

Data for Wake County:

• ●  488 children are in foster care.
• ●  397 children are under 18 years old and 91 are age 18 to 21 years old.
• ●  Race/ethnicity: 225 are African American, 66 are Latino, 50 are Multiracial, and100 are White.

Nicole Bernard, Officer Kenneth Ragland, Niki Miller,

Meeting Minutes

Summary:

Kim Adcock, of Wake County Child Welfare, spoke to us about foster care.

• ●  Ages 4 -12 is the biggest age group followed by 13-17 year olds. Ms Adcock mentioned that 13-17 are very vulnerable ages and this group is at a higher risk for trafficking.
• ●  Foster Homes: Regular (115), ICPC (12), kinship (22)
• ●  Most homes are full and more homes are needed
• ●  Apex has 14 licensed homes
• ●  The biggest needs are for home in the 27610 zip code and homes for 13-18 yearolds, sibling groups and those who are medically fragile. Requirements for becoming a Foster Parent in Wake County

• ●  Must be 21
• ●  Wake County resident
• ●  Stable home and income
• ●  Adequate sleeping space (own bed without sharing with biological kids
• ●  Background check
• ●  Willing to engage in shared-parenting
• ●  Open heart and mindEvents for Foster Care Month (May):

• ·  May 4 FC kickoff
• ·  May 11 monthly info session
• ·  May 19Door knocker campaign
• ·  May 21 foster parent drive thru
• ·  Awareness information available at Public Libraries all month How can you help:

• ·  Volunteer
• ·  Word of mouth
• ·  Inform
• ·  Congratulate for Foster Parent appreciation
• ·  Raise Hope: Foster4wake@wakegov.com 919-212-7474

Introduction of Sonya Edwards, Foster Parent for 25 year and volunteers with Shield NC.

Ms. Edwards finds foster parenting very rewarding and considers it a ministry though it can be challenging at times. She emphasized that kids need us, caring adults. She explained that a monthly stipend check to ease financial needs is provided.

There are currently six kids living in the child welfare office building because they don’t have a home and have been there 6-7 months sleeping on air mattresses. This is not good for the kids. The kids really need TLC, discipline, structure, and to know they are heard and cared for.

Q&A

1. Has Covid impacted the number of children in foster care? Ms Adcock says that her department hasn’t seen the impact of COVID as yet but they expect to see an increase. Since educators are the biggest source of reports to CPS, having no interaction in the school environment so this is contributing to the lull in reports.
2. Where are referrals from? Educators are primary reporters.
3. How many referrals for children are coming out of trafficking situations? How longwill they be in foster care? Goal is within 1 year, however other issues mayrequire rebuilding the support system.
4. How soon do foster children gain access to health care and mental health care?Ms. Adcock answered that the children are seen by health care providers within the first 7 days and provided services they may need. She explains that the first thirty days in foster care are usually intense as professionals address the many needs the children have due to their history of neglect.
5. Is it important to keep children in the areas where they were living before being taken into care? Yes. The children need to stay connected to the same school, medical providers, outside activities, family and friends. The goal is to reunify so moving the children to a different area would complicate the achievement of that goal.
6. How can churches help with this? There are 1700 churches in Wake County – Imagine what it would be like if every church had 1 foster family and was able to provide support for the family by helping with daycare, setting up a meal train, being an emotional support and providing reinforcement of values. It would be a game changer!

Ms Adcock reports that “shared parenting”, between foster parents and birth parents, is necessary and requires ongoing communication. The attachment between birth parents and child must be maintained, and the example of birth and foster parent cooperating is

so important. 43% of birth parents were in foster care themselves at some point in their life. Foster families are a lifelong relationship.

The frequency of foster kids running away from their foster parents is an issue that needs to be addressed. Collaboration is key. This is not the fault of Foster Parents but education is needed on human trafficking for foster parents to understand the dangers.

Personal story from Ms. Edwards: She once fostered 2 male children. One of them went on to graduate from college. He then returned home to help his birth mother care for his younger brother: The other male child she fostered, joined the Navy,attended nursing school. After becoming a LPN, he also returned home to encourage his sister to go to nursing school. His mother got sick and he and his sister cared for their mother.

A female child that Ms. Edwards fostered, returned home to care for her younger sister while in college. In Ms. Edwards, experience, the foster children often take on a parent role for their birth parents. Kim commended Sonya on her success with this difficult family situation.

Ms. Adcock stressed the fact that foster parents must have the belief that people can change. Otherwise, their negativity affects the foster children. Birth parents usually don’t know how to meet the children’s needs and are grieving. It is important that the foster parent continue to patiently work with birth parents and provide support.

Churches in our area who support foster families:

● ●

Apex Baptist has a foster care and adoption ministry called Village 127. Drew Stallworth from Apex Baptist will share more with us about their ministry soon.

Jodi Bailey from Summit Church shared that this week they will host a Renew Retreat for foster families (200 people signed up so far). https://renewretreat.org She shares that foster parents need support. Summit Church has volunteers who reach out and love these families. Also to help reach the community, on June 12 Summit will host a Family Fun Day for Foster Care Families. If you know of anyone who would be interested please have them register. https://summitchurch.com/event/1501 How to get started? Jodi graciously offered to share with other churches how to get started with this type of ministry. She said the main need is volunteers with the willingness to do the work. Jbailey @summitchurch.com

ShieldNC – Nicole says vulnerabilities she sees for trafficking often tie back to fostering and this would help to stop them early on.

Child Abuse of NC spoke last month about hosting a community café and gathering stakeholders to discuss how to address the vulnerabilities Apex citizens are experiences, especially those created by the pandemic . Reach out to Shield NC if you are interested in being a part of the planning of Apex’s Community Cafe event.

Service Group and Faith Alliance – Prevent Child Abuse NC 4/20/2021
Meeting Minutes

Attendees: Councilwoman Cheryl Stallings, Niki Miller, Brittany William,s Nicole Bernard, Kris Demers, Toria, Nancy Hagan, Chris, Officer Kenneth Ragland, Officer Victoria Carter, Mindy Varkevisser, Ashlin Moore, Tracey O’Neal, Thomas Klatt, Sonya Edwards, Deb Vinci, Kim Adcock, Karen Morant

Announcements:

● Thank you from Nicole Bernard for assistance from Esther International and Brittany Williams for coordination with foster children.

● Shield NC is fundraising to hire consultants to prepare handouts for trafficking.
● Introduction of Child Abuse Prevention presenters and program for today: Tracey O’Neal and Kris Demers.
● Brittany Williams provided Esther International House update for a restoration home to serve 1-4 women now. They expect to be working with and walking alongside case managers and current clients to provide housing. They are looking for something smaller house wise and for churches and groups to help with rent for these places for the next year as they get started. Please reach out to her if you can help in any way. Also looking for board members ideally with fundraising experience. https://est-her.org/

Notes:

Tracey O’Neal, Faith-Based Partnership Engagement Manager at Prevent Child Abuse NC began 1 1/2 years ago and found faith communities have been very helpful in helping with child abuse. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) presentation to be shared highlighted that Prevent Child Abuse NC and Shield NC share goals particularly around community involvement to protect the vulnerable. “Possibilities are endless when communities unite to protect the vulnerable”

● Faith communities have a special role in health and well being of communities. 1 in 4 individuals in need will go to the Faith Based community first. Those who participate in religious services are happier, less likely to have substance abuse issues and most likely to volunteer. Faith Communities provided 40% of social net services.

● We then watched a TED Talk by Dr. Nadine Burk, “How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime.” ○ Childhood trauma takes many forms. Dr Burk was trained to refer victims to agencies but determined a causal issue after she opened CA Pacific medical center. ○ Exposure to trauma affects physical health. Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) was a common denominator and 67% of individuals with illnesses had one Adverse Childhood Experience while 12% had 4 or more Adverse Childhood

Experiences. Health outcomes were worse for individuals with higher ACE scores. ○ Impacts of ACEs were noted on brain structure and development,as well as on the developing immune system ○ Professionals are beginning to learn how to disrupt the negative impacts and physical outcomes. It is treatable and beatable. Need courage to look at this and recognize it is all of us.

● Faith communities naturally provide protective factors. Prevent Child Abuse NC has identified 5 protective factors: ○ parental resilience ○ social mental competence of children ○ concrete supports ○ knowledge of parenting and child development ○ social connections. https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/resource-hub/protective-factors/

● (Strengthen families and communities…. To be sent to Niki)
● Connections Matter Congregation: https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/resource-hub/protective-factors/

Next, Kris Demers, Communications Manager of Prevent Child Abuse NC provided a wealth of information and resources. https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/our-work/policy/
● April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

● Be a connection for children in your community
● Connections Matter NC identifies ways to be a positive connection and strengthen families (link?} Questions and Ideas for Helping: ○ Pinwheels for Prevention ○ #Be a connection campaign – post ideas for support ○ Digital advocacy day April 21 ○ Online store ○ Request a speaker ○ Toolkit ○ Recognize and Responding What is Children Sabbath – highlighting in your service raising awareness of child abuse including human trafficking What is Community Café – asking hosts (church) and agencies/communities what they want to improve; harvest repetitive relevant topics and how to address issues and highlight great things. Screen TED Talk as a great way to shift perspective. All
North Carolinians are mandatory reporters of abuse in NC. DHHS and Child Abuse NC combine to help if a child is identified as a victim of abuse. Online checklists for policies and tools in dealing with children.

Attendees:

Councilwoman Cheryl Stallings Bianca Mason
Emily daCamara
Nancy Hagan

Officer Kenneth Ragland Mindy Varkevisser

Announcements:

Niki Miller
Nicole Bernard Toria
Chris
Danica Coleman

Service Group and Faith Alliance LGBTQ Youth and Human Trafficking 3/16/2021
Meeting Minutes

● Esther International is holding a Vision Night on March 28th.

Notes:

Kori Hennessey, Director of Education and Programs at the LGBT Center of Raleigh, presented on why LGBT youth experience greater vulnerability to exploitation and how communities can respond to better prevent their trauma.

• LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately trafficked
•  1 in 5 homeless youth become trafficking victims.
• 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+ in the US.
• 46% of the homeless youth that identify as LGBTQ+ ran away from homebecause their family rejected them. (Most often, a LGBTQ+ youth becomes homelessness because they run away from home due to family rejection. The second most frequent reason a LGBTQ+ youth becomes homeless is because they are forced to leave their home when their family learns of their sexual preference.)
• 56% of transgendered youth are involved in commercial sex
• 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ homeless youth are likely to be lured into trafficking within 48hours of leaving homeKori brought our attention to the 2020 State Index on Youth Homelessness, which scores all 50 states on the states’ efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness. https://www.youthstateindex.com/north-carolina

According to this report, North Carolina’s overall score was 35 out of 100. Please see link above for the full report.

How can we help?

Kori suggests the following initiatives:

1. Fund community-led solutions, for example, donate to nonprofits andorganizations that support and create safe places for marginalized and at riskyouth
2. Create safe spaces and peer-led support groups. Kori explains that LGBTQ+youth are more likely to be open and honest with other peers and younger adults.
3. Service providers can offer gender-friendly services. They can also use inclusivelanguage, policies and approaches to be able to reach and support these youth.
4. Listen to what LGBTQ+ youth are saying when they confide in you.

Service Groups and Faith Alliance Mental Health
Feb 16, 2021

Attendees:

Nicole Bernard, Officer Kenneth Ragland, Niki Miller, Danica Coleman, Mindy Varkevisser, Cheryl Stallings, Toria, Britney Williams, Kim Adcock, Jim Ahler, Terri Reed, Maria Cervania, Sonya Edwards, Joi Whittington, unknown

Haley Gray was our speaker today. Haley is a successful business woman, a best-selling author, holds an MBA from Duke’s prestigious Fuquay School of Business, founded Women’s Entrepreneurial Network Group and is Founder and CEO of Fiercely Marketing. We are grateful that Haley made time to speak to our group and share her experience navigating the health care system after her daughter’s horse-riding accident resulted in a traumatic brain injury and subsequent psychosis. We were impressed by Haley’s willingness to share the personal details of her family’s struggle and we admire her courage to speak out and advocate for change.

Haley’s daughter, Laura, was in a horse riding accident in Dec 2015 when she was 17. She was able to complete the competition and fly home. When her family picked her up at the airport, they knew right away that something was wrong. Her conversation was nonsensical. “It was like Alice In Wonderland” or “the worst acid trip.” Laura was hospitalized and the family was forever changed.

Laura was diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and immediately the gaps in our mental health system began to be exposed. The doctor who diagnosed Laura with a TBI told the family that TBI’s do not usually lead to major psychiatric issues. Since then, Haley learned how very wrong that doctor was and how incredibly common it is for psychiatric issues to occur after traumatic brain injuries.

Since that day, Laura has had 18 hospitalizations; each a result of an attempt to commit suicide or homocide, all while still under psychiatric care.​ Laura often has delusions and some of them have resulted in attempts to harm or even murder her family. This left her family sleeping with one eye open or in shifts. She was not able to return to high school because she was unable to hold her thoughts together. She received additional diagnoses of Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and autism.

Major deficits in the number of beds in North Carolina’s psychiatric hospitals led to ​several stays in emergency rooms for weeks at a time​. In one instance, Laura stayed in a room in a

hospital emergency department for 7 weeks waiting for a bed in a psychiatric hospital! It is important to note that the psychiatric rooms in emergency departments are nothing more than holding cells. They are empty except for a bed and maybe a rubber chair nailed to the floor. There are no windows so no natural lighting and visitation is restricted. “Staying in a room like that is enough to make anyone crazy.” Often their insurance company would insist Laura needed to be discharged, only for her to become suicidal or homicidal within days of release and return back to a hospital. One time, Laura was released from the hospital into an outpatient program. The outpatient program refused to continue treating her because her psychosis was “distressing other patients.” There was no place for Laura to go.

Central Regional Hospital consistently had no bed for her. Psychosis is not curable. “There is no medication or treatment that would render her not psychotic.” She needed 24 hour awake care because of her homicidal and suicidal tendencies but there was no place for her to go and her family was at a breaking point. It is at this point that many families would kick their psychotic relative out of the house for the safety of others. The link between homelessness and mental illness is perfectly illustrated in this story. Also evident is how untreated mental illness leads to overcrowded prisons and overburdened emergency rooms. Ms. Gray also pointed out that patients with persistent mental illnesses often become drug addicts. Instead of abandoning their daughter, the Gray’s pushed on and persistently advocated for her. This included driving Laura to Central Regional Hospital and insisting they find a bed for her, which the hospital did.

So what is the answer?

Ms. Gray believes that when a patient is discharged from care, there needs to be a solid step-down discharge plan in place to allow the patient to ease back into a normal routine at home. A Continuum of Care is vital to the proper, humane treatment of these patients and for the mental health of their family members.

Ms. Gray also pointed out that several studies have found it is more cost effective to provide proper housing for mental health patients than it is to burden social services, hospitals, and the mental health system. This would increase the number of available beds, save money and improve treatment outcomes.

Finally, Ms. Gray emphasized the need for research and funding for evidenced based treatment, and the willingness for insurance companies to pay for those treatments.

Local policymakers were on the call today and vowed to make necessary changes to improve the mental health care system.

Service Groups and Faith Alliance Homelessness in Wake County Jan 19, 2021

Attendees:

Nicole Bernard, Officer Kenneth Ragland, Niki Miller, Kim Crawford, Apex Town Council Member Brett Grantt, Apex Town Council Member Cheryl Stallings, Yvonne Harrison, Frances Bisby, Phil Welch, Karen Morant, L Crosslin, Toria,Carla Witherington, Wendy Scott, T. Barksdale, S Peterson,Craig Varkevisser, Nicole Singletary,Jim Ahler, Joselyn Williams,Morgan Mansa, Mindy Varkevisser,Robin Hammond

Summary:

Nicole Bernard reviewed the 4 -level socio ecological model. The four nested, hierarchical levels of this model are Individual, Relationship, Community and Societal. This is the gold-standard model used to structure prevention strategies. We used this model to determine our Service Group and Faith Alliance topics for 2021.

Officer Ragland recognized Apex town council members attending the call and introduced ​Kim Crawford, the executive director of Raleigh/Wake Partnership to End Homelessness​(The Partnership). kcrawford@partnershipwake.org​https://partnershipwake.org/our-staff/

Ms. Crawford began by explaining the Homeless Crisis Response System in North Carolina as follows:

Several years ago, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated that 12 Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) regions be created in NC. The Partnership is a paid consultant of the Raleigh/Wake County CoC, the second largest CoC.​https://www.ncceh.org/coc/

HUD requires each CoC to:

1. collect data on service recipients and maintain one Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) per state.
2. maintain a Coordinated Entry (or Assessment) System to ensure fair and consistent access into the Homeless Crisis Response System. This system determines who is eligible for services and which services best fits their immediate needs.

Some tasks The Partnership assists with are training CoC professionals to properly maintain required records, convening the CoC twice a week, and applying to various funding sources on behalf of the many service providers.

So how did the system work in Wake County Pre-COVID?

Originally, there were 8 emergency sites where people could walk up and request an overnight stay. This was problematic because entry allowance was not consistent and the 8 sites were only accessible to locals since transportation is often difficult for individuals experiencing homelessness. There were 620 shelter beds available in Wake County pre-COVID.

How is the system working in Wake County now, during COVID?

About 6 months ago, a call center was created to rectify some of the problems mentioned above. (Currently the call center averages about 1,000 calls a week.) The call center employees’ initial goal is to divert the caller to other available services so the caller does not have to enter the Crisis Homeless Response System and deal with the negative effects associated. If a true need for emergency services is determined, call center employees would enter the caller’s information into the Coordinated Entry System and direct the caller to a shelter with open beds.​The call center phone number is 919-443-0096. The individual needing help has to call in for themselves due to confidentiality restrictions.

Due to social distancing mandates, the 620-bed capacity went down to between 400 and 450. Wake County worked with area hotels to secure more beds. At peak demand in late August, Wake County had 1,135 occupied shelter beds. Unfortunately,as of December 31st, the hotel beds were no longer made available. Currently, there are only 475 shelter beds in Wake County, but 600 beds are in need. Anyone who calls the Call Center now will be turned away or put on the waiting list.​The current wait to get into a shelter is 4 to 6 weeks!!​In addition, there are 487 households in need of an address. When the eviction moratorium is lifted, the situation will get exponentially worse.

Shelter workers and homeless service providers are overwhelmed and worn out.​Even though funding is coming from COVID emergency relief in the form of Emergency Solution Grant Funding, the housing program workers and managers don’t want it​. They can’t fathom accepting more work. They are simply overworked and do not have the stamina to keep up with the never-ending influx of individuals who need help. The whole system is overwhelmed.

The Raleigh/Wake County CoC has implemented an initiative called the ​Landlord Engagement Housing Navigation Program which approaches landlords and asks them to please set aside one or two housing units to help combat the homelessness problem in Wake County. ​Since there are 700-800 landlords in Wake County, they are hoping that his program will help supply hundreds of housing units. The details are here:​https://www.triangleaptassn.org/housewake​.​Notably, the program offers signing bonuses for the leases that go through their program. For a long-term lease, the bonus is $750, $600 for a 6-month lease, and $350 for a month-to-month lease signed.