“It takes a village”, a quote we usually associate to raising children. I also associate this quote with vulnerable populations such as individuals experiencing homelessness. It’s much more than a homeless shelter that helps individuals from experiencing homelessness to creating a stable environment for them to thrive in our community. It takes an entire community to come together, it certainly does take a village.

Did you know what the acronym UCAN stands for? It’s something I remind myself of daily to remind myself that it takes a village, and we are not alone in this fight against homelessness. UCAN stands for United Christian Advocacy Network. There are two specific words that remind me that we are not meant to work against homelessness alone and those words are united, and network.

When I was hired as the UCAN City Mission Case Manager I remember feeling like an island in my work, and immediately knowing that was a problem, I could not do this alone. This was the first time UCAN had a case manager on staff and I spent weeks networking with agencies, connecting with agencies, telling people what I was doing. I reached out asking how to refer individuals experiencing homelessness to other agencies, I reached out asking if agencies were accepting new clients. The more I reached out, the more doors opened and I learned how to utilize them. The village started to form and the island went away at UCAN.

Currently we work directly with dozens of agencies, we work closely with the Mental Health Association,The Chautauqua Center, Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene, Chautauqua County Mobile Crisis Team, Chautauqua Works, the Chautauqua County Jail system, probation, parole, Chautauqua Opportunities, and so many more. We also have volunteers who make breakfast for our guests on Saturdays, drop off baked goods, make a meal, donations of clothing, cleaning supplies. It takes a village to run the UCAN City Mission and we are so grateful for our village. If you want to be apart of our village please reach out, we’d love to have you.

The individuals suffer when we work as an island, we want to be person centered. In order to be person centered we need to work together and have the kind of continuum of care that exemplifies the highest standards. We want nothing more than to see a person move from crisis to stability in the most well rounded way, not just supplying them with a home, but supplying them with the supports from our community, from our village, in every area they need them in. It takes a village, it takes Chautauqua County.

Liz Witherspoon is the UCAN City Mission case manager.