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Life in transition
Andrew Junker/CATHOLIC SUN
Regina Fahnestock found hope at Ozanam Manor. She has been living at the transitional home since November.
Ozanam Manor gives hope to homeless
By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
March 6, 2008
Scott Venable was in a bad place.
The 57-year-old worked installing ventilation systems in big buildings for years until a heart injury left him jobless in 2000. After a heart-bypass surgery in 2002, he was officially listed as disabled and moved in with one of his daughters.
When she lost her house shortly thereafter, it seemed like there was no place for Venable to go.
“The situation was kind of hopeless,” he said.
Thankfully for Venable, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is in the business of transforming such situations. He was referred to the society’s Ozanam Manor, a transitional housing facility near downtown Phoenix.
There, Venable got a bed to sleep in, three meals a day and a dedicated case manager he meets with once a week. The two of them plan for Venable’s future. Since he already receives Social Security payments and disability, the goal is to get Venable in subsidized permanent housing.
Right now, he’s on a waiting list.
“It’s just where you let yourself end up mentally,” he said of keeping upbeat through the ordeal. “I don’t let things get to me. The good Lord’s going to figure it all out.”
Venable is one of about 40 people currently living at Ozanam Manor. The facility has been around since 1985 and it serves roughly 150 homeless men and women a year.
“When people come in, they’re pretty well traumatized by being homeless,” said Murray Gibson, clinical manager at the home. “Typically, they’ve burned out on their families and friends at least temporarily.”
The staff and volunteers try to make new residents feel safe when they arrive. A resident manager meets with them immediately to help them get settled. Shortly thereafter, a case manager meets with the resident.
They set a plan for the future which centers around three basic goals: Residents should obtain or continue to receive a source of income, should gain skills in taking care of themselves and should obtain permanent housing.
While these goals are shared by all residents at Ozanam Manor, the different considerations and needs of each person are myriad. Many residents — especially the women — have suffered abuse in the past; others are in recovery from substance abuse and about one-third of the residents have some form of mental illness.
In fact, the facility only accepts homeless men and women who are either 50-years and older or 18-years and older if they suffer from mental illness.
“In the Phoenix area it’s unique in that it provides transitional housing opportunities for older and disabled people,” said Mike Bell, director of shelter services.
“What’s important about it is it’s small enough to be intimate where people know each other and there’s a community,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s big enough to have professional case managers and the case managers can bring in mentors.”
Mentors are volunteers who meet with the residents and assist them in finding employment and housing. They also simply spend time with the residents, who are often estranged from their families.
For Sheila Woodraska, this is her second stay at Ozanam Manor. The 45-year-old suffered an abusive husband and left him to stay at the facility a few years ago. After a while, she returned to him, but he died recently.
A brief stint at her daughter’s house “didn’t work out,” Woodraska said, and she applied to be readmitted to Ozanam Manor.
“I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I want to go back to work, give back to society what it’s given me,” she said. “I’m looking at being a security guard.”
In the meantime, Woodraska helps out with the other residents. They all have the opportunity to earn credit redeemable at any St. Vincent de Paul thrift store by keeping the grounds clean during their stay.
The idea is that they can use that money to help furnish an apartment when they move on from Ozanam Manor. But for some — Woodraska included — it can serve as an education in financial management.
“Sheila likes to spend money and collect things,” said Maribeth Schmidt, a case manager.
Woodraska laughed and said she agreed to a thrift-store-spending moratorium with Schmidt so she could learn financial restraint.
Lessons like how to manage a budget are essential at Ozanam Manor because at some point people like Woodraska won’t have case managers to help them daily.
After the residents move out of the facility, the staff at Ozanam Manor keeps in regular contact with them for three months. This facilitates an easier transition from homelessness to permanent housing.
At the same time, Bell said, the line between the homeless and the housed is not as clear as many Americans think.
“When you see the residents, you won’t think of the stereotype of homeless people,” he said. “A lot of them are people who in the past have worked very hard. A lot of them have mental illnesses, but a lot of people who work in the community have mental illnesses, too.”
And many, like resident Regina Fahnestock, simply suffered medical injuries with accompanying expenses. She was a registered nurse living in South Dakota who had both knees replaced in 1984.
Never fully recovering from that operation, she moved out to Phoenix to live with a friend, but nothing worked out quite right. She was left without work, without a home and without any family nearby.
She entered Ozanam Manor this past Nov. 19 — Fahnestock was very clear on the date — and admitted that she was frightened at first, living in close quarters with women she didn’t know.
Eventually she made friends with some of the other residents and felt more comfortable. She said she’s realized now that “it takes all shades of colors to make a rainbow.”
And day by day, her knees are getting better. Her goal is to “get back to work. Get back to normal.”
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