Dayspring Center helps families and essential workers tackle homelessness
Lori Casson recalls when the little girl whose family had experienced homelessness some 20 years earlier returned to Dayspring Center as an adult Need help.
“Mrs. Lori,” Casson remembers of the woman calling her.
“It’s like uh-oh,” she said, pondering the moment, “someone knows me.”
Casson said the woman is doing well now and has a home of her own. But as the CEO of Dayspring Center, an emergency shelter for families with children, Casson spends her days working to avoid situations like the woman’s. by addressing the symptoms that lead to homelessness.
She hopes to change the life trajectory of the children who pass through the shelter so that they have a permanent home, less chance of becoming homeless and needing to come back into adulthood.
It can happen. After all, children are strongly affected by housing instability.
“He or she will also be poor as an adult if we don’t break this cycle,” Casson said.
Offer more than a bandage
The Dayspring Center opened in 1989. In addition to emergency accommodation, the center provides basic services such as food and clothing. Staff strive to connect each family with resources to address issues that can lead to homelessness, such as underemployment or lack of work, mental health issues, domestic violence and substance abuse.
Staff members also encourage and help families learn how to budget or attend workforce training and education opportunities.
As part of its programming, the Dayspring Center has a children’s services program that caters to children from birth to 18 years old who are living in the shelter or have stayed there in the past year. A follow-up program allows the center to continue working with families – sometimes for up to a year or more – as needed.
“We’re really trying not to just put a band-aid on,” said Casson, a trained social worker who worked at the Dayspring Center for two terms totaling about 30 years. She began her second term in 2005.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, families typically struggled with an issue that had a global impact on their lives, she said. Now, many are arriving with a multitude of issues that contribute to their housing instability.
“Homelessness is a symptom, not a cause,” Casson said. “We have to do more than provide housing.
Help the low-wage worker
A lot of people don’t come to Dayspring Center immediately after losing their home. They typically experience homelessness for several months or up to a year before entering the shelter, Casson said. During this time, they often move from place to place, stay with friends, family or in their cars.
Dayspring is able to service a maximum of 14 families at a time. The average length of stay is around 45 to 60 days, but the pandemic has lengthened it a bit.
Because it uses dormitory-style accommodations, the Dayspring Center partnered with an extended-stay hotel, located near Pendleton Pike, after the pandemic began so residents could distance themselves socially and isolate themselves if necessary.
“Most of the families I work with actually work,” Casson said, estimating that about 60-70% are working poor who do not earn enough wagesto comfortably afford all their basic needs. Before entering the shelter, many Dayspring families spend the majority of their income on shelter or may not qualify for government benefits.
Casson said the typical story he is told is of a family where a parent missed work for a few days because he or shefell ill or had to care for a sick child. The parent does not work full time and does not have paid time off and therefore has less money to spend on rent and food for his family. The situation is snowballing.
“These are what you call essential workers,” Casson said. “These are the gas station attendants. These are the Walmart employees. These are the CNAs (certified nursing assistants).”
Anticipate the need during the eviction crisis
COVID-19 made Casson’s job even more so more complex.
Before the pandemic, about 1,500 people were made homeless on any given night in Indianapolis, according to an annual tally of the city’s homeless population. About 88% of them lived in transitional housing or emergency shelters.
The city’s homeless population soared 21.4% between 2019 and 2020 during the pandemic. For much of the past year, a moratorium on evictions has kept some Hoosiers at home even though they lost their jobs or wages due to the pandemic. It’s over now, and Casson is watching the courts.
With the increase in evictions, she expects the Dayspring Center to see the number of referrals for families in need increase in the coming months once winter and tax season have passed.
And right now the calls are starting to increase.
“It’s Thanksgiving, it’s Christmas, and so people allow friends and relatives to stay with them,” she said.
After the first of the year, most families at Dayspring Center will generally receive a tax refund since they have children, Casson said. This tax refund is often used to provide housing, whether temporary or not.
“People tend to get into trouble right after tax time, after they’ve used up all their funds from their tax refund,” she said, “Then they start to seek refuge elsewhere”.
What is the mission of your organization?
The mission of the Dayspring Center is to meet the needs of homeless families with children and connect them with the resources they need.
How many people do you serve?
The center generally serves around 150 to 200 families per year. It usually comes back to 400 to 500 people. Casson said that the centercan serve 14 families at a time, staying 45-60 days.
What is your # 1 need?
Money.
“I would be a bad executive director if I didn’t say it first,” Casson said. “I always tell people that our needs tend to change.”
She advises those who wish to help take a look at the Dayspring Center website where they will find a wish list. Due to the pandemic, the center no longer accepts used clothing.
“If you look on our wish list, we have everything we need,” she said, “from the food we serve to our residents – because we serve around 3,000 meals a month to our residents. families – so from food to things that would help with our budget If I don’t have to buy food, that money can be used elsewhere.
Check out the wishlist at https://dayspringindy.org/donate/wish-list/.
How can people get involved?
The Dayspring Center has suspended its volunteer program due to the pandemic. However, Casson said she expects the program to resume after the first of the year.
“People can still volunteer, whether it’s an hour or an afternoon in different fields or whatever their expertise.” she said. “Groups such as congregations and schools – a group of friends – can do a fundraiser. Look at the wishlist, collect donations and drop things off and we can always arrange to pick up these items. . “
IndyStar Share Season
The joint mission of IndyStar’s Our Children initiative and the annual Season for Sharing campaign is to harness the power of journalism to make a difference in the lives of young people in central Indiana. We invite you to join us by making a financial contribution. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust will generously donate up to $ 25,000. All charitable donations are tax deductible.
This year, grants will be awarded to organizations that have gone above and beyond to serve children and families in central Indiana amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visit cicf.org/season-for-sharing to donate online. If you prefer to send a check, please mail it to: Central Indiana Community Foundation, Attn: Our Children, 615 N. Alabama St., Suite 300, Indianapolis, IN 46204. You can also donate by texting “SHARE” by SMS at 80888.
About the Dayspring Center
Address: BP 44105, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46244
Telephone: (317) 635-6780
Website: https://dayspringindy.org/
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact IndyStar reporter Alexandria Burris at [email protected] or call 317-617-2690. Follow her on Twitter: @allyburris.