Unique, comprehensive and innovative are not the only adjectives to describe Camillus House’s Day Center. For most chronically homeless individuals, the Day Center is known as the “oasis of hope”. In the entire Miami-Dade County, there is no other place like this onsite drop-in center where individuals sleeping on the streets are provided the first indispensable step towards fully regaining humanity.
For our Day Center clients like Rosa, this oasis of hope is also the first key entry point from where she fully regained her life back after more than two decades of being without identity and home! Two decades! One can only imagine how it must feel to be devoid of identity and without access to basic needs and services for more than 20 years! And not having any contact with family and loved ones only adds to that grief. Grieving indeed can be a solitary process, but when there is a strong support system, it becomes easier to navigate through the hardships of life. This is how the Day Center programming empowers our clients.
Besides providing warm meals, showers, clothing and other basic services to clients in need, the Day Center also offers IDs, Social Security and immigration help, and assistance accessing Rapid Rehousing to name only a few. Holistically, the Day Center programming provides housing referrals and access to mental health and substance abuse services, access to onsite job readiness and placement and medical care through sister agency Camillus Health Concern at an onsite clinic.
Through the help of staff and team at Camillus Day Center, Rosa has now restored her alien immigration number because of the legal aid services provided through Catholic Legal Services that Camillus House partners with. With the support from the programming, Rosa now also has her Florida ID. Finally, after 20 years, she has her food stamps reinstated and owns a golden passport that allows her to navigate easily through Miami Transit.
The best bit of it all is that she has also been referred to housing. The dignity of having a roof over the head is transformative and restorative. In a few weeks, Rosa will be able to move into her new apartment. To have her own cozy place to live after 20 years without services is a dignified moment in the lives of clients like Rosa. Thanks to the hard work of the team at Camillus House, Rosa is no longer invisible and identity-less. She is seen, she is heard, and she is compassionately cared for by her Camillus family.
From sliding away on the streets to the sustenance of the Day Center to long term permanent housing and food security, it is through the generosity of our community partners that Camillus can continue to offer these services. While Camillus House’s services are available to clients in Miami-Dade County, who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, the primary population is an estimated 600-800 chronically homeless adults. Last fiscal year, we served around 3,000 unique Day Center clients in need, providing the comfort of basic needs and crucial referrals to case management and supportive services.
There are hundreds of clients like Rosa, who were once Day Center clients and have now proudly transitioned into housing, employment and most importantly, self-sufficiency because of the services and referrals it provides. Transcending to becoming an oasis of hope, this is also a place where miracles happen!
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