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Coming Home Project: Six Car Pub Helps Amarillo's "Chronically Homeless"

Thanks so much to Colin Cummings (Six Car Pub & Brewery) and Amy Dixon (HMIS Program Coordinator at the City of Amarillo's Community Development Office) for stopping by High Plains Morning today. They shared information about the Coming Home Project, an initiative to help raise funds for area residents who are "chronically homeless." 

If you stop by Six Car Pub & Brewery (625 S. Polk, Amarillo) TODAY through Sunday, January 27th, you'll be able to impact their sponsorship goal of two individuals ($1,840). "For everyone who comes through the door,  Six Car will donate $1 toward the sponsoriship," Colin said. "It's a way for the entire community to connect with this issue." 

Have a question or a donation? Contact Amy Dixon by emailor give her a call at 806-378-6277.

To hear the full interview, scroll down and click the link below.

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About the Coming Home ProjectThis pilot project to serve the "chronically homeless" (i.e., those unhoused for three or more years) was initiated by the Community Development Department of the City of Amarillo, in partnership with Texas Tech's Department of Psychiatry, homelessness advocates, and other service providers. These individuals are often coping with numerous medical and psychiatric needs. This sub-population within the homeless population is often considered the "hardest to house."

Goals of the Pilot Project:

  • Serve 25 individuals
  • Housing is provided through the Amarillo's PHA housing choice voucher program.
  • Participants pay 30% of their income towards the rent - the housing voucher covers the rest of the cost
  • Clients of this program are supported by two social workers with extensive experience working with the homeless population
  • Dr. Stark from Texas Tech's Department of Psychiatry is providing the psychiatric care
  • The program model is the Housing First model of Services which is an evidenced based practice to serve this specific population
  • The social workers are responsible for providing comprehensive services, including assisting all the applicants with obtaining required ID, completing the housing application, taking clients on housing searches, and then once leased meeting with them in their homes a Minimum of once a week. They will accompany them to their doctor's appointments; assist them in connecting with services such as psychiatric care, employment, reconnecting with family, returning to school etc

The initial groups of individuals targeted are living at "tent city", we are also working with a few others that were identified by various service providers as having very long histories of homelessness and multiple attempts ay housing that has been unsuccessful
Why is this important?

  • This sub-population of the homeless will not be able to obtain or maintain housing without this type of intervention
  • HUD who provides significant funding for the homeless population has endorsed this approach for over five years
  • We are confident HUD will expand funding for the this program during next year's grant application cycle
  • The cost of running the program is less than leaving people on the street who frequently end up in the crisis services, such as the emergency room, shelters, and jail which are more costly then providing housing and support services
  • These are our brothers and sisters and we care for them, as we care for our own family

What's the biggest need?

--Donations: We do not have funding for furniture and housing essentials: beds, tables, chairs, dishes, kitchen appliances, shower curtain, trash cans, etc...

--Sponsorships: We need an additional 15 sponsorships or 15,000.00 to assist the rest of the clients as they move into housing

Currents Status: We are engaging 32 people, (some of who are couples). We have moved 18 people into housing, the rest are looking for apartments and or completing the initial stage of the housing application.

Six Car Pub & Brewery625 S. Polk, Amarillo, Texas 79101

Jenny Inzerillo joined HPPR in 2015 as the host of High Plains Morning, our live music program that airs weekdays at 9 am to noon CST. Broadcasting from KJJP in beautiful downtown Amarillo, she helps listeners wake up with inspired music from our region and beyond. Tune in for new voices in folk/Americana, deep cuts from your favorite artists, soulful tracks from singer/songwriters across the world, and toe-tapping classics dating as far back as the 1920s. Plus, discover underground greats that just might be your new favorite band.