For a year now, there has been a housing crisis hotline, CAC got $145,000 to run it because HUD wants us to coordinate services for homeless individuals. Here’s some new rules for it and the website is finally up!
There are some updates for Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline that I wanted you to know about.
1. The greeting now includes a reference to the HSC website which covers Housing Crisis Hotline information as well.
2. The greeting includes Spanish and Hmong with directions to press 1. This will allow participants to speak with a caseworker that will be able to assist callers by accessing interpreters through staff and/or language line services.
3. Option 1 to reach Housing Crisis Hotline staff is now being read last in the phone prompts. We are finding that callers wouldn’t necessarily listen to all the prompts, therefore quickly pressing 1 and leaving message about calls ins for shelter. You can press 1 at any time during the message, but we are hoping that moving it to last will reduce the number of callers that do this.
4. Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) Helpline has been added as option 6 in the phone prompts. This is NOT a specific phone line for homeless accessing shelter; it specifically for those that are in an unsafe situation seeking help.
5. The Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline prompt system (1-855-510-2323) is always be available to access. Option 1 (Monday-Friday 8:00-4:30) will have limited availability from now through the first of the year. Please note that Housing Crisis Caseworkers will NOT be available on the following days:
· Thursday 11/28 & Friday 11/29
· Thursday 12/25 & Friday 12/26
· Thursday 1/1/15 & Friday 1/2/15
6. Below is the Housing Crisis Hotline phone script for reference.Hello, you have reached the Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline. (Spanish and Hmong languages with greeting and directions to press 1). You can also access additional information at www.danecountyhomeless.org. Please listen to all of the following options in order to direct you to the best appropriate resource.
· If you are under the age of 25, please press 2 to reach someone at the Briarpatch Youth Services.
· If you are an adult with minor children and seeking shelter, please press 3 to reach The Salvation Army, the gatekeeper for family shelter in the area.
· If you are a single woman and need shelter tonight, The Salvation Army can provide shelter. You are welcome to arrive at 630 East Washington Ave. at 5:00 pm for dinner with an intake to follow. If you have any further inquiries about the single women’s shelter or need to leave a message for shelter staff, please press 4.
· If you are a single male and need shelter tonight, Porchlight can provide shelter. You are welcome to arrive at Grace Episcopal Church located at 116 W. Washington Ave on the capital square. During the summer, intake hours are from 7:30pm-10:00pm. During the winter, intake hours start at 5:00pm-9:00pm. If you have any further inquiries about the single male’s shelter or need to leave a message for shelter staff, please press 5.
· If you are currently unsafe due to abuse from an intimate partner, please press 6 to reach Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS).
· If are inquiring about homeless services and programs and wish to speak with a Housing Crisis Caseworker regarding your current situation, please press 1.
Somehow I have the vision of the sorting hat from Harry Potter in my head . . .
Here is the website announcement:
The Homeless Services Consortium (HSC) website has been launched. Special thanks to anyone and everyone that was involved in making it happen. Dane County Housing Crisis Hotline will work alongside Education and Outreach Committee on maintaining, updating, and keeping the site “fresh”. Check it out! www.danecountyhomeless.org
The “Home” page has the latest calendar events and updates such as the predicted cold weather nights for the week. Right now there are just some basic items on the calendar that are recurring, such as committee meetings. We are hoping to provide more detail as we go along, but it’s a start. Further, we did the best we could to find any errors before going live – but as we all know, things just never seem be perfect. J Give us a head’s up to Chloe Moore (CAC intern) chloem@cacscw.org if you find anything!
