Direct Services

Aurora operates services and programs that help to prevent and end homelessness in our community, from Homeless Outreach and Diversion to Rapid Rehousing, Permanent Supportive Housing and more. These supportive services are delivered by our agency’s staff of expert case managers and social workers.

Community Development

Aurora focuses its Community Development initiatives on research, advocacy, and public awareness of homelessness. We promote prevention activities and provide community awareness and education on the reasons, causes, and permanent solutions of homelessness. We also advocate for the social and economic changes that will be necessary if we hope to end homelessness.

People Served in 2018

Homeless (Street) Outreach Team

Aurora’s core service is our Homeless Outreach Team, in operation since 1998. It is one of just three such Outreach Teams in the State of Indiana (Indianapolis and Bloomington are the others). This five-member group of case managers serves as “boots on the ground” to provide care, supplies, and services to those living on the streets and in shelters. The team conducts initial coordinated entry assessments of clients to determine their needs and eligibility for services. They provide intensive case management to clients across the spectrum of homelessness and work collaboratively with homeless shelters and agencies in the community. Each week the team travels the streets to check on clients living in shelters or outdoors in the woods, near highways, and riverbanks, in abandoned homes or their vehicles. We take them supplies such as food and water, hygiene products, blankets, and clothing. For each client, our ultimate goal is to find a permanent housing solution while connecting them to other essential services (medical and mental health services, addiction treatment, transportation to care, etc.).

Rapid Re-Housing Program

Established in 2012, Aurora’s Rapid Re-housing program transitions homeless families and individuals who are living in transitional shelters or other temporary places into permanent housing. The program can end homelessness quickly for clients by providing housing alternatives and immediate financial assistance to those who qualify. Aurora’s Rapid Re-housing team provides clients with temporary rental assistance, which can help with utility and security deposits as well as rental and utility assistance. Our case management services include housing searches and employment, resourcing, as well as many other services. These increase clients’ self-sufficiency and help them stay housed. Our program supports the City of Evansville’s Landlord Registry. Rapid Re-housing is a primary, effective solution for ending homelessness because it rapidly connects those experiencing homelessness to permanent housing options. In the past year, we have helped over 100 households, with only 10% returning to homelessness.

    Vision 1505

    The Vision 1505 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) facility provides supported housing for 32 formerly homeless families totaling over 100 people. It was established by Aurora and the Evansville Housing Authority in January 2013. To qualify for Vision 1505, an applicant must have a disabling condition and documentation of their homelessness. Once this is established, Aurora conducts an assessment of the client to determine his or her vulnerability. Our community’s most vulnerable families are added to the PSH waiting list. As soon as a unit becomes available, our Team Lead and our property management partner, Flaherty and Collins, contact the client to begin their application process. Once the family’s application is accepted, Aurora’s on-site team at the facility provides them with case management, life skills training and other individualized services to ensure they become self-sustaining.

     

    Homeless Housed

    Beacon

    Aurora’s Beacon Permanent Supportive Housing program provides housing and rental assistance to individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. For each of our 25 clients, the program provides housing, case management and wrap-around support services that support their independence and stability. We ensure that clients are partnered with the agency or agencies best suited for their individual needs and circumstances. Our program partners include Aids Resource Group, ECHO Health Care and Southwestern Behavioral Health in Evansville. They work closely with our case manager to provide supportive services to clients who would be challenged to manage their access of these services on their own. Beacon is a scattered-site permanent supportive housing program that supports clients in individual apartments, rather than at a stand-alone facility like Vision 1505.

     

    Re-Entry Program

    Established in 2012, Aurora’s was the first Re-Entry Program in Indiana. It helps former offenders re-entering society successfully transition from incarceration to daily life in the community. Our Re-Entry Team provides support services and housing assistance to prevent clients with the greatest risk of experiencing homelessness from becoming homeless. The program helps clients avoid further criminal behavior by using a collaborative community approach that links offenders with housing assistance and intensive case management services tailored to their specific needs. This is accomplished by working collaboratively with service providers, community partners, families, and justice professionals. Only 18 percent of those we help return to criminal behavior (recidivism), less than half the state average.

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      2021 Recidivism Rate

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      Exit to Permanent Housing

      Housing First

      Aurora’s Housing First program provides rental assistance and intensive case management to individuals and families experiencing street/shelter homelessness in addition to a chronic mental illness and/or substance abuse.  Identifying some of the community’s most vulnerable through the Coordinated Entry System, the Housing First Team uses a progressive Critical Time Intervention process that coordinates integrating the household with long-term mental health / sobriety supports within the community with temporary rental assistance and housing supports.  

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