Laserfiche WebLink
11 <br />Question 3: Unwillingness to participate and limited availability are listed <br />as the top barriers to accessing services. How can we address these <br />barriers? (People with lived experience were asked: What are your barriers <br />to accessing services? What was successful/what worked well?) <br />People with Lived Experience: When asked what are their barriers to accessing services, people <br />with lived experience with homelessness listed the following: <br />▪ Addiction/substance use disorder <br />▪ People who are judgmental <br />▪ Having a criminal history <br />▪ Lack of funding for homes <br />▪ Not having dependents <br />▪ Not having a disability <br />▪ Lack of tenant history <br />▪ Being homeless but housed <br />▪ Having pets <br />▪ Having to do multiple intakes/paperwork and telling same story over and over <br />▪ Weekly goals that hard to manage/achieve (monthly goals might be more manageable) <br />▪ Lack of organizational skills <br />▪ Changes in case managers <br />▪ DSHS wait times <br />▪ Not having an address <br />When asked what has been successful or worked well for them, they discussed the funding for <br />helping people find employment, including support with clothing and hygiene; encouragement to <br />seek mental health services; having a good attitude towards people experiencing homelessness, <br />being nonjudgemental, and giving people the time of day; advocacy on behalf of clients; and <br />support with addiction and sober housing. <br />• “…there are people who don’t have dependents, people trying to get their kids back, <br />adults who don’t have a disability (they’re just a single individual on the street trying to <br />make their way.) They feel hopeless because they don’t have anything to help them get <br />their foot in the door.” <br />• “For me personally, the biggest issue would be lack of tenant history.” <br />• “…but intake after intake after intake after intake after intake after intake—it gets really <br />exhausting to tell the story 5,000 times especially when you are trying to move past it.” <br />• “I believe the funding for helping folks for getting back on their feet and employed has <br />been a very big help as they also help provide clothing for interviews for jobs….” <br />• “When there’s not an attitude about it, that helps a lot. I go through weird stuff in my <br />life. I go through things most people don’t go through, that’s just how my life has <br />been….so to have someone work side-by-side with me and give me the time of day…that <br />makes me want to keep going and not give up.” <br />Service Providers: Unwillingness to participate resonated with some participants who have <br />experience with people not showing up for help. However, they recognize that there are a lot of <br />barriers to accessing help and it’s important to be there when people are ready. One participant <br />suggested it is about an “inability to participate.” Other barriers cited included substance abuse, <br />not being able to get a job, readiness for change, stigma and judgment, traumatic pasts, and lack