Posted: Monday, June 17, 2013

On June 17, The Providence Center, along Rhode Island Political Leaders Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Governor Lincoln Chafee and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and donors to the program, celebrated the opening of Joyce House, a new Providence Center program supporting homeless veterans with mental health and substance use needs.

The Providence Center dedicated Joyce House, located at 777 River Avenue in Providence, to the late John Joyce who was an advocate and activist for Rhode Island’s homeless community. The fully renovated, six-unit building will house 12 homeless veterans and provide them with a combination of VA and Providence Center services that will help them live independently in the community. The services include valuable peer support from Anchor Recovery Community Center in Pawtucket.

Cutting the ribbon to open Joyce House are (l-r): Governor Lincoln Chafee, Nancy Beely of Ocean State Job Lot, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Mary Fasano of Citizens Bank Charitable Foundation, Mayor Angel Taveras, Megan Smith, Paul Metro of Electric Boat Corp. Employees’ Community Services Assoc., Nat and Ellen Calamis, Dale Klatzker, Marianne Holmes, Ken Knox and Donna Monatquilla of Northwest Woolen Mills.

“This program is essential to helping formerly homeless veterans maintain housing over the long-term by addressing root problems that lead to homelessness including PTSD, substance abuse, isolation and criminal history,” said Dale Klatzker, Ph.D., President/CEO of The Providence Center. Participants will receive intensive services for up to a year from case managers who coordinate services, VA representatives, a Providence Center homeless outreach worker, a housing specialist and a peer navigator working together to support the participant’s recovery journey.

The primary goals of the veterans program is to provide immediate housing for homeless veterans and transition them to permanent housing, to increase skill level and income of veterans, to increase self-determination of participants, reduce substance abuse relapse and mental health symptoms, while reducing recidivism and arrest and increase community involvement. The veterans program is based on a proven model which the Veterans Administration in collaboration with Housing and Urban Development has used in similar programs to successfully reduce homelessness for veterans by 20 percent.

The Providence Center extends special thanks to donors who supported the project: