One Night at a Time
A Project of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania
The One Night at a Time (ONAT) church-based emergency shelter program will have the capacity to serve a maximum of 50 individuals each evening. Single adult homeless men and women are the target population served within Montgomery County. All adults accepted will be accepted as single individuals, whether legally married or unmarried. It is not the intention of this project to serve families with children at any time.
ONAT utilizes community churches to shelter homeless individuals. This model has been used for many years and is effective in providing a compassionate, safe and warm environment for homeless persons. Each church hosts for a one month period. Homeless individuals are picked up at a common location each evening beginning at 9:00 p.m. and are then transported to the church site. EZ Bed Mats, sheets and blankets are distributed to each guest. Beginning at 5:30 a.m. guests store their bedding, participate in cleaning the site, and are then transported back from the church site to the original pick-up location. The shelter is staffed, at all times, with the exception of transport times, by two shelter monitors.
One Night at a Time will have a 24-hour referral process available. When staff is not available to answer the phone, a telephone answering service will be available to receive referrals. Referral sources will leave a message on the answering machine, indicating the organization name, name of client and client's reason for homelessness. The referring organization will instruct the client to be at the pick-up location at 9:00 p.m. Each telephone referred client must have a referral form in hand in order to be admitted into the shelter for the evening. At all times, for emergencies, a shelter staff member will be available by pager.
All guests are required to complete a brief intake form and in addition sign a liability waiver. All shelter guests are strongly encouraged to participate in the peer support / case management portion of the program, while they are shelter guests. This component is crucial in ensuring that ONAT has the opportunity to provide both shelter and support services. Each guest will have the opportunity to meet with a Case Worker and is expected to meet with their worker as indicated in their service plan.