Aug 18, 2013 5 min read

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From the outside, it is just a house, nestled among many others in Washington’s West End.

Frankly, it kind of reminds one of a popular song lyric:

“Our house is a very, very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard; life used to be so hard, now everything is easy…”

And that’s where the music ends. Because for those living inside that house, life still is hard and nothing is easy.

It’s a residential facility for homeless 18- to 22-year-olds who have a mental health diagnosis and a history of drug and alcohol abuse. The house can accommodate as many as seven individuals, and presently four men and one woman are living there, each in his or her own apartment.

“The maximum stay in the program is 24 months,” said Crystal Rivera, director of the program with a positive name, “Can-Do.” It is operated by Try-Again Homes Inc. and funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Washington County Behaviorial Health and Developmental Services.

The goal of the program, Rivera said, is to provide residents with the tools they need to live independently as functional members of the community.

How valuable is the Can-Do program?

“Extremely,” Rivera said, “because the young people staying there are homeless.”

The Can-Do program has been operating for more than 15 years, and Rivera, who has been director for just six months – though she has helped coordinate shift work at the house for the last nine years – estimates between 75 and 100 young adults have come through the program.

“In 2012, we had 15 residents, and so far this year, there have been nine, but because they can stay for two years, some of those we have now are carryovers from last year.”

Rivera speaks passionately about the importance of a program like Can-Do. “If it did not exist, I would guess these people would be on the street, or living at the City Mission and most likely would have relapsed back on drugs,” she said.

She emphasized that when an individual is approved for the program, they have to be “clean” to get in. “When they come here, they are accepting the support to improve their lives,” she said.

Yet, the mental health issues continually need to be addressed. “They are all assigned case managers, mostly through Washington Communities, and the residents are responsible for getting themselves to treatment and taking their medications. There are required guidelines they have to follow, and for the most part, they do abide by the rules,” she said.

The five residents at the house were referred by other agencies. “Most of them have families, and they are not with them because of the mental health or drug and alcohol issues,” she said.

Typically, there is either a lack of support from their caregivers or the individuals have burned some bridges along the way. Rivera said some of those mental health issues are depression, explosive disorder, anxiety, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

There is no doubt, Rivera said, the mental health and drug and alcohol issues have kept them from being productive members of society. In addition to Rivera, seven employees staff the house 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“They have an 11 p.m. curfew during the week, and a 1 a.m. curfew Friday and Saturday,” she said. They sign in and out to let the staff know where they have gone. But we have had some who did not come back, and we pursue those who do not. We have emergency contact numbers of all the residents,” she said. However, it is the residents’ choice to stay or leave the Can-Do program.

Individuals can be referred to the Can-Do program by any service provider in Washington County. If no vacancies are available at the time of referral, prospective residents are placed on a waiting list. Those who cannot be served, or cannot be served promptly, will be referred to appropriate resources such as Safe Haven, Avis Arbor or the City Mission.

When an opening becomes available, the person who best fits eligibility requirements and who is in the most immediate need will be selected.

“Chronically homeless individuals are given first priority,” Rivera said. While in the Can-Do program, residents participate in structured daily activities in the form of full- or part-time employment, vocational training/education and volunteer service.

“Our primary goal is to get them into permanent housing,” Rivera said. “And once they leave, we do followups. And I must say, I think we have a pretty good success rate.”