Pathways provides emergency shelter or housing for a short period of time, as well as other services such as free food and clothing. The main goal of the non-profit agency is to help clients find safe and affordable homes as well as provide them with self-sufficiency.
Many of the resources are administered at the Day Center located in downtown Birmingham. The programs at the site provide clothing, free food, access to showers and laundry facilities, and case management for many people to transition to a self-reliant path. More information about their services can be found.
The Pathways Day Center in Birmingham offers homeless women and children things they need to survive, like food and shelter. This includes free meals, showers, government benefits applications, access to laundry facilities, and clothing. These women need help transitioning to a more stable and safe life, which case management, substance abuse treatment, and mental health care can provide. Once women receive services that meet their individual needs, they are oftentimes able to move into transitional housing programs. These women need special support or they risk having no home for extended periods of time.
Pathways provides transitional shelters with multiple locations for people to access. They are located in three different neighborhoods: downtown, Southside, and Woodlawn. The low income apartments are available for up to a year for families who need space and time to work on their credit or to find a job. This gives people time to maintain a steady, consistent income.
If you want to help homeless people, you need to make sure they have a place to live that is affordable and safe. This agency provides housing for women and children in need, including single parents. They have both short term and long term options available.
The Safe Haven program provides a more homelike and intimate environment for chronically homeless women who are struggling with mental illness. This program offers these women a safe place to feel secure. There are also social service and case management programs available for people with disabilities. Safe Haven is the only program in Alabama that provides a safe place for people to go when they are in danger.
Creating a life plan is a key step for women to become independent and self-reliant. The clients are taught how to live and work, including computer skills, budgeting money, teaching interview skills and how to work professionally in a business environment. Pathways’ case managers help women create life plans so they can identify what they need to do to become independent. Other services that are offered to clients include childcare, transportation, and help with finding a job.
There is a focus on teaching homeless children proper decision making skills in order to prevent homelessness from spreading throughout Alabama to struggling families. Teachers and staff teach their students about good character traits and how to deal with anger in a healthy way.
Pathways’ Safe Haven Program focuses on helping chronically homeless women who also have substance abuse or mental health issues. The women will feel safe in the affordable housing and apartments downtown because they will have an intimate and homey environment.
The resources have 24 hour staffing and case management. The residents of Pathways are not required to participate in the mental health or substance abuse services that are offered. However, the goal is to meet their individual needs and allow them to trust the system, so that they can get to a more stable and healthy place in their lives.
Some residents will be able to move on to a permanent housing situation with the help of the services provided to them, and as part of this, they can explore financial aid programs such as funds for security deposits or rent.
The Transitional Shelter through Pathways provides single moms, women, and children with support to meet their basic needs in a safe environment, including shelter, food, and clothing. People establish goals and life plans to provide themselves with a sense of structure and hope for the future. Having specific goals to work towards can help motivate and encourage people to keep moving forward, even when things are tough. Having a life plan can also help give a sense of perspective and clarity during difficult times. The individual will meet with a social worker every week to discuss their progress and get help accessing community resources. – budgeting – relationships – parenting skills
In order to help homeless women in Jefferson County transition to a future with stable housing and security, it is important to provide them with job skills so that they can obtain and maintain steady employment. This program is designed to help people become ready for employment. Each session offered by the staff provides motivation, career counseling, and teaching basic computer and job skills to the women.
The Learning to Be a Kid program helps homeless children learn more about themselves, different emotions, and how to resolve conflicts in a healthy way. This can help break the cycle of homelessness in their families. Topics that are taught and focused on include having a positive attitude, having high self-esteem, managing anger, setting goals for the future, and being kind. The workshops and classes are run by volunteers from the Junior League of Birmingham.
Being good with money and knowing how to budget are important skills to have if you want to avoid becoming homeless. Financial literacy classes are offered to all females and children in the shelter, as well as those residing in other local housing programs in Birmingham. This course will cover financial topics like saving, budgeting and insurance.
The teaching in Pathways is designed to be straightforward and easy to remember, so that clients can put what they’ve learned into practice after they leave the program. This program provides more detailed and in-depth advice than the free advice social workers typically provide to clients.
Contact information
Pathways is a program located at 409 Richard Arrington Jr Blvd N, Birmingham, Alabama, 35203-3308 that can provide more information about helpful services and resources. The non-profit’s phone number is (205) 322-6854.