Direct Services

Aurora provides a unique service to the community. Not only are we an agency that advocates for the homeless and provides community education and development, but we also offer direct service programs that span the homeless services continuum. For clients who are literally homeless--living in a place not meant for human habitation or in remote encampments--it can be hard to access services or find shelter.

• Homeless Outreach



The first responders to the homeless community members who have no shelter or food are more often than not our caring employees on the Homeless Outreach Team. This team of four case managers, one office manager and one team leader take items such as food bags, clothing, and toiletries to the people living on the streets of Evansville. In 2010, that team worked with over 300 people living on the street. Some were only seen once or twice, but others weekly. The Homeless Outreach Team helped 20 households to secure permanent housing directly from their street refuges--and countless others in transitional situations.

• Outreach Services


• Case Management in Homeless Shelters
  • House of Bread and Peace
  • Evansville Rescue Mission
  • United Caring Shelter



In Evansville, the emergency shelter system may be an initial step toward housing stability. The program is designed for clients to stay 30-45 days. Extensions are often needed. Some of these local shelters don't have case managers to help the clients go through the steps necessary to obtain identification or develop job readiness skills to increase income--income that would ultimately allow the client to move into permanent housing. Our Outreach Team has filled this service gap. Team members have regular hours at three local emergency shelters to be available for the homeless. Our team helped 85 households from locations like this to move into permanent housing before exiting the program in 2010.

• Tenant Education
• Fresh Start donation program
• Internships
• USI
• Ivy Tech
• Other


• Shelter Plus Care



This program provides housing subsidies for homeless individuals who have a documented disability. We currently have space for 20 people in the program. In 2010, our program served 21 individuals. We collaborate with Aids Resource Group and Southwestern Behavioral Health, who provide the case management and initial referrals for the program. This means that the individuals served must have a mental health, substance abuse or HIV positive diagnosis as their disability. These are clients with profound barriers to obtaining or maintaining permanent housing. 10 of the 21 individuals served in 2010 were chronically homeless. These clients are defined as individuals with disabling conditions who have been homeless for a year or more or have experienced four or more episodes of homelessness over the last three years. Communities that employ the housing first model can significantly reduce the time people experience homelessness and prevent further episodes of homelessness. Our Shelter Plus Care Program is targeting a percentage of the chronically homeless population. Almost half of the clients served in 2010 were in this group--it is easy to see that Aurora is making a significant contribution to ending homelessness in Evansville.

• Homeless Prevention



Aurora continually researches best practices in service models. We have been utilizing the housing first model of service that acknowledges that clients will achieve greater success--and more rapidly--if they are provided stable housing first, and then given supportive services to maintain that housing. Homeless Prevention, Rapid Re-Housing and Shelter Plus Care are the Aurora programs that provide housing assistance fitting this model. The Homeless Prevention Program saved 103 families, couples and individuals who were facing imminent eviction from becoming homeless in 2010.

• Rapid Re-housing



The partner program, Rapid Re-Housing, assisted another 105 homeless households to pay off old utilities, pay deposits and rental subsidies and leave homelessness. These two programs together are known as the HPRP program (Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing). When combined, there were 70 households graduating from the HPRP program in 2010 and over half of those graduates increased their income while in the program, demonstrating the significance of stable housing.

• Contracted Services with United Caring Apartments



For the clients who have not found housing by the end of their time in emergency shelter, another option can be Transitional Housing. Clients can stay for up to 24 months and increase skills, pay off debt or work toward eliminating other barriers to permanent housing. Aurora provides a case manager to the United Caring Shelter Transitional Housing Program. This person teaches useful skills to the clients, and helped 14 out of 17 men who exited the program in 2010 to find stable, permanent housing.