| Jubilee Home fam, thank you all for your love and support as we all continue to navigate this world of uncertainty right now. As we return to masking, and holding our breath for the world not to shut down again, I wanted to take a moment to give some updates on some things that have happened at Jubilee Home in 2021 (I know…maybe a tad late for a mid-year review). So far in 2021, 16 residents have lived at Jubilee Home. Currently all six beds are full, and we have reached a point where we have a waitlist and are turning down an average of 3 referrals a week because we are at capacity. (Anyone want to buy another house for us to serve more folks? Anyone? Call me anytime!) Five of our current residents are all employed, all but one earning a living wage, as they engage a variety of other services to prepare for their moves to independence. We are expecting 3 of our current residents to successfully transition in the coming weeks as they complete their exit plans and find permanent housing. Of the 17 people we have served in 2021, 6 are still in Jubilee Home, 5 have transitioned to independence, 3 have moved into long term treatment settings, and 3 have been asked to move out. We also host 4 residents in The Duplex, which is a second property in the community we were able to add to as permanent affordable housing this Spring. All four residents at The Duplex have signed leases through the end of the year, and we look forward to their continued contributions to the neighborhood. |
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| Holly and Josh join the team. The before & after shots of The Duplex. Along with the expanded offerings, there are also some staff updates this year. It is our joy and pleasure to be able to welcome Joshua (I get to share a real name this time!) to our staff team at Jubilee Home. Josh is a former resident of Jubilee Home, and now a current resident of The Duplex. Joshua has been operating our property management partnership with Reinvestment Partners and Jubilee Creations to maintain their four properties in our neighborhood, as well as our two properties, all while caring for our community garden. Josh will soon oversee the expansion of our garden and is a great addition to our staff family! Joining him as a new staffer this year is Holly McCoy who brings her experience as a Certified Peer Support Specialist and Community Health Worker to Jubilee Home to serve as our linkage coordinator and case worker for our residents. Holly is a Durham native who has personal experience navigating Durham’s complicated web of providers and has been an asset assisting our residents with coordinated care. Holly was able to join our staff as part of a grant we received from the Department of Health and Human Services focused on reentry and the impacts of COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorders earlier this year. This is our first operations grant through the state and will cover many of our staffing costs through 2022! Along with this grant that has allowed us to begin to stabilize as an organization, we are also excited to announce a partnership with Lennette Reynolds and This Is Our House. TIOH is coming to the neighborhood to provide supportive housing for women and their children as they return to the from incarceration. Jubilee Home is so excited to be the organizational umbrella for TIOH and Lennette as they get their footing. Lennette has both lived and professional experience in transitional spaces, and knows what it is to raise children as a single mother in need of a little support. Lennette and her team will be a big addition to what’s going on around here! And now we get to expand again as a Jubilee Home family – literally. Next week our Program Director Leticia Ross, MSW, will be heading off to maternity leave as her and Will welcome their daughter into the world! As we prepare to celebrate new life, we are also battening down the hatches and preparing to navigate this ship without Leticia for a minute. Very much our captain, we will continue to do good work with our residents – but if we are a little harder to get a hold of for the next bit, please grant us grace, as we all adjust to the needs of a little one! 2021 has been a full year at Jubilee Home and we couldn’t do it without all of you. Thank you for your continued support. To help us continue this work, please consider becoming a monthly giver. These gifts make it easier for us to know our operations capabilities and provide flexible funds that can be used as needs arise (unlike dedicated grant funds). Thank you for making all of this possible! |