Carpenter's Shelter's Board of Directors:

Chair: Carson Lee Fifer, Jr.
Vice Chair: Matt Sheldon
Treasurer: Tom Clark
Secretary: Jim Coakley

Board Members
Jeremy Flachs
Val Hawkins
Don Hilty
Kim Jackson
Anthony Lowe
Peter Lunt
KC Moller
Sherry Schiller, PhD
Gary Simms
David Speck
Phil Sunderland
Carlton Willis
Dr. Robert Wineland

Carpenter's envisions, for the homeless they serve, an environment where:

• The developmental needs of the children are met.
• All live as independently and self-reliantly as possible.
• All contribute to the community and work to the best of their ability.
• Those with substance abuse / mental health problems receive appropriate services.
• Local/ regional/ state governments allocate resources to prevent homelessness.
• The needs of all racial, ethnic, and national groups are met.
• Quality permanent housing is available for all income levels.
• Services provided to support the homeless are comprehensive and well coordinated.

In its efforts to fulfill the needs of those without homes, Carpenter's offers five interrelated programs, a continuum of care, to a diverse homeless community. The shelter's five programs are:

David's Place Day Shelter: David's Place offers a safe environment off of the streets, where more than 400 unsheltered homeless can attend to their basic needs such as laundry, showers, storage and more.

• The day shelter offers passive outreach and clients can participate in programs such as job mentoring, substance abuse focus groups, HIV/AIDS awareness and life-skills workshops.
• Often these individuals are dually-diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse illnesses, and lack the social and personal skills needed to function in a structured environment.

Winter Shelter: Carpenter's coordinates the winter shelter for the entire City of Alexandria with help from Alfred Street Baptist Church, Alexandria Community Shelter, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Community, Fairlington United Methodist Church and The Church of St. Clement.

• The overnight winter shelter provides a safe refuge for unsheltered children, women and men to prevent illness, injury and even death due to harsh weather.
• Through this program we serve more than 350 families and individuals annually.

80-bed Residential Shelter: The residential shelter, housed in a bright, modern facility, offers a comprehensive and structured case management program that is goal-oriented toward self-reliancy.

• This program provides assistance with substance abuse and mental health disorders, life-skills and job readiness training, access and referrals to social services agencies and other partners and assistance with the housing search
• The shelter also includes a Child and Family Services program for children and parents which insures that all developmental, educational, medical and social needs of the children are met.
• Carpenter's serves homeless people with a focus on the working poor. In addition they serve those who are chronically, mentally ill; those working to live a life of sobriety or abstinence from drugs and alcohol; individuals who are unemployed and unemployable; physically ill or disabled persons; victims of domestic violence or abuse; the elderly; veterans; parolees; and refugees.
• The shelter assists in alleviating the crisis atomsphere and provides a supportive environment where healing and stablization can occur.
• Most residents are required to have or be seeking full-time employment and all save 70% of their income.
• Although there is no predetermined length of stay at Carpenter's Shelter, most individuals stay between one to three months with families averaging at least six months.
• The residential shelter serves more than 100 children annually and more than 400 people total.

Aftercare: Our Aftercare Program continues case management and coordination of services for more than 200 shelter graduates.

• The goal of this program is to provide a "safety net" for shelter graduates so they can continue progress made while at our residential shelter.
• Through this program, Carpenter's hopes to better serve the community by helping people avoid future homelessness and a return to shelter living.

Transitional Housing: Carpenter's is committed to helping ensure that adequate housing options and resources are available to all residents leaving the emergency shelter.

• In the Fall of 2002, the shelter began a new Transitional Housing program, utilizing four off-site apartments, for families and single adults.
• In conjunction with its Aftercare program, Carpenter's will continue case management and services to these shelter graduates in an effort to assist clients with self-reliance.

Carpenter's Shelter
930 N. Henry Street Alexandria, Virginia 22314 - 703-548-7500
www.carpentersshelter.org
Serving homeless children, women and men since 1988