Impact of Roots of Community on Springfield’s Red Flag Issues:

Below are a list of issues which were identified by the 2021 Community Focus Report that identified red flags in our community and how Roots would help bring about positive change in these critical areas:

Access to Medical/Dental Care

Roots of Community’s respite program will increase medical access for those in crisis/recovery need. We will also work to have shot clinics, vaccination events, dental screenings, health screenings on-site on a regular basis. Our team will help residents qualify for either MSU Care or Missouri Medicaid and establish care. Roots of Community will provide a shuttle service to doctor’s appointments.

Diversity/Equity/Inclusion

Roots of Community will be open and affirming to individuals of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, and sexualities. We will have regular community meetings and training on the topics of diversity, equity, inclusion topics to work to teach awareness and how to be a good neighbor to all people.

The Impact of COVID

Studies have clearly shown that unsheltered individuals are at a higher risk of being exposed to, contracting, and spreading COVID throughout communities due to the high congregate nature of survival. Roots of Community would provide shelter in place options for those most vulnerable to contagious diseases such as COVID or other variants and/or viruses that we may face in the future.

Mental Health

Stable housing and transportation are a high barrier to consistent mental health care. Studies have shown that living without shelter increases instances of anxiety, depression, PTSD triggers, and suicidal ideation. Having supportive stability will allow individuals to focus on creating a personalized care plan that can include counseling, group therapy, medication, art therapy, anger management, etc.… and Roots of Community will be able to provide residents with resources and support to follow that plan.

Children’s Health

Through the Daycare/Child Development program at Roots of Community, we will be able to conduct childhood health screenings, connect families with medical care, transportation, parent education, and other barriers to healthy living for children that will be a part of our community.

Child Abuse and Neglect

Roots of Community will offer parenting classes, help families to reduce stressors, create a financial stability plan, and build a support system for themselves while they are a part of our program. We will also provide after-care for one year after they transition into housing to continue to provide support for the family while they adjust to stability and seek solutions for challenges that will arise.

Lack of Support for Children’s Mental Health Issues

Roots of Community will provide family therapy options to residents as well as music and art therapy for children and parents. We will develop relationships and partnerships with local practitioners to whom we can refer families, parents, and children for more in-depth mental health support when required for children.

Obesity

One of the success markers for Roots of Community’s residents will be physical health. This means that each resident will work with their progress team to identify personal health goals and how to develop a plan to address each of them. These goals will include a healthy BMI, regular exercise plans, and increasing an understanding of good nutrition.

Opioid Proliferation

Roots of Community will regularly test for opioid usage with its residents. Those who test positive will need to create a personalized plan for detox, rehab, outpatient support meetings, sobriety support meetings, etc… There will be no dealing of drugs allowed on the property. We will also work to provide substance abuse education and support services to help those who want to pursue a life of sobriety.

Skilled worker shortage

Roots of Community will seek to build relationships with schools, training centers, and employers to offer skilled worker training and job skills development. We will offer shuttle services to residents who are going through training, and they can earn points toward their program fees for participating in such programs.

Lack of safe, Affordable Housing

Roots of Community seeks to provide a safe, stable, supportive shelter option for individuals who are waiting for affordable housing options in our community. This will immediately reduce the number of people seeking to use other front-line services while they are waiting on housing placement.

This model will still also allow for residents to qualify as homeless by HUD’s designation which allows our community to continue to receive funds that will enable us to add to our affordable housing inventory. At such time that our affordable housing inventory catches up with our needs, Roots of Community can transition to a permanent supportive housing model.

Housing Instability for Lower-Income Residents

Roots of Community seeks to teach individuals how to be successful in housing. As a result, we believe that this program will increase the stability of lower-income residents in our community by helping them find the right fit for them to thrive and working with them to reduce barriers to success before they move into that long-term solution.

A Gap in Economic Disparity

By raising job training skills, educational ability, and addressing the individual barriers that residents face to remaining housed and employed- we will intentionally begin to close the economic disparity gap in our community and over time begin to see a decrease in our community’s high poverty rate.

Education achievement gaps

Studies have shown that children from high trauma backgrounds have trouble thriving in a learning environment. By addressing housing stability, nutrition, household employment, parental skills, parental coping practices, and offering support and therapy to children we set them up for educational success.

By offering tutoring programs, literacy programs, STEM programs, and arts-based programs, we begin to close the existing gaps of educational achievement by giving current students the tools that they need to address and overcome barriers to success in the classroom.

Rising Crime

Many crimes in Springfield that have risen have included property crimes, drug-related offenses, and stealing charges. We believe that there will be a reduction in some of these events by providing stable housing to individuals who often seek to cope with their lack of shelter in ways that are not productive for them or the community that they are a part of.

We will also work to address current legal issues, fines, community service hours, and other ways for individuals to right the wrongs that they may have committed in their past.

*Domestic Violence

We believe that Roots of Community will offer individuals greater options for leaving abusive situations and by increasing the independence of an individual to be successful and not return to patterns of abuse as means of survival. We believe that by addressing housing, teaching relationship skills, providing counseling services, addressing past traumas, and increasing self-confidence that we will see more people able to be housed successfully in situations that are safer for them and their families.

** Police Workforce

Lack of shelter often leads to trespassing calls, check well-being calls, drug calls, and stealing calls. By sheltering individuals, Roots of Community could reduce call volume for calls that are associated with people facing housing insecurity.