A Visit From Good Neighbor Alliance.

The Rotary Club of Sierra Vista held its weekly meeting on June 20^th. The exempt badge was held by Lisa Stallcup, who is the Boy Scouts District Executive.

 

Lisa gave the club an update on scouting and the inclusion of girls in the Boy Scout

activities.  Explorer scouts are older 14 – 21 and have opportunities to learn about different career fields. Law Enforcement, Fire Fighting, Arts and Humanities, as well as other careers.

 

The speaker today was Kathy Calabrese who is with the Good Neighbor Alliance. The Good Neighbor Alliance (GNA) is an organization that helps homeless people in Cochise County. Kathy was a previous member of our Rotary Club and was familiar to many current members.  She explained there are two types of homeless people; temporary and chronically homeless. There is a Vulnerability Index, a number givento each homeless individual, to help ascertain what assistance is needed. Moreover, the Emergency Rooms in hospitals are their only source of medical care.

 

She explained that there are an estimated 86 chronically homeless people in Cochise County, mostly men, with about 50 of them in Sierra Vista. Bisbee has

the next highest number.

 

The police department checks on them in their encampments and tries to get them into programs that will help them.  Sometimes it is necessary to clean up the area in which they live, especially if it is State lands. There are services provided by HUD and the Veterans Administration to help people get on their feet.

 

Explained that many homeless have undiagnosed mental illness and many are dealing with Addictions. The GNA facility can provide beds for about 23 – 24 people, but many prefer to sleep outdoors.  In order to stay at the facility they must be sober. The facility provides breakfasts. The overall goal of GNA is to get individuals into appropriate assistance programs to try to get them off the streets.