SOAR Success in Jacksonville

Paloma was chronically homeless for over ten years after being discharged from a state mental hospital. She was a fixture outside of a local news station and would rely on the employees to provide her with food and water. A concerned police officer linked Paloma to the SOAR program with Sulzbacher. 

Paloma was approved for SSI benefits, placed in permanent supportive housing, linked to behavioral health services, and provided long-term care intensive case management services. She has remained stable for over a year since the SOAR program linked her to wraparound services. She has not experienced any further relapses or episodes of homelessness. 

An extra bonus was that once she was stable on psychiatric medication, she was reunited with her family from whom she had been estranged for over twenty years. They immediately traveled from out of state to reunite with her and have become a huge part of her support system!

The SOAR model is wonderful in helping applicants obtain access to income, housing, and healthcare in a relatively short period of time. Often the SOAR model helps to end homelessness and future episodes of homelessness by ensuring that long-term case management and medical services are in place after the claimants receive income and have been placed in housing.