FRIENDSHIP SERVICE CENTER INC

As part of our Love Made Visible mission, we offer these programs to support individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or on the brink of:

COMMUNITY KITCHEN:
Our Tomasso Family Community Kitchen provides lunch Monday through Friday to anyone in need, and three meals per day, seven days per week, to residents and former residents. More than 135 meals are served each day. Financial and in-kind donations of food from supermarkets, congregations, community groups, and individuals allow us to stretch our food budget further. The soup kitchen is the primary way for volunteers to become engaged at the Friendship Center, and volunteers ensure that guests are served in a welcoming, friendly atmosphere.

EMERGENCY SHELTER:
Our 39-bed emergency shelter for men, women, and children is located in our Virginia C. Davis Building. This short-term intervention offers three meals per day and participants have use of laundry facilities as well as case management services. Each resident develops a case plan that may include: counseling, crisis intervention, goal setting, housing assistance, and referrals to community support services; e.g., substance abuse treatment, education, job training, child care, or a combination thereof.

TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM:
The Transitional Living Program is a six- to 24-month program for 10 homeless youth (ages 18-24) and 5 homeless Veterans. Each participant is provided a room, case management, and an individualized case action plan.

HOPE CONNECTION CENTER:
The HCC is a community partnership with a number of agencies in Central CT that are partnering together to offer a drop-in location to provide resources and referrals to people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, ranging from showers and laundry to housing, shelter referrals, and benefits enrollment. If you have any questions on the HCC click here.

SSI/SSDI OUTREACH, ACCESS, AND RECOVERY (SOAR):
SOAR is a national program designed to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible adults and children who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. SOAR directly addresses the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s assertion: “To recover, people need a safe stable place to live.”

PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING:
The Permanent Supportive Housing program operates under a Housing First Model, in which individuals are moved from the streets and shelters directly into their own homes. Through this program, clients are also offered intensive and inter-connected case management services both at the office and in their own home settings. Research has proven that Housing First is the most cost-efficient housing model for people who have been defined as chronically homeless. Friendship Center believes that having a home is not a luxury, but a human right and a foundation through which fragile and vulnerable individuals can, with proper support, begin to focus on a personal path of recovery. Currently, the Permanent Supportive Housing programs and its intensive case management services are offered to 77 households consisting of 114 men, women, and children housed both at Howey House and Arch Street Housing (ASH) in New Britain, and in scattered-site apartments throughout Central Connecticut.