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Our Holistic Approach - Tools for Success

AACH’s integrated programs meet the particular needs of individual families over an extended period of time. Working with a broad network of both public-sector agencies and other service providers, we help women and families assess their full range of problems and acquire whatever skills and assistance they need to regain family stability and permanent housing. We address the multiple underlying causes of homelessness, rather than only focusing on putting a roof over people’s heads.

Providing shelter to families in need

AACH’s holistic approach covers both the short- and longer-term housing needs of our clients. Women and families in need of short-term housing stay at Sullivan House, a 50-bed apartment-style shelter, which can accommodate as many as 14 families in ten 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. The average length of stay at Sullivan House is a little over three months, and more than three-quarters of our discharged clients obtain permanent housing, largely due to AACH’s outreach to landlords and intensive work with clients in areas related to household budgeting and repairing bad financial credit.

AACH helps families into longerterm housing solutions by providing rental subsidies and supportive services for up to 24 months. Most of these families are referred from emergency shelters in Arlington and Alexandria, and from Sullivan House. Today, we’re the largest provider of transitional housing in the Arlington-Alexandria area. AACH works with churches and other community groups to “adopt” some of these families and provide them with financial support, household items and encouragement, and also identify community resources to address their needs. We give these families a chance to get on their feet, accumulate savings, build life and workplace skills and be in a far better position to secure permanent housing. And in fact, more than 80 percent of the families who successfully finish our longer-term transitional housing program remain in permanent housing for at least one year.

Increasing income and wealth

Our dedicated AACH workers help clients manage their finances responsibly. We teach them budgeting; how to avoid impulse shopping; where and how to buy things at discount prices; and how to reduce debt burden, deal with creditors, make informed decisions about managing personal finances and distinguish needs from wants. Many AACH clients live a “bipolar” economic existence—flush with cash one day and destitute the next. They often face mountains of debt, and are always on the verge of eviction and under the pressure of bill collectors. With our help, AACH families become more “savvy” regarding consumer purchasing and better able to meet household needs within available financial resources.

Self-sustenance over the long term depends on earning a living wage. To help our clients succeed in the job market, AACH counselors assist them in assessing their employment options, taking into account their interests, skills and background. Once our clients establish clear and realistic goals, we help them get the training and education they need to find jobs that match their skills and aptitude, pay a living wage, provide benefits and enhance their careers.

We teach about all facets of the job search, and help with resume creation, practice interviews and referrals to employment-focused clothing banks. Marrying individualized counseling with other support services has proven to be one of the main keys to our success in helping our clients attain and retain jobs that promote economic independence.

Teaching effective life skills

Everything we do is based on the premise that short-term help isn’t a long-term answer Our clients need to be armed with the right tools to have a fair chance at making their own way once they are ready to move on from AACH.

Teaching effective life skills is a major part of what we do. Through individual and group counseling and the specialized services of outside agencies when needed, our clients learn various ways to cooperate with others, interact socially, resolve conflicts, care for others, manage stress, develop self-esteem, make healthy lifestyle choices and express emotions positively. These are the fundamental skills that will determine whether our clients are able to interact appropriately in society—and by extension, be accepted and thrive under society’s rules. Developing more positive and mature attitudes and behaviors helps our clients to navigate their environment more effectively. A great many of our cases involve issues of domestic violence. Through compassionate and skillful counseling we help abused women understand the dynamics of their situation, what resources exist to help them get out of abusive situations and learn to address all domestic violence issues in ways that lead to permanent solutions. When changed behaviors are supported by the right tools to make decisions, solve problems and achieve goals independently, our clients achieve a sense of purpose and gain the emotional stability they need for both family and job effectiveness.

Giving support to kids

Children don’t fully understand the underlying reasons that bring them to our door. They only know the vulnerable feelings they experience as a result. At AACH, we never lose sight of what the children face and we work to restore their sense of stability, security and faith that life has something good to offer them. We partner with parents to develop the right plan for meeting the health, mental health, educational and social needs of their children. We show parents how to obtain resources for their children. We provide volunteer tutors to help children who are struggling academically. We organize monthly field trips for the children to places such as area parks, museums, plays and movies. Two to three nights a week, we give children a fun and creative outlet through games, arts and crafts and reading sessions while their parents attend different workshops and seminars on effective parenting. These positive experiences are invaluable for children who are in the midst of a difficult time of transition.

AACH is making a difference.

We are proud of the difference we are making in so many lives:

  • Over 70% of clients leaving our programs are successful in securing permanent housing.
  • 80% of Adopt-A-Family clients remain in permanent housing for at least a year following their stay.
  • Over the past decade, we have helped more than 650 families secure permanent housing.
  • In 2005, over 250 people in 84 households found shelter through AACH programs; 62% were children.
  • Families that exited the Sullivan House program during the past year did so with an average of $1,580 in savings
  • We provide volunteer tutors for more than 40% of children in AACH programs.
  • In 2005, clients increased their employment income by 17% while in our programs.

And we will continue to help our neighbors fight the underlying causes of homelessness and to establish self-sufficiency and independence.