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Nonprofit Steppingstone Inc. is
expanding into the city with new programs aimed at reintegrating ex-convicts
into society and providing shelter for homeless people suffering from HIV.
"Steppingstone can do a whole
continuum of services, even though Steppingstone has been known over the years
for treatment of addiction," program supervisor Tom O'Brien said.
The organization showcased its new
offerings at an open house Thursday in its Dover Street office.
The organization's new Project ROAR
— Re-entering Offenders Achieving Recovery — is targeted at men with substance
abuse problems preparing for release from the Bristol County House of
Corrections. The program assists those men in achieving long-term sobriety,
Steppingstone clinical director Melissa Kachapis said.
Project ROAR started working with
men still in prison, participants must be within four months of release to
qualify last January, she added.
The organization also is expanding
its housing offerings for HIV sufferers, adding advocacy and peer support
programs to its Welcome Home Program. The advocacy program will provide people
who are HIV-positive with mediation with their landlords if they are struggling
with issues such as a possible eviction, said David Bell, project manager for
the Welcome Home Program.
Steppingstone also has nine single-
and two-family housing units in the city for homeless HIV sufferers. That
program, overseen by the New Bedford Office of Housing and Community
Development, will provide housing to qualified applicants at no cost.
Leaving someone with HIV out in the
cold often makes it difficult for them to keep up with taking medications or
other health complications, which is why Steppingstone works to house people
suffering from the virus, O'Brien said.
"If you have no place to store
those meds, or place to even lay your hat down, it's hard to remember to take
those meds," he said. O'Brien said he hopes to see the Welcome Home
Program reach 100 people by the year's end.
To reach the homeless, however,
Steppingstone has to rely primarily on word of mouth, organizers said. "Many
of the homeless are not going to be in the places we're advertising,"
O'Brien said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
