All of our residents have been homeless a minimum of 12 months cumulatively over the last three years with preference given to those meeting HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness. - Individuals Struggling with Mental Health and Substance Use Issues - Individuals Struggling to Be Successful in Traditional Programming - Chronically Homeless Individuals

No, not necessarily. Check out our section on What is Karuna House for more details on our layout. We follow Harm Reduction strategies supported by SAMHSA, which is the The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach that is critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping them with life-saving tools and information to create positive change in their lives and potentially save their lives. Harm reduction is a key pillar in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Overdose Prevention Strategy. Harm reduction is a practical and transformative approach that incorporates community-driven public health strategies — including prevention, risk reduction, and health promotion — to empower people who use drugs (and their families) with the choice to live healthy, self-directed, and purpose-filled lives. Harm reduction centers the lived and living experience of people who use drugs, especially those in underserved communities, in these strategies and the practices that flow from them. Harm reduction emphasizes engaging directly with people who use drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease transmission; improve physical, mental, and social wellbeing; and offer low barrier options for accessing health care services, including substance use and mental health disorder treatment.

Introducing Karuna House The Karuna Pilot Supportive Housing Program Helping residents find their own "life worth living" while providing safe, sustainable housing with 24-hour peer-based, person-centered support. How is Karuna Different? Karuna's Pilot Supportive Housing project is a new and innovative housing solution that NOW exists in La Crosse. It has three core components that separate it from other supportive housing programs: Co-Living Style Apartments 24-Hour Onsite Support Staff Connection to Community What is the Karuna House layout? Currently our pilot project is located in a 2-story duplex: 6 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms / laundry / shared living space, per side. One side of the duplex (6 residents) is sober living. The other side of the duplex (5 residents - one bedroom is used for staff offices) are individuals who are in different stages of their addiction and/or recovery. We use a wide variety of strategies that meet our people where they are ― on their own terms, and may serve as a pathway to additional health and social services, including additional prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

Impact Karuna is working! Karuna's Pilot Supportive Housing project is already having impact locally on residents, the community, and our homeless services system. The greatest impact will be for the residents of the project. Provided with a housing solution that fits their needs, residents will finally be able to maintain their housing and begin work on other aspects of their lives. Non-judgmental, peer-based supports offer a foundation on which they can begin to pursue goals that are meaningful to them and begin to rebuild their lives. The Karuna pilot aims to have positive impact on each resident's health, mental health, substance use, and overall quality of life. While community homeless numbers remain at an all-time high, housing 10-11 individuals with intensive mental health and substance use needs may only reduce the overall population by as much as 3-4% but will significantly decrease the cost of homelessness to the community. The target population of the project includes people who routinely use expensive emergency services, have a high rate of interaction with police, unpaid citations, and a higher rate of incarceration, all of which come at a high price for local taxpayers. Reducing the negative impact of homelessness on the community is a goal of the Karuna Pilot project but so is increasing the positive impact for the community. Required community service hours not only provide an opportunity for residents to become integrated back into the community but also provides the crucial volunteer hours local organizations need to keep serving other people in need in La Crosse. Each resident is required to complete 20 hours of service each month. The service projects chosen are entirely up to the individual but can be done on their own or as a group. In turn, having meaningful impact in the community will help build resilience and increase self-esteem for residents! Finally, Karuna hopes that this project will have impact on the local homeless services system. State and federally funded organizations are directed to accept clients into their programming based on the order they are in on our “Coordinated Entry Prioritization List.” This means that even people who have recently been discharged from a program because they were evicted or otherwise unsuccessful in that program can end up being selected and housed again and again because their length of time homeless and assessed vulnerability on the streets places them at the top of the list again and again. This leads to a “clog” in the system where these valuable program openings are not able to reach other clients who would be able to be successful in them. By sustainably housing clients on the list who meet the definition of chronic homelessness and who have previously been enrolled in supportive housing programs, Karuna will be able to immediately reduce the chronically homeless population of the Coulee region by 10% as well as allow other programs to reach clients who have not been offered these services. In this way Karuna is filling a gap in the service system and working to make it more effective. Measuring Impact Karuna uses the same database that all HUD funded community housing providers are required to use to record program data, the WI Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and where data that measures the progress the La Crosse community is making towards functional zero is reported from. Within HMIS Karuna is able to record and report on increases to income from employment or access to benefits, increases in access to mainstream benefits such as FoodShare and healthcare, successful connection to other community services through referral tracking, the number of community service hours worked, and access to treatment services, including residents working to become clean and sober. Karuna has also worked with the system administrator to embed a Quality of Life survey into the system to be able to annually measure how residents feel about the overall impact the program has had on their lives. Karuna staff also actively participates on a community data team generating a monthly dashboard monitoring progress towards ending homelessness. Once Karuna expands to full capacity it is anticipated that the La Crosse community will see a permanent reduction chronic homelessness.

Harm Reduction is a SAMHSA endorsed, evidence-based approach that has been proven to save lives and "has shown to substantially reduce HIV and hepatitis C infection among people who inject drugs, reduce overdose risk, enhance health and safety, and increase by five-fold the likelihood of a person who injects drugs to initiate substance use disorder treatment." NOTE: While Karuna believes in this approach, we do also place the safety of our residents, staff, and neighbors above all else. There are a lot of misconceptions about harm reduction and there are harm reduction strategies that Karuna does not employ due to the potential safety concerns they pose. Here is a guide to how Karuna uses this approach:

Yes. Karuna Inc. has been recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non profit organization since 3/20/2023. NOTE: Donations / contributions to a 501s(c)(3) are tax deductible!

Wisconsin considers someone homeless if they lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes people who live in places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, the street, or abandoned buildings. It also includes people who live in temporary accommodations, such as emergency shelters, transitional housing, hotels and motels. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction also considers migratory children homeless if they live in circumstances described above. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act applies to homeless children and youth in preschool and early childhood programs, students receiving special education services, and transportation to and from school. The act also provides legal rights and support to help ensure that students experiencing homelessness can participate fully in extracurricular school activities

Housing First is a homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical. Additionally, Housing First is based on the understanding that client choice is valuable in housing selection and supportive service participation, and that exercising that choice is likely to make a client more successful in remaining housed and improving their life. You can visit the National Alliance to End Homelessness for more information.

Anyone can experience housing insecurity under the right circumstances. Changes in income, loss of a loved one, health issues, or inability to afford basic necessities, and other events can quickly create housing instability that leads to homelessness. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the most common causes of homelessness are: Housing: When there is a lack of affordable housing options for people, there is an increase in evictions, housing instability and homelessness. Income and Housing Affordability: Many households in our area often do not earn enough to pay for basic necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and housing, despite being employed or having other forms of income. Health: Health problems can cause a person to become homeless and can become exacerbated by a person’s experience being homeless. Violence: Many survivors of domestic violence find themselves without housing when escaping abusive relationships. Additionally, people who are seeking housing may have difficulty finding a landlord to rent to them if there has been police activity at past residences due to domestic violence situations. Discrimination: Minoritized groups who are discriminated against are more likely to experience homelessness and make up a disproportionate share of the homeless population.

The federal (HUD) definition of chronic homelessness describes people who have been homeless for at least a year or four times in the last three years while struggling with a disabling condition. These conditions can include serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability. People experiencing chronic homelessness may live in safe havens or emergency shelters, as well as places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks and parking ramps. It can also include an individual who has been residing in an institutional care facility for less, including jail, substance abuse or mental health treatment facility, hospital, or other similar facility, for fewer than 90 days and met all of the criteria of this definition before entering that facility; or a family with an adult head of household (or, if there is no adult in the family, a minor head of household) who meets all of the criteria of this definition, including a family whose composition has fluctuated while the head of household has been homeless.

Pathways Home is the City of La Crosse / La Crosse County's 5-Year Plan to End Homelessness Additional details can be found HERE

Per the Pathways Home Q&A on the La Crosse County website: The number of homeless people has increased in La Crosse over recent years, as it has in many other parts of the country. There are many reasons for this but three of the biggest are a shortage of housing, homeless encampments, and barriers to help for people with mental health conditions. Pathways Home addresses each of those areas. More supportive housing, for families and individuals, is being created to help on the housing question. Encampments will no longer be tolerated once our new homeless response system is up and running. On mental health, Pathways Home will dedicate county behavioral health staff to improving access to support for homeless people. The support will give individuals a better chance of getting and keeping housing. The plan also will use peer support networks (help from people who have had similar life experiences) to work with individuals

Functional Zero is a benchmark used by many communities to effectively end homelessness by preventing homelessness whenever possible, and ensuring it’s rare, brief and only happens one time if it does occur. For our community, it would mean the number of people experiencing homelessness never exceeds our capacity to move people into permanent housing.