Howard Center Street Outreach Team: Hannah Toof, Casey Lee, Tammy Boudah, and Eric Goldmann. Howard Center photo.
Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center’s Street Outreach program was recently honored with the Community Heroes Award at the Queen City Police Foundation and Burlington Rotary Annual Luncheon. In presenting the award, Queen City Police Foundation board member Becky Cassidy said the award celebrated “the remarkable commitment of Howard Center and the Street Outreach Team to making our community a better place to live for every human being, whatever their situation.” She described the team’s work in the downtown area by saying, “On the coldest and hottest of days, literally and figuratively, the team shows up on the Marketplace and in our downtown to effect positive change. I could not be more grateful.”
The Street Outreach program began in 2000 as a collaborative project, developed in response to a community need identified by merchants in downtown Burlington, city officials, and visitors to the Marketplace. Members of the Street Outreach team meet people on the streets within the Burlington Business District to help meet the unmet social service needs of individuals in the downtown area, many with mental health challenges.
Street Outreach Team Leader Tammy Boudah says, “We are honored to receive this award, and we greatly appreciate our partnership with the Burlington Police Department and the support our colleagues and businesses in the downtown area provide as we work to connect individuals with needed social services.”
Initial and continuing financial support for the program comes from the United Way of Northwest Vermont (previously the United Way of Chittenden County), the Burlington Police Department, the University of Vermont Medical Center, the Burlington Mayor's Office, the Church Street Marketplace Commission, the Vermont Department of Mental Health, the Burlington Business Association, and individual businesses and community members.
Since its inception, the program has received numerous awards and has served as the model for similar initiatives in cities throughout the United States and Canada. The four-person Street Outreach Team is available any day of the week for any individual who requests services. In the last fiscal year, the team supported 882 individuals.
Last year, Howard Center helped 16,000 people in over 60 locations and six counties with mental health, substance use, and developmental services. Howard Center’s 24/7/365 mobile crisis service, First Call for Chittenden County, relies on one team and one number, 802-488-7777, to meet the needs of Chittenden County children, adults, and families in crisis. Howard Center is a funded agency of the United Way of Northwest Vermont. www.howardcenter.org. Help is here