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The MFA program provides direct services year round in the areas of Basic Needs, Health, Economic Security, Self-Sufficiency, and Family Functioning. Our experienced staff reflects a wide range of cultures and languages, supporting between 6,000 to 8,000 English-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, and French-speaking families each year.
Our advocates provide emergency food and financial assistance; mediation and intervention; family-centered, strengths-based case management; domestic violence support groups for men and women; a job board and application support; and health education, access, and referral.
Our clients reach us through walk-in requests and telephone calls. All walk-in clients self-register, and we track registrations in our database. In most cases, our advocates are able to meet with clients right away; when we are unusually busy, we schedule visits to make sure each client receives appropriate attention. Services are provided in a fully ADA accessible space.
For clients who need case management, we begin with an intake interview. Clients set their goals and our advocates help them develop a plan for meeting those goals. These plans might include counseling, referrals to outside organizations, job or apartment applications, accessing legal resources, health insurance enrollment, or donations of food or financial resources, to name a few.
When clients are referred to another agency for service, we provide bus tickets when needed, and in some instances, an advocate will accompany a client to a different service provider where translation or cultural barriers are anticipated at the referral source.
For moderate and intensive cases, advocacies may require multiple client visits over time. The advocate and client both participate in evaluating client progress, and the advocate records details in the database. With the advocate's assistance, the client can review, revise and/or drop goals that do not meet their needs at the time. |