Our Approach
Housing and stable income are foundational to the health and wellness of families and communities. New Leaf Justice Enterprise’s approach is a comprehensive Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) & Social Determinates of Work (SDOW) improvement strategy that deploys holistic services across the entire affordable housing continuum of care. Nearly all the reasons individuals/families regress on the continuum are due to mental health challenges and trauma. Conversely, the reasons individuals/families progress on the continuum are due to increased financial stability and connection to social services.
The Affordable Housing Continuum of Care
Approaches like New Leaf are critical to addressing generational poverty because experiencing trauma, incarceration, or substance misuse uproots survivors from the community, destabilizes households, and significantly impacts the brain functioning and overall health of the entire family. Unless trauma is addressed, families are disrupted and the cycle continues and creates generational trauma.
The New Leaf approach works to restore the family’s roots (i.e., support network) so the family - and ultimately, the community - can thrive. It does so by providing people/families with the facilities required to respond to crises and build resilience, and combines no-cost trauma-informed programming with essential services such as case management, job training, housing, childcare, and supportive networks of care. All these services are essential for rehabilitation and resilience - all qualities an effective local workforce needs for industries to thrive.
New Leaf Resilience Communities_
Resilience-building services are clustered into New Leaf Resilience Communities (i.e., micro centers) where services detailed below are located within a 15-minute walk and available to the larger community whenever possible. Project activities include completing four resilience communities in Athens, Middleport, Glouster, and Nelsonville.
New Leaf Resilience Community Program Phases
While each individual/family works through the program at their own pace, most progress through the program in predictable development phases. The image below details the phases and activities that occur within them.