In this season of gratitude, it’s uplifting to celebrate community successes. This year, the Salvation Army’s Q Life by Choice program has placed 300 homeless people in permanent housing. Now that’s something to be thankful for.

The Salvation Army’s Q Life program is structured to give the homeless clients they assist choices (Q Life is shorthand for quality of life). Each person’s situation is different, each client’s goals for their lives are personal, their needs are individual. The Salvation Army has created a program which they describe as combining the findings of “behavioral science with evidence-based best practices of moving persons from homelessness to housing” and the Q Life framework “meets the person, not the population, serves the person, not the problem, and focuses on reducing the days of homelessness to reduce the years.”

The Salvation Army saw many of the perpetually homeless were paying nothing to a dollar for nightly shelter at the 10th Street facility, and homeless clients often continued with this practice for months. That approach wasn’t assisting clients with making choices that moved them toward permanent housing.

With the Q Life approach, homeless clients are given four free days of shelter, with the condition that they choose at the end of those four days if they want to work out a plan for permanent housing. If after the four days they want to find permanent housing with the assistance of the Q Life program, they are given an additional 21 days of free housing and are assigned a case manager. That case manager works with the client on creating a plan. The client meets with their case worker and takes classes on necessary life skills. The case worker may coordinate contact with other outside agencies for the client. An effective plan for housing take shape, one which may involve finding employment, education, getting health care needs met.

If the client declines to participate in the Q Life program, they can still stay at the Salvation Army’s shelter, but they are charged a fee.

An integral aspect of the program’s success is the client-caseworker relationship. There is someone who understands their situation. The caseworker is an expert who understands the client’s particular needs and also understands who to put the client in touch with in Sarasota. That expert networking and the personal relationship with the client is a potent combination. What a gift these caseworkers are to their clients, and to our community.

So thank you, Salvation Army leadership, for taking the time to study what works, and then creating an effective approach. Thank you to each Q Life caseworker. Thank you to all those who have donated to this program, especially Mr. and Mrs. Arnold J. Simonsen for providing $2.5 million for Q Life operations. Thank you to the Community Foundation’s for your role in making this happen. Q Life’s new goal is to assist 365 clients in the coming year. May they continue in their goals, success, and blessing our community.

Cathy Antunes serves on the board of Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government.