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13 <br /> <br />Considerations for Car Camping Host Sites <br />By Community Supported Shelters <br /> <br />Dear friends, <br /> <br />Thank you for taking the time to consider becoming a ‘Host site’ for homeless people to live in a car, tent, <br />vehicle, or Conestoga Hut on your property. <br /> <br />How you design your site and resident/host interface is ultimately up to you. Through the work of <br />Community Supported Shelters we have developed this list of considerations. It's important to understand <br />that being a successful host site depends on you having a developed host/resident interface plan. This plan <br />must be clearly communicated with hut residents. Give the new residents a copy of the host plan. Be sure <br />they understand, agree to, and sign the designated plan. This protects host site and provides a means of <br />accountability if problems do arise. <br /> <br />Considerations in developing your Host/Resident Interface plan: <br /> <br />1. What is your motivation for becoming a Host site? What do you have to offer as a Host? <br />2. Do you have any experience with disadvantaged populations of people? How will your organization interact <br />with residents? <br />3. How many Conestoga hut residents will you start with? <br />4. How long will you want residents to be able to stay at your site? <br />5. Will your site provide electricity? Will residents have access to water? <br />6. Will your residents have access to site facilities? If so, when? Who will be there to oversee use during these <br />times? What are the limitations (i.e. kitchen, shower, internet/computer access, telephone, etc.)? What are <br />the guidelines for use of these amenities? Who will ensure facilities are used responsibly? <br />7. What will your resident do to give back to your organization? How will residents plug in to host site activities <br />and support host site? CSS encourages a 2-hour per week minimum of resident participation in host site. <br />Gardening, cleaning, picking up trash in neighborhood, maintenance needs, administrative needs, security, <br />and yard work are the kinds of tasks that could be addressed by a host site resident. <br />8. CSS recommends that each site have at least three people with the organization be tasked with being the <br />direct contact persons for the new residents. Weekly or every other week check-ins can help your residents <br />feel supported and help them to settle into getting focused on their life. During these check-ins, you can <br />review host agreements, check on resident needs, check in on the tidiness and cleanliness of the host space. <br />9. Conestoga Huts are built by Community Supported Shelters. Many huts are on church or business property <br />and administered through the St. Vincent de Paul Overnight Parking Program. Conestoga Hut repairs and <br />upgrades must be approved and coordinated by Community Supported Shelters. <br />10. Each host site can choose to sign up with St. Vincent de Paul car camping program. St. Vincent will provide <br />free trash and porta-potty service to you for being a host site. Hosts can choose to run their own program, <br />create their own rules, and pay for trash and porta-potty service. <br />11. Selecting the right resident for your unique Conestoga Hut situation. What type of resident are you seeking? <br />Here are a few resident scenarios to be considered. You could pick one of these or come up with one of your <br />own (Service Veterans only, Recovering from surgery, Help out with gardening at your site, Short-term <br />periods (i.e. less than three months, someone with a clear plan and motivation to carry it out), On-site <br />presence to help with security, Elderly with no family, Student) <br /> <br />Good Luck on your journey! <br />January 23, 2019, Work Session - Item 2