Social Workers in the Dining Room

To assist our Dining Room clients in accessing other St. Anthony services that would increase their stability, social workers have been spending about 2 hours of their work day 5 days a week engaging with our guests in the Dining Room. We assumed this time would help people connect to further services that they may need. Specifically we were aiming to engage new or inactive clients into the Social Work Center to work towards sustained stability. Since January we have started tracking these interactions closely using our client database system and we are very pleased with the results.

Each day in the Dining Room the social workers see a lot of people! During these two hours, they manage to connect with about 10% of our regular ongoing social work center clients. Being in the Dining Room allows them to follow up on an issue they had talked about previously with a client, or just exchange a friendly hello–securing and maintaining that ever important trusting relationship that is rooted in our St. Anthony values. They also continue to develop new connections. For some guests, it does not take much interaction to decide to meet with a social worker on an ongoing basis to address their needs and they follow up quickly. For others however, it can take many interactions to grow that trusting relationship that exists within our services. So far this year about 20% of the connections staff have made in the Dining Room have led to further social work services, allowing people access to services they need that will in turn increase or help them maintain their stability. As we continue to work and track these connections, our hope is to learn how to engage and improve our services for all guests who visit the St. Anthony Dining Room.