Homeless Helping Homeless Inc

 Homeless Helping Homeless, Inc. (HHH) is a 501(c)(3) emergency shelter provider since 2009 in Tampa, FL. 

In 2018, HHH has expanded our scope by offering peer mentorship, mental health support/crisis recovery shelter to Tampa’s most vulnerable populations.

HHH is just 1 of 14 Peer to Peer Run Crisis Shelters in the U.S. and the only peer run emergency provider in Tampa.

As a peer run emergency crisis shelter, we realize we are on the forefront of the deep end of mental health first aid. Our recovery program is suited for anybody from any background, place in life, or level of sobriety. We focus only on the first stage of recovery-whatever that might be from or what it might look like. We prefer to meet the client exactly where they are with non judgement and positive reinforcement for self-improving behaviors and choices. 

Our clients often don't meet the requirements of other programs or have had previous bad experiences with social services and mental health. Everyone who comes in has an entirely unique recovery goal. Goals could be as small as learning to use clean needles or buying glasses and a state ID all the way up to housing, going back to school, or building healthy friendships; anything that can be achieved within 1-2 months.  The point is to teach people how to focus on one day at a time, and how breaking down major problems into small manageable steps, can get someone through almost anything. We advocate harm reduction techniques and attempt to get people interested/ready for long term life improving changes.

Being a crisis counseling setting, our goal is to focus the client on recovering from whatever immediately brought them to HHH. We provide crisis debriefing and basic crisis counseling as well as ongoing peer support during their 30 day stay to help them achieve their goals. Our limits are the scope of crisis de-escalation services used at most crisis hotlines and the limits of what peer support can bring. 

Coming from a trauma informed perspective, we believe that the only way to heal from trauma is to take back the control of your life. This is why our program requires each client to be 100% responsible for their choices, goals, and successes each day, each week, and month.  Our clients choose everything from goals down to how our notes are written and how the peer support is used. Our only requirement is that they are engaged in the support system we provide. By the end of the month, our goal is: to see clients feel in control of their own destiny, have a better grasp of self-advocacy as they navigate jobs/services/ life, and feel that whatever hardship they just went through does not have a long term/ permanent traumatic impact. 

HHH has now registered with the following federal agencies:.(SAM), System for Award Management, Grants.gov, (SAMHSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (eRA). Electronic Research Administration, (NIH), National Institutes of Health and a (DUNS) number, Data Universal Numbering System.