our vision

A community where there is no homelessness.

our mission

To work to end homelessness by providing housing, services, advocacy and education.

news

TOP's day shelter has moved to a new location

We are pleased to announce that The Other Place's daytime shelter program is now located inside the St. Vincent Hotel, at 120 W. Apple Street in Dayton. We also have a new phone number for the shelter, 461-7850. Our shelter services remain the same, but the community's "day" and "night" shelters are now co-located in the same building. We are excited to be working so closely with St. Vincent de Paul. For more information, please contact our administrative office at (937) 293-1945.

Read any good books lately?

The Iowa Avenue and River Commons supportive housing programs are creating libraries/reading rooms for their tenants to enjoy. Now, we need your assistance in collecting new and gently-used books and magazines that would be of interest to our adult tenants. If you have magazines to donate, we ask that they be fairly recent. Also, be sure to remove or black-out any personal address labels. To make a donation, contact Andrea Skrlac at (937) 293-1945.

Tenants moving in at Ohio Commons

Ohio Commons is a new permanent supportive housing program that is becoming home to 27 single women who would otherwise be homeless in our community. The project is a partnership between Miami Valley Housing Opportunities, which is the landlord, and The Other Place, which is the 24-hour on-site supportive service provider. Tenants have now begun moving in.

We still need YOUR help to furnish the 27 units with basic necessities. Although numerous donations have already been received, many apartments are not completely stocked. Please take a moment to view and print our "wish list" if you would like to help.

Support The Other Place by searching and shopping

GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered Internet search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. The next time you want to search for something on the Internet, just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter The Other Place as the charity you want to support. You can help TOP raise funds without ever leaving your desk!

If you shop at Dorothy Lane Market, please be sure to enroll in their Good Neighbor Program for 2008 and select TOP as your designated non-profit organization. Once you sign up, just use your Club DLM card and spend at least $250 during the year. Dorothy Lane Market will rebate a percentage of the purchases made in TOP's name. You just do your normal shopping at DLM, and TOP gets a check at the end of the year. What a great deal!

TOP and St. Vincent teamed up for "Camp Vinnie"

For children experiencing homelessness in Montgomery County this summer, The Other Place and St. Vincent de Paul teamed up to present "Camp Vinnie," a mobile summer camp that made sure these kids had the opportunity to enjoy some summer fun and educational field trips. In addition to outdoor activities like swimming, the kids visited area attractions like the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and were even invited to attend a Dayton Dragons game in the LexisNexis corporate suite. Camp Vinnie ran through the first week of August, thanks to the support of local sponsors and contributors.

TOP staff retreat and annual training session

On Tuesday, July 8, TOP's full-time staff gathered at Madison Lakes Conference Center for an entire day of training, agency updates and team-building activities. For the final activity of the day, the staff split up into teams to brainstorm ideas for a future supportive housing project. The teams even constructed models using nontraditional materials ranging from Legos to playing cards to food items. 

Now that our agency has staff members working at various sites -- including our administrative office, the family and singles gateway shelters, the River Commons and Iowa Avenue supportive housing programs, and other community-based programs -- it is important for us to ensure that we all continue to work together as a team. We are proud to have such a high caliber of employees, all working toward our vision of a community where there is no homelessness.  

TOPics newsletter

The Other Place has launched a newsletter called TOPics to help keep our friends informed of the progress we're making. The first issue features information on various TOP programs and projects, and provides an overview of what we've been up to in recent months. The newsletter will be posted online in PDF format for easy reading and printing. To read the current issue, click HERE. If you would like to receive an email notice when new issues are posted online, just send an email message to Andrea Skrlac requesting a free electronic subscription.

Keys: Ending Family Homelessness

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has produced a new video that highlights how communities across the country are decreasing homelessness among families. To watch the 15-minute video, click HERE.

"Opportunity Housing" for homeless veterans

The Other Place has partnered with CountyCorp and the Dayton VA Medical Center's Per Diem Program to develop "Opportunity Housing" for homeless veterans in Montgomery County. This innovative program allows TOP to house and serve veterans in a shared housing format, where two formerly-homeless individuals share a three-bedroom home as roommates. Supportive services are provided by a case manager from TOP who makes daily visits to each house. 

River Commons tenants enjoying stable housing 

In September of 2007, 61 men and women moved from the emergency shelter system into permanent supportive housing at the newly renovated River Commons apartments. The project was made possible by a partnership between the Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority (DMHA), which owns and operates the building; The Other Place, which provides on-site supportive services and 24-hour staffing; and Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, which provides employment opportunities for the residents. The program's initial goal -- based on standards developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- was for 72% of the tenants to remain housed for seven months. The project far exceeded that goal, with 98% still housed at the seven month mark!