LANTERN COMMUNITY SERVICES INC
494 8th Avenue 20th Floor, New York, NY 10001 www.lanterncommunity.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Lantern Community Services mission is to champion the independence and well-being of people who are impacted by or threatened with homelessness.

Lantern Community Services operates under the Housing First model. We believe that permanent housing is an intervention in and of itself, meeting one of the most basic human needs, shelter. The stability that comes from having safe, affordable housing allows our clients to shift focus from day-to-day survival to achieving other measures of independence and well-being. Transitional shelter for many provides the support needed to move from chronic homelessness to permanent housing. In FY 20 Lantern worked toward creating a shelter division by applying for and being approved to assume the contract for a second emergency shelter. The Plaza, located in upper Manhattan, is an 81 bed shelter for women with mental health concerns that Lantern will operate starting in July of 2020. Lantern Highlights of FY 20 are as follows: 96% of our clients maintained stable housing, either at Lantern or moving out to independent housing Fresh Food Box distributed 91,000 pounds of produce; over 15,000 meals were served Over 220 people attended sound.space 2: HOME, three live community events that included music performances, art exhibition and interactive art-making 22 Tenants started new jobs, 14 with the help of Individual Placement and Support (IPS), our evidenced- based employment first program 636 wrapped holiday gifts were distributed to Lantern families and young adults through the Winter Wishes campaign At the core of Lanterns success is the innovative model used to deliver services which partners core social services and concrete housing support at each site with experts who serve multiple sites in the areas of Health and Wellness, Arts and Culture, Education and Employment and Nutrition and Culinary Arts. Below are FY20 highlights from several program areas. Response to COVID-19 The end of FY 20 was challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergency stay at home order issued in NYC in March 2020. Lantern responded quickly and creatively to continue to fulfill our mission while at all times maintaining the safety of our staff. Core social services were maintained by connecting with tenants through technology. Lantern installed cell phones and a tablet at each site for tenant use. Other protocols for service delivery included staggered staff schedules, strict masking and social distancing protocols, daily wellness checks for vulnerable tenants and detailed tracking and reporting of symptoms and test results. To better promote social distancing for shelter residents and staff, Laurel Hall shelter was relocated to a hotel site where no more than two people share a room with its own bathroom. 48,700 surgical masks and 2400 reusable cloth masks were distributed to residents and staff High touch cleaning was provided five days per week in all public areas of supportive housing Symptomatic residents decreased from a high of 33 in April 2020 to 4 individuals in June 2020Arts and CultureIn the fall of 2019 Lantern hosted interactive public events at three different sites: Bronx Art Space in the Longwood section, el Barrios Art Space in East Harlem and ImageNation Raw Space in Manhattan. The art shows were a part of a project called sound.space funded for the second year by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. This years project called HOME is a collection of original musical and visual art created by Lantern tenants. The shows featured eight songs written with Lantern musicians and poets, and over 150 pieces of resident art living in Lantern buildings. During the pandemic Arts and Culture launched the Vimeo webpage with weekly videos in movement, meditation, and art therapy. Employment and EducationTen college students were awarded a $1,000 Mega Corporation scholarshipEleven residents enrolled in GED, adult education, vocational training or collegeNine tenants participated in live or virtual tutoringTwo young adult tenants graduated High School, one tenant received their GED and two tenants earned NYS Peer Specialist CertificatesLantern's Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Program worked with the New York State Education Department (ACCES-VR) to be a vendor that provides job placement and job retention services for clients with mental illness. IPS, in collaboration with the United Stated Census successfully completed two Census Day hiring events which led to Job leads for both Lantern and ACCESS-VR clients. IPS also hosted a workshop with Community Service Society about the Right to Work which led to a collaboration providing rap sheet repair and legal services to tenants with previous criminal justice system involvement. Lanterns Education Department advocated for minor age residents by facilitating visits N.Y.C. public middle schools and high schools and leading application workshops. Three middle school students transitioned to a high school that was among their top three choices. Health and WellnessThe Health and Wellness Department achieved many milestones this year despite needing to pivot to remote approaches during the pandemic. Over the course of the year Health and Wellness Coordinators conducted 121 groups or informational tables with a total of 852 contacts representing 294 unique individuals residing in Lantern housing. During the COVID19 pandemic the department focused its efforts on individual encounters and newsletter distribution. Fourteen buildings received written educational materials for distribution which included two monthly newsletters per building, as well as informational flyers and posters regarding COVID19 and protective measures. Fitness classes held weekly in five sites where adapted starting in March 2020, to recorded video-based workouts as well as exercise instruction sheets distributed to tenants. Evidence-based interventions, T-IMR (Targeted Illness Management and Recovery) and CLEAR (Choosing Life: Empowerment, Actions, Results) continued to be provided, initially in person and then during the pandemic either through zoom sessions, or socially distanced one-on-one sessions. Developed by outside partners both models utilize a curriculum aimed at skill development with the goal of empowering participants to set and achieve personal goals. Despite the limitations of COVID19, 83 encounters were reported for T-IMR, with 22 unique tenants, including six graduates; 25 encounters were reported for CLEAR, with 14 unique tenants, including one graduate. Nutrition and Culinary Arts Through a grant from the USDA the Food 4 Life Program entered its third year of providing nutrition education to low income young adult residents. In focus groups held to evaluate the program 83% of participants said they can prepare a healthy meal that is not expensive and 67% made a home cooked meal in the last week.In response to food insecurity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nutrition and Culinary Arts worked to increase the amount of food available to tenants. Through the Fresh Food Box Program Lantern made fresh produce, eggs and staples available to all 16 supportive housing sites either weekly or twice/month. Moreover, Lantern added shelf stable pantries to all supportive housing sites. At three sites housing those with chronic medical conditions, mid-day meals were increased to three days a week with an added to-go breakfast option. Lantern also partnered with NYCs Get Food program and other non-profits to deliver meals weekly to three other sites. Nutrition education programming, transitioned to remote instruction, both live through Zoom and on pre-recorded video. In total, chef consultants created 17 cooking videos for Lanterns Vimeo channel and distributed 24 printed recipes during Fresh Food Box.

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