Ozanam Inn
"For
nearly 50 years, Ozanam Inn has stood as a beacon of hope and joy for men,
women and children in need of the very basics of life: safe shelter for the
night, a hot meal and clothing. The men and women who operate and support
Ozanam Inn have heard and brought to life the words of Jesus who said, 'Love
one another as I have loved you.'"
-
Most Rev. Alfred C. Hughes
Archbishop
of New Orleans.
Over the past half-century, the city of New
Orleans has grown up and around Ozanam Inn.
Ozanam Inn is a 501c(3) non-profit, direct service
agency serving the homeless and hungry
of greater New Orleans,
regardless of race, color, creed, religious preference or national
origin. All of our services are
provided free-of-charge. The Inn
was established in 1955 by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay
service organization dedicated to helping the poor; the Inn
was named in honor of Frederick Ozanam, who founded the Society in 1852.
Ozanam Inn was opened at a time when there were
few homeless women and children; our facility is not equipped to shelter
women and children, but we do provide vouchers (six (6) per month) for women
and women with children to stay at other agencies that sleep women/women with
children. Ozanam Inn is equipped to
sleep a minimum of 96 men per night; and in times of emergency, a maximum of
125. Overnight guests are given a bed
for the night; are required to take a shower and shampoo their hair
(toiletries and other necessities provided by Ozanam), and are loaned a clear
pair of pajamas to sleep in.
Because the Inn’s services
are free, we have instituted a rotation policy to ensure every man a fair
amount of overnight shelter. Each man
is guaranteed a minimum of 10 nights of shelter per year. After the ten nights have been used, he may
get in via the stand-by list. There is
no maximum number of nights a man may stay.
Men are never turned away until all beds are filled.
Ozanam Inn’s meal program is the most
comprehensive in New Orleans,
offering three meals a day seven days a week.
Anyone (men, women and children) may partake in our meal program. Breakfast is served at 6:00 am, lunch is at 2:00
pm (both are hot meals cooked at the Inn),
and sandwiches (made at the Inn) are our dinner meal
and are served at 6:00 pm. We serve an average of 800 meals each day.
In addition to housing and food,
Ozanam Inn offers several other services.
An in-house dispensary is opened at night for the overnight guests;
volunteer nurses and medical students perform basic first aid procedures and
make referrals to Charity Hospital
when necessary; they also give and read TB tests. “Outside” clients, if using the Charity
Hospital system, may come by once
every 60 days to have the Inn assist them with
prescription medicine. Deacons from
various Christian Churches
as assigned to the Inn to hold Bible/prayer services
for the overnight guests (which is optional, not mandatory). Some counseling services are also
provided. Any client may use the Inn’s
address to receive any and all types of mail.
Ozanam Inn also furnishes clothing to men, women and children. The Inn issues an
average of 450 pieces of clothing a month.
The Inn also supplies sheets and blankets in
the cooler an cold months to those who live on the streets during the day,
and especially at night.
There are also three extended stay programs at the
Inn:
- Volunteer Corps
Assistance ( VCA ) - These men are given a permanent bed, three
daily meals, clothing, laundry for their clothes and assistance in
acquiring other necessary items, in exchange for their work at the Inn. VCA’s assist the staff with cooking,
housekeeping, office work and other miscellaneous duties.
- Occupational
Transitional Assistance ( OTA ) – Clients who hold full time jobs
outside the Inn are given a permanent bed, three
meals a day, have their clothes laundered and assistance with other
needs if necessary. The program
requires they turn over 80% of their net pay to the Inn
for safekeeping and saving (the Inn does not keep
any of this money), for which they are given a receipt. This is done to aid them in reaching
their goal of independent living, at which time all of their money is
returned to them. The men must
also assist around the Inn when available.
- Medical
Transitional Assistance ( MTA ) – With proper medical documentation,
homeless men are allowed to recuperate from illness or surgery at the Inn
for a designated time. They are
given a permanent bed, three meals a day, clothing, and assisted with
filling of necessary prescriptions.
They are also asked to assist the crew in accordance with their
ability to do so.
Ozanam Inn receives some funds
from the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the conferences of the St. Vincent de
Paul Society; but, our major source of funds is from private and corporate
donors, either monetary and/or commodity.
Commodity donations include clothing, eyeglasses, non-prescription
medicines, toiletries, prepared and unprepared foods, coffee, sugar, and
others. The Inn
purchases about one-third of its food supplies from a local non-profit food
bank at very reduced rates. Those
items that are not donated or purchased through special means are purchased
on the open market.
The hungry and homeless need our
help, in terms of resources and, more importantly, in terms of support. We believe that despite the enormity of the
problems we tackle, Ozanam Inn is making a difference in people’s lives by
easing their suffering and giving them hope.
We are a small organization, with an annual budget of approximately
$660,000.00 (of which only 21% goes to administrative cost), but are able to
provide over 300,000 forms of assistance to men, women and children annually.
For a tour of the Inn, please
call (504)-523-1184 for an appointment.
Please accept this invitation to assist a homeless
man, woman or child with safe shelter and a hot meal. Make donations to:
Ozanam Inn
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
843 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
