The PATH Program is a federal program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The focus of this program is to help meet the needs of homeless people who have mental illnesses by engaging them in the services provided by mental health centers and other mental health providers, community-based social service agencies, health care providers, and substance abuse service providers.
Services include outreach, screening and assessments, case management services, habitation and rehabilitation, alcohol or drug treatment, and limited housing services.
The Chattanooga PATH program is housed at Johnson Mental Health Center a division of Volunteer Behavioral Health.
The Barefooted PATH Cornhole and Frisbee Tournaments will be held July 1 at The Red Bank Community Center from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This fundraiser will support our clients with items such as tents, blankets, tarps, warm clothing, sleeping bags, and flashlights.
The Corn Hole Tournament and Ultimate Frisbee Tournament will includ bingo, inflatables, food trucks, live music, face painting, and an art sale in partnership with Chattanooga's HART Gallery. If you would like to register for this event call 423-463-5746.
The current PATH Coordinator for the Chattanooga location is Joe Brackett. He has served in this position for almost 16 months. Over those 16 months 125 clients have become enrolled in the PATH Program. PATH has been involved in the process of getting 62 of these clients into permanent housing thus far.
“Our goal is to say no to our clients as few times as we can when they ask us to assist them with a need they are experiencing. Here at PATH we want to say yes, and to be a support for our clients. Even if PATH is not able to meet the client’s need directly we do our best to connect the clients with those in the community that do have the resources and abilities to meet those needs.” said Mr. Brackett.
Officials said, "Much of PATH’s success is attributed to having close working relationships with other agencies and groups who are serving the clients enrolled in PATH. We believe that in order for our clients to get on and stay on the right path of getting out of homelessness it takes having a good team, composed of members from other homeless serving agencies, around them. Good working relationships between the PATH team and the members of these agencies are essential to helping our clients build their needed team."
To learn more about Volunteer Behavioral Health and other services provided, call at 877-567- 6051.