Letter to the Editor
Brisben Center CEO David Cooper provides a deeper analysis of the Brisben Center and its role in working with the homeless.
The Thurman Brisben Center is often designated and therefore perceived “the emergency shelter” for the unhoused homeless in the Greater Fredericksburg region. This definition misses deeper values, goals and truths.
Brisben provides safe, clean, comfortable congregate accommodations, healthy meals, computer lab, playground, and more for participating homeless persons. However, often not mentioned are its successful, accountability-based programs for homeless families with school children and single adults. Too little recognized are Brisben’s greater goals and achievements; those rooted in community-building, outcome-achieving, life-enriching work with participants to help them develop paths from homelessness to becoming sustainably housed and productive neighbors in thriving neighborhoods.
At the heart of Brisben’s work is our commitment to client transformation and financial independence, not just temporary relief or fostering cycles of dependency. We walk with those who agree to participate through processes built on safety, trust, and accountability. Our restorative approach starts with participant capability and motivation measured across five key domains – health and healthy practices, employment, financial literacy, parenting, and community participation – helping people not only depart homelessness, but to invest in securing and sustaining themselves and their homes over the long-haul. We do this work without federal or state funding. We rely on our community and its generosity.
The results are deeply moving. Parents who once struggled are now stable, working, and engaged in their children’s lives. Children are in school. People who were once homeless are now housed—and more than that, they’re contributing members of our community. They are our coworkers, neighbors, volunteers, and friends.
The Brisben Center remains committed, as it has for over thirty-six years, to helping thousands of our neighbors recover from crises, rebuilding lives on paths from homeless to home. We don’t do this work alone. It takes a community willing to invest in hope, to believe in the potential of every neighbor, and to recognize that our wellbeing is interconnected.
David Cooper, MSW, MDiv, CPM
Fredericksburg, VA
CEO, Thurman Brisben Center
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