Question 1

Is Karuna Inc. a non profit?

Accepted Answer

Yes. 
Karuna Inc. has been recognized  by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non profit organization since 3/20/2023.

NOTE: Donations / contributions to a 501s(c)(3) are tax deductible!

Question 2

What is Karuna House?

Accepted Answer

Introducing Karuna House

The Karuna Pilot Supportive Housing Program 
Helping residents find their own "life worth living" while providing safe, sustainable housing with 24-hour peer-based, person-centered support.

How is Karuna Different?
Karuna's Pilot Supportive Housing project is a new and innovative housing solution that NOW exists in La Crosse. It has three core components that separate it from other supportive housing programs:
Co-Living Style Apartments
24-Hour Onsite Support Staff
Connection to Community

What is the Karuna House layout?
Currently our pilot project is located in a 2-story duplex:  6 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms / laundry / shared living space, per side. 
One side of the duplex (6 residents) is sober living. 
The other side of the duplex (5 residents - one bedroom is used for staff offices) are individuals who are in different stages of their addiction and/or recovery.  We use a wide variety of strategies that meet our people where they are ― on their own terms, and may serve as a pathway to additional health and social services, including additional prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

Question 3

Who lives at Karuna House?

Accepted Answer

All of our residents have been homeless a minimum of 12 months cumulatively over the last three years with preference given to those meeting HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness. 
- Individuals Struggling with Mental Health and Substance Use Issues
- Individuals Struggling to  Be Successful in Traditional Programming
- Chronically Homeless Individuals

Question 4

Is everyone required to be sober to live at Karuna House?

Accepted Answer

No, not necessarily.
Check out our section on What is Karuna House  for more details on our layout.

We follow Harm Reduction strategies supported by SAMHSA, which is the The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach that is critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping them with life-saving tools and information to create positive change in their lives and potentially save their lives. Harm reduction is a key pillar in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Overdose Prevention Strategy.

Harm reduction is a practical and transformative approach that incorporates community-driven public health strategies — including prevention, risk reduction, and health promotion — to empower people who use drugs (and their families) with the choice to live healthy, self-directed, and purpose-filled lives. Harm reduction centers the lived and living experience of people who use drugs, especially those in underserved communities, in these strategies and the practices that flow from them.
Harm reduction emphasizes engaging directly with people who use drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease transmission; improve physical, mental, and social wellbeing; and offer low barrier options for accessing health care services, including substance use and mental health disorder treatment.

Question 5

How effective is Harm Reduction and how does Karuna use it?

Accepted Answer

Harm Reduction is a SAMHSA endorsed, evidence-based approach that has been proven to save lives and "has shown to substantially reduce HIV and hepatitis C infection among people who inject drugs, reduce overdose risk, enhance health and safety, and increase by five-fold the likelihood of a person who injects drugs to initiate substance use disorder treatment."

NOTE:  While Karuna believes in this approach, we do also place the safety of our residents, staff, and neighbors above all else. There are a lot of misconceptions about harm reduction and there are harm reduction strategies that Karuna does not employ due to the potential safety concerns they pose. Here is a guide to how Karuna uses this approach:

Question 6

How does Karuna measure sucess?

Accepted Answer

Impact

Karuna is working!

Karuna's Pilot Supportive Housing project is already having impact locally on residents, the community, and our homeless services system.

The greatest impact will be for the residents of the project. Provided with a housing solution that fits their needs, residents will finally be able to maintain their housing and begin work on other aspects of their lives. Non-judgmental, peer-based supports offer a foundation on which they can begin to pursue goals that are meaningful to them and begin to rebuild their lives. The Karuna pilot aims to have positive impact on each resident's health, mental health, substance use, and overall quality of life.

While community homeless numbers remain at an all-time high, housing 10-11 individuals with intensive mental health and substance use needs may only reduce the overall population by as much as 3-4% but will significantly decrease the cost of homelessness to the community. The target population of the project includes people who routinely use expensive emergency services, have a high rate of interaction with police, unpaid citations, and a higher rate of incarceration, all of which come at a high price for local taxpayers.

Reducing the negative impact of homelessness on the community is a goal of the Karuna Pilot project but so is increasing the positive impact for the community. Required community service hours not only provide an opportunity for residents to become integrated back into the community but also provides the crucial volunteer hours local organizations need to keep serving other people in need in La Crosse. Each resident is required to complete 20 hours of service each month. The service projects chosen are entirely up to the individual but can be done on their own or as a group. In turn, having meaningful impact in the community will help build resilience and increase self-esteem for residents!

Finally, Karuna hopes that this project will have impact on the local homeless services system. State and federally funded organizations are directed to accept clients into their programming based on the order they are in on our “Coordinated Entry Prioritization List.” This means that even people who have recently been discharged from a program because they were evicted or otherwise unsuccessful in that program can end up being selected and housed again and again because their length of time homeless and assessed vulnerability on the streets places them at the top of the list again and again. This leads to a “clog” in the system where these valuable program openings are not able to reach other clients who would be able to be successful in them. By sustainably housing clients on the list who meet the definition of chronic homelessness and who have previously been enrolled in supportive housing programs, Karuna will be able to immediately reduce the chronically homeless population of the Coulee region by 10% as well as allow other programs to reach clients who have not been offered these services. In this way Karuna is filling a gap in the service system and working to make it more effective.

Measuring Impact

Karuna uses the same database that all HUD funded community housing providers are required to use to record program data, the WI Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and where data that measures the progress the La Crosse community is making towards functional zero is reported from. Within HMIS Karuna is able to record and report on increases to income from employment or access to benefits, increases in access to mainstream benefits such as FoodShare and healthcare, successful connection to other community services through referral tracking, the number of community service hours worked, and access to treatment services, including residents working to become clean and sober. Karuna has also worked with the system administrator to embed a Quality of Life survey into the system to be able to annually measure how residents feel about the overall impact the program has had on their lives.

Karuna staff also actively participates on a community data team generating a monthly dashboard monitoring progress towards ending homelessness. Once Karuna expands to full capacity it is anticipated that the La Crosse community will see a permanent reduction chronic homelessness.