Innovative solutions to end homelessness
Posts tagged Collaboration
Working With PHAs To End Homelessness
Feb 18th
This post was originally written for the National Alliance to End Homelessness blog.
As communities redouble their efforts to achieve the goals of Opening Doors, one thing is abundantly clear: we need all hands on deck to truly end homelessness in this country. This includes our partners at public housing agencies (PHAs) both as providers of mainstream housing resources and as key collaborators within our existing systems of care. As we continue to focus on permanent solutions like permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing strategies, we must expand the tools and resources available to support these efforts. This includes broadening and deepening our connections with our PHA partners.
This past week’s National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness saw some of the most exciting and influential thinkers in the field come together in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) convened public housing agencies and Continuums of Care (CoCs) from targeted communities for a special pre-conference session to highlight the ways in which communities have successfully worked across HUD programs to create more opportunities for housing and services targeted towards persons experiencing homelessness.
The session began with More >
The Super Bowl of HUD-VASH
Feb 5th
On the morning of Super Bowl Sunday while most Americans are gearing up to enjoy the big game, 25 homeless Veterans in Phoenix are attending a housing briefing to receive a voucher for rental assistance for an apartment of their choice in the community. These 25 men and women were among the 1,266 Veterans that received services at the Arizona StandDown Friday through Sunday, February 3-5, at the Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Arizona StandDown is an annual three day event that brings together the Valley’s homeless and at-risk military veterans to connect them with services in one location. Available services include VA health care and mental health services, clothing, meals, IDs and drivers licenses, court services and legal assistance, showers and haircuts, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing and much more.
Of the 1,266 Veterans served at StandDown this year, over 800 identified as currently being homeless; sleeping outside, in emergency shelter or in transitional housing. These homeless Veterans completed the Vulnerability Index at the StandDown as the culmination of survey efforts for Project H3 Vets, the community collaboration led by the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness to identify and prioritize for permanent housing the most medically vulnerable homeless Veterans in Maricopa More >
An Amazing Transformation
Sep 13th
This post was originally written for Poverty Insights by Mattie Lord of UMOM New Day Centers. Mattie is also a Project Coordinator for Project H3: Home, Health, Hope; of which HOM, Inc. is a proud partner.
While sitting at a stop sign, minding my own business, two men drove by and flipped me off. I have no idea why – I did nothing to them. Perhaps they passed judgment based on my appearance, my car, or perhaps my “Life is good” bumper sticker. It reminded me of how often people experiencing homelessness are judged and misjudged – how frequently others make assumptions and draw conclusions without knowing anything about them. We expect it from people who just don’t understand the issues or the population, but it is surprisingly common even within the human services arena. Too often, our most vulnerable – those most in need of help – are overlooked or discounted by homeless service providers.
Meet Mark. Mark is a sixty-one year old man who lived on the streets for the past thirty years, half of his life. He has been well-known to service providers, outreach teams, and law enforcement in Phoenix, Arizona for his drunken and belligerent behavior. For years, he More >
