On October 15, 2013, NCCEH held the third in a series of three webinars about reducing chronic homelessness. This webinar highlighted Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, which has reduced chronic homelessness by 58% since 2005. Presenters Andrea Kurtz, Senior Director of Housing Strategies for the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, and Tim West, Planning Program Supervisor for the City of Winston-Salem, spoke about the strategies that resulted in this decrease, including strong public-private partnerships, investments in permanent supportive housing, targeting resources to the most high-barrier populations, and using HMIS data to inform strategic decision-making. Click here to view the slides from the presentation. Archived Recording: Current NCCEH members may access a recording of the conference call and presentation. Members will need to log in to the website to access the recording. If you are not an NCCEH member and would like …
On September 24, 2013, NCCEH held the second in a series of three webinars about reducing chronic homelessness. This webinar highlighted Wilmington and the Cape Fear area (New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender Counties), which have reduced chronic homelessness by almost 70% since 2007. Presenters Dan Ferrell, Strategic Director for the Ten-Year Plan, and Katrina Knight, Executive Director of the Good Shepherd Center, spoke about their community's investments and the changes that have resulted in this decrease. Click here to view the slides from the presentation. Archived Recording: Current NCCEH members may access a recording of the conference call and presentation. Members will need to log in to the website to access the recording. If you are not an NCCEH member and would like to access the recording, you can sign up for membership here.
The Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs (ICCHP) is an advisory group created to advise the Governor and the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on issues affecting persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The ICCHP's 2012 annual report, "A Status Report on Homelessness in North Carolina: Where We Are and Where We're Going," is available to read here.
In developing the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program Interim Rule, HUD drew on its and grantees’ experience in administering the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) to establish policies and requirements for ESG. Now, as communities are transitioning into implementing ESG, HUD has issued a new resource to assist communities in understanding the similarities and differences between HPRP and ESG program requirements: Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Assistance: A Comparison of ESG and HPRP Requirements. This document focuses on a number of the key requirements between the two programs. Please note that it does not compare all of the requirements or go into great detail for most. Also, for ESG, it specifically focuses on the Rapid Re-Housing and Homelessness Prevention components—it does not address the Emergency Shelter or Street Outreach components, since those were not eligible activities under HPRP. …
On May 1, 2012, NCCEH held a Tuesdays @ Two conference call entitled "Rethinking Shelter". Carson Dean, Executive Director of the Men's Shelter of Charlotte (MSC) and NCCEH Board Chair, spoke about the ways in which the shelter has integrated rapid re-housing, shelter diversion, and housing first approaches into its work. Please click the links below to view the materials from the call. MSC Mission & Vision MSC Streets to Housing Model MSC Programming Model MSC Outcomes Report Carson also referenced these resources that MSC found helpful while retooling their program: Bridgespan Partnership Template The NonProfit Secret: The Six Principles of Successful Board/CEO Partnerships Archived Recording: Current NCCEH members may access a recording of the conference call and presentation. Members will need to log in to the website to access the recording. If you are not an NCCEH …
The National Alliance to End Homelessness published a summary and analysis of the changes to the definition of homelessness under the HEARTH Act. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the final regulation on December 5, which went into effect on January 4. The brief highlights the changes to the definition compared to both the previous regulation and the draft changes proposed by HUD in April 2010. The brief includes a table summarizing the changes to various categories of homelessness. It also outlines the decisions that communities and individual programs will have to make as a result of these changes. Click here to download the summary or read it on the NAEH website.
BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN DURHAM – Faith and community leaders gathered for a collective call to action Friday to address homelessness and poverty during a day-long conference at Union Baptist Church. The first Faith Institute on Homelessness and Poverty brought together those who are helping, those who want to help, those who want to galvanize their congregations and those who have ideas on how best to do it. Henry Kaestner, co-founder of DurhamCares, moderated a session between four faith leaders about the spiritual call to end homelessness. Kaestner said the message of DurhamCares is to “love thy neighbor.” Rabbi Leah Berkowitz of Judea Reform Congregation said that Judaism’s imperative is to help the poor, hungry and homeless and to never oppress another people, as they were once slaves. “Helping the poor is a commandment, not …
Amy Sawyer, Homeless Initiative Coordinator at the City of Asheville, and Robin Merrell, member of the Asheville-Buncombe Homeless Inititative Advisory Committee, discuss family homelessness with Tank Spencer of radio station WWNC 570. Listen to the conversation on the WWNC website.
During the week of April 25, 2011, WUNC examines a persistent problem for mentally ill people in North Carolina – housing. Mental health reformers have repeated their intention to move people out of large institutions toward treatment options closer to home. But even as people have left hospitals, local resources have not kept pace. That means in North Carolina, many people with mental health disabilities live in adult care homes designed for frail elderly people. Now the U S Justice Department is investigating this situation. In the first installment of the series, North Carolina Voices, Mental Health Disorder, Rose Hoban reports that it could mean big changes for North Carolina. Listen to the interview and read the transcript on the WUNC website.
By Larry Sackett StarNews Correspondent Published: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 2:21 p.m. One year ago Howard Long, 50, was homeless, had no income, and was living outdoors. He had been to the emergency room at least twice and had been arrested for sleeping in public. Today Long rents an apartment, pays for groceries and utilities and has health insurance from Medicare. What changed Long’s life is an innovative program called SOAR, which last year helped get 31 chronically homeless people in New Hanover County into housing. SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery. SSI is Supplemental Security Income and SSDI is Social Security Disability Insurance; both are administered by the Social Security Administration. SOAR is part of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in the Cape Fear Region, which is administered …