» Three-County CoC

Local press coverage of family homelessness

Gerry McCafferty — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:20:25 +0000

The Republican reported extensively on family homelessness, and motel placements, in a two-part series last week. Part 1 explores the rise in family homelessness, the use of motels to house homeless families, proposed legislation responding to the use of motels for homeless families, and the current shift to a Housing First response. Part 2 reports on what its like for the families to live in motels, and profiles families that have received assistance which has enabled them to become stably housed.

Also covered last week: the results of Springfield’s January 2010 point-in-time count, which verified the increase in family homelessness, but showed a slight decrease in homelessness among individuals without children.

Franklin County Shelter Summit Report

Pamela Schwartz — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:20:28 +0000

Thanks to Joanne Glier of the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority for this report on the Franklin County Shelter Summit:

On December 2, 2009 more than 50 people attended the Franklin County Shelter Summit at Greenfield High School. Father Stan Aksamit of Our Lady of Peace Church began the meeting with a summary of the current Franklin County Shelters, the rise in homelessness, the impact of the Governors 9C cuts, the need to keep the shelters open and to create an overflow shelter for the coldest winter months, January through March. He also shared the Network’s prevention and rehousing efforts in Franklin County and across the region.

Andrea Miller of ServiceNet provided a Franklin County Homelessness Fact Sheet which included homelessness statistics and the impact in dollars 9c cuts to the Franklin County Shelters as of January 2010. After several testimonies from formerly homeless individuals, Amy Swisher of Baystate Franklin Medical Center facilitated a fundraising discussion which was followed by small group discussion to further explore fundraising ideas. With the vast experiences, knowledge and talents of those in the room, fundraising ideas began flowing. The suggestions were broad, attainable and included participation from all members of the community– students, businesses and the residents of Franklin County.

The Planning Committee will meet on December 7 to prioritize the results of the brainstorming session and begin the fundraising activities.

SAMHSA Awards Announced

Gerry McCafferty — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:14:21 +0000

Last week U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that 43 organizations from around the country working to end chronic homelessness in their communities have been awarded Services in Supportive Housing grants of up to $400,000 per year for up to 5 years from the SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services. Recipients will be able to use these federal resources to provide and enhance intensive, individualized support services to individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness in coordination with existing permanent supportive housing programs.

Congratulations to the Center for Human Development (Springfield) and ServiceNet (Northampton), both of which received grants.

Bus transpo for motel families to Project Homeless Connect

Gerry McCafferty — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:38:37 +0000

Thanks to Peter Pan Bus Lines, bus transportation to Project Homeless Connect will be provided for homeless families in two motel sites–one in Springfield and one in West Springfield. The bus schedule is being distributed on a flyer at the two motels by Square One. Other providers working with these families are encouraged to also print and share the flyer.

Housing First in Northampton

Gerry McCafferty — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:40:02 +0000

Today’s Republican profiles ServiceNet’s Housing First initiative in Northampton. The article quotes one of the residents, Don: “This is the first place I’ve been in where I have my own space,” he says. “In a house like this you can recover and maintain your dignity.”

HPRP Funding Available: Chicopee, Holyoke & Springfield

Gerry McCafferty — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:00:46 +0000

The cities of Chicopee, Holyoke & Springfield have released RFPs for Homeless Prevention and Rapid ReHouse Program funds. Proposals for HPRP funds from any of the three cities are due back July 31, 2009. Applications are available:

Chicopee: Mayor’s Office, City Hall, 17 Springfield St., Chicopee, Mon. through Fri., 9 am – 4pm, and online.
Holyoke: Office of Community Development, Room 400, City Hall Annex, Holyoke, 8:30AM-4:30PM and online.
Springfield: Office of Housing, 1600 E. Columbus Ave., Springfield, 8:30 am – 4 pm; it will also be available online within the next several days (registration required).

A common application form has been developed for the three cities, but applicants must submit separate applications for each city. Applicants should note that Springfield has provided additional guidance in its application packet about the activities to be funded.

Surplus Federal Property in Southampton Available for Homeless Use

Gerry McCafferty — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:38:57 +0000

I have received notice of the availability of land in Southampton that has been determined to be federal surplus property and is available for use for government or nonprofit entities to serve people who are homeless. The property is about 1.14 acres, vacant, and in a residential neighborhood.

Interested organizations have 60 days from May 27, 2009 to submit a written expression of interest and obtain necessary application forms from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

ICHH/Network Funding Finally Available!

Gerry McCafferty — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:07:13 +0000

Our Network is seeking providers to deliver the innovative services described in our ICHH grant. The innovations are Housing First for chronically homeless individuals; and prevention, diversion and rapid rehousing assistance for families. The Network seeks one or more providers to deliver these services and assistance in the Western Massachusetts region; providers may apply to serve a portion of the region. Grants are for an 18-month period.

Regional Engagement & Assessment for the Chronically Homeless (REACH) makes available $363,800 to provide housing stabilization services to 38 chronically homeless individuals. To be eligible for this funding, a provider is required to have available housing units for the individuals to be served within 9 months of contract execution.

Homelessness Prevention, Diversion and Rapid ReHouse for Families makes available $536,116 for direct client assistance for families that are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. This funding will not pay staff costs; provider applicants must be able to use existing staff to provide these funds to clients.

To apply for funds, applicants must respond to one or both of the Requests for Proposal, which are available from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 26 Central Street – Suite 34, West Springfield, MA 01089, (413) 781-6045, from 9 AM to 5 PM. You must obtain the full RFP from PVPC, so that there is a record of who has the RFP, in the event there are amendments. For more information, click to see limited versions of the Individual Services and Family Assistance RFPs.

Completed proposals are to be submitted no later than 3:00 PM, Thursday, June 18, 2009 at the Pioneer Valley Regional Ventures Center, Inc., c/o Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 26 Central Street—Suite 34, West Springfield, MA 01089.

Please share this information with anyone you know who might be interested.

Update on RFP process for HPRP: Coordinated process for Chicopee, Holyoke & Springfield

Gerry McCafferty — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:43:41 +0000

Just yesterday, I reported on the time frame that the City of Springfield planned to use for its RFP for HPRP funds. Today I’m changing the response date.

Chicopee, Holyoke and Springfield have agreed to coordinate their RFP processes for HPRP. Responses for each of these RFPs will be due July 31, 2009. The three cities will have a combined review process to make decisions on grant awards.

Springfield will still release its RFP on June 8; Chicopee and Holyoke expect to release HPRP RFPs later in June.

Soldier On Creating 100 Units in Agawam for Formerly Homeless Veterans

Gerry McCafferty — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:07:18 +0000

The USICH reports on Soldier On’s development of the police academy facility in Agawam for housing for formerly homeless veterans.