One of the valid criticisms of homeless response systems is that though they correctly prioritize those with the most acute needs, as a result those with less acute needs sometimes might languish. We knew that we needed a “housing challenge” to prevent that from happening. The idea of a housing challenge is that we challenge ourselves and our partners to house a specific number of a specific group of people during a specific time. We had already, earlier this year, held our first bi-monthly Top 50 Housing Challenge. Through a targeted intense effort, over 80% of the top persons on our Housing Priority List, ended or were on the verge of ending their homelessness!
On April 1, 2018, we marked the beginning of our 90 in 90 Emergency Shelter Housing Challenge. The idea of this initiative, modeled after a similar effort in Atlanta, Georgia, is to house, at least, 90 emergency shelter guests in 90 days. Our partners in this effort are: Austin Street Center, The Bridge and the Salvation Army.
This effort would, specifically, target those who are at a mid-level acuity, have some income, and do not necessarily need the full array of supports our homeless friends at higher levels of acuity might need. As part of this effort, we decided to conduct Housing Planning Clinics for clients, to help them plan for obtaining and keeping housing, and to encourage every client to build own “My Housing Plan” framework to end their homelessness.
We encouraged the three shelters to use their creativity to enjoy some healthy competition. An example of that is the much-coveted Golden Key award. Pictured you can see Austin Street Center’s safety officer, Billy Cromer, with the Golden Key, having housed four guests in just the first two weeks of April. Now, you might ask, what business does a security officer have housing people? However, that is exactly the point. The idea is that shelters create an environment where every team member is responsible for housing, and has and conveys a sense of urgency in getting everyone into housing, as soon as possible, with as few barriers as possible.
So, how have we done so far? Every Monday, our CoC Performance Analyst, Dr. Lester Collins, Jr., reports the numbers for the past week of the challenge. Currently, we stand at 52 individuals housed during the just the first 28 days of April. Congratulations to our partners, Austin Street Center, The Bridge and the Salvation Army, but most importantly to our now formerly homeless friends! There are many stories to tell about each of these 52 friends. In the coming weeks we hope to tell you just a few of their stories, and the stories of those who will join them in ending their homelessness. In Part III, we will tell you about two of those very friends, and how they ended their homelessness on April 20, 2018.
