Congratulations to all those agencies receiving funding through 2006's Continuum of Care application process. The Triangle communities will be bringing in $3.4 million to provide services and shelter for homeless people.

Congratulations to

• Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes, Incorporated
• Passage Home, Inc.
• Housing For New Hope, Inc.
• PLM Families Together, Incorporated
• Wake County Human Services
• Haven House Inc.
• OPC Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Authority
• Concern of Durham, Inc.
• Chrysalis Foundation for Mental Health, Inc.
• Inter-Faith Council for Social Service
  

Violence against those who are homeless on the rise

Check this link out. It describes the type of violence that homeless people experience.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/19/homeless.attacks/index.html

Point-in-time numbers released

The 2007 Triangle Point-In-Time Count conducted on January 24 revealed there are currently 1,806 homeless men, women and children in the Triangle living on the streets and in homeless shelters. The one-night count conducted by outreach workers, police officers, housing providers and volunteers throughout Durham, Orange and Wake counties further revealed:

· 1043 were homeless in Wake County
· 539 were homeless in Durham County
· 224 were homeless in Orange County

Domestic violence, underemployment and unemployment, substance abuse and mental illness might lead to homelessness; however, it is these factors coupled with the lack of affordable housing that creates homelessness. Craig Chancellor, CEO of Triangle United Way, says, “Data from the Census demonstrates that we need over 45,000 units of housing to help offset the gap created when you compare the number of people who need affordable rental units and the actual number of units available in the Triangle.”

While the number of homeless people across the Triangle seems to fluctuate between a low of 1,720 individuals in 2006 to a high of 1,992 in 2004, there is one trend that seems to be moving in a positive direction. In 2003, there were 482 chronic homeless people in the region. In 2006 this had dropped to 399, and in January of this year, that number seems to have dropped to 245.

Through partnerships in Durham, Orange and Wake counties, 10-Year Plans to prevent and end homelessness are taking shape and communities are being mobilized for change to move from managing homelessness to ending homelessness. All three plans have strategies designed to increase the number of affordable housing units that are being built in the community. All three plans have strategies designed to work with the chronically homeless. Chronically homeless individuals are disabled and have been homeless for an extended period of time, they are among the most difficult to serve. Housing eludes those who have either come to distrust the system as a result of a mental illness or been challenged by ongoing substance abuse. Chronically homeless individuals do not have access to the income necessary to sustain permanent housing; housing that is too expensive.

Point In Time Press Event

WHAT: The 2007 Triangle Point-In-Time Count conducted on January 24 is a one night count of homeless men, women and children across the Triangle living on the streets and in homeless shelters. Speakers will address the relationship between affordable housing and homelessness.

WHO: Craig Chancellor, President & CEO Triangle United Way; Gregg Warren, CEO of DHIC; Ernie McAlister, Town of Cary Mayor; Carson Dean, Executive Director, South Wilmington Street Center in Raleigh; Phylis Glover, Former Homeless Person from Durham; Mark Chilton, Town of Carrboro Mayor.

WHERE: The Commons at Highland Village
100 Highland Commons Court
Cary, NC 27511
463-7800

WHEN: February 13, 2007
3 p.m.

NOTE: On-site interviews and photo opportunities with Chancellor, Warren, McAlister, Dean, Glover, Chilton and other formerly homeless individuals will be available. Tours of Highland Village will also be available at the close of the event.

Update for Wake County

Next week leadership from the City of Raleigh/Wake County's 10 Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness will be making presentations to City and County officials as a way to update them on the activities of the plan and prepare for budget requests that will be coming in the near future. Here is what Raleigh is doing in 2007.

Increase Supply of Permanent Affordable Housing

• Building Community Support & Involvement
• Define Bricks and Mortar Project Initiatives
• Evaluate & Propose Policy and Program Changes

Support Circles

• Recruit and Train Support Circles
• Assemble & match eligible homeless individuals / families
• Administer City & County Housing Subsidy
• Develop RHA Housing Partnerships

“SOAR” (SSI / SSDI) Initiative

• Identify Partners
• Initiate Training and Client Applications

Mental Illness & Substance Abuse Services

• Present at Statewide Conference
• Expand training & Education Opportunities

Job Readiness & Training

• “Job Ready Employment Initiative”
• Employment Works Center

Funding Services that Support Employment through “Let’s Get To Work” initiativ

• Increasing access to child care subsidies
• Transportation Resources
• Legal assistance to prevent evictions and foreclosures

Improve Communication among Outreach/Engagement Providers

Increase Access to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Those on the Street

• Support Veterans Stand Down being completed by Wake County Human Services
• Sponsor other community events targeting homeless people (e.g. Project Homeless Connect).
• Expand services provided by PATH or utilize a PATH approach

Complete Community Assessment of Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Respite Bed Capacity and Needs

• Support annual point-in-time count in cooperation with the Continuum of Care

Complete Assessment and Provide Recommendations for Developing 24/7 One-Stop Services