Monday, January 25 Denver council OKs contracts for privately funded homelessness program The Denver Post | Jon Murray Denver, CO - The Denver City Council on Monday approved a pair of contracts for a new, privately funded supportive housing program aimed at helping up to 250 of the city's most chronically homeless people. It's the city's first "social impact bond," in which investors provide $8.6 million to help launch and run the program. The council voted 10-2 to approve the overall contract. The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless says nine apartments will be available immediately as homeless people are recruited to join the program, and another 25 will be added in the coming week. The bulk of the apartments will become available next year when 210 units are completed in new developments planned by the coalition and the other provider partner, the Mental Health Center of Denver.
Thursday, January 21 Can treating past trauma lead to big US health savings? CNBC | Dan Mangan National - There's evidence that people who suffered childhood trauma are much more likely to have chronic health problems and engage in risky behavior. Fourteen community health centers around the U.S. are acting as laboratories for an experiment to see if screening and then treating people for trauma can improve the results from treatment they get for their diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary disease or other ailments. While the main goal of the Trauma Informed Primary Care project is to get participants leading healthier, happier and longer lives, there's also a potential positive financial side effect. "There was this core problem," said Jennifer Perlman, a doctor of psychology who is coordinating the Trauma Informed Care project at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. "Our clients have very, very high rates of exposure to trauma. Early life trauma and later life trauma."
IN COLORADO
Sunday, January 24 Denver homelessness program funded by bank, large foundations, among others The Denver Post | Kieran Nicholson Commerce City, CO - Rising rents and property values along the Front Range are putting more families at the doorstep of homelessness. Access Housing is a Commerce City-based nonprofit that provides temporary shelter, transitional housing and resources to people, many of them families, who are struggling to find homes and make rent. The nonprofit uses a variety of programs, including emergency housing, rent subsidies, vouchers and permanent housing in units, owned by Access and rented to low-income families. Access offers educational and life experience courses to help clients with budgeting incomes as well as financial counseling. It also offers help for people who have substance abuse, or mental health issues, which may have contributed to their path toward homelessness.
Wednesday, January 20 Denver gives $609K to Salvation Army to keep up with demand at homeless shelter 7NEWS Denver | Liz Gelardi Denver, CO - A Denver homeless shelter will get more than half-a-million dollars to help keep up with the demand. The City of Denver is giving $609,915 to the Salvation Army Crossroads Shelter, "and this money will help us to be able to reach and help the significant increase that we keep seeing," said Lt. Col. Dan Starrett, a Salvation Army Divisional Commander. Starrett said the shelter is expecting to serve about 550 men a night this year, a big increase compared with 2012 when they averaged 160 men per night.
Thursday, December 24 Motel life in Denver KUSA | Corky Scholl Denver, CO - The first motels in Denver were built many decades ago to provide temporary rooms for travelers heading to the Rocky Mountains and beyond. But for many, those once-temporary rooms have become a long-term housing option of last resort. Colfax Community Network (CCN) is an organization that provides assistance to families living in motels along East Colfax Avenue. Although conditions in the motels are often far from ideal, they provide an option for people who would otherwise be living on the streets. There are several reasons why people end up living in motels as opposed to renting an apartment, including poor credit, a criminal history and not being able to afford a deposit.
ACROSS AMERICA
Monday, January 25 Florida housing bill would help homeless families, backers say Orlando Sentinel | Kate Santich Orlando, FL - Local lawmakers are backing a bill they say will free up millions in state dollars to help homeless families get out of rent-by-the-week motels and into apartments and homes. The funding would come from an already existing tax on documentary stamps for such things as mortgages, liens, warranty deeds and quit-claim deeds. Currently the money goes into a statewide housing incentive program that is divvied up among counties and larger cities to spur homeownership programs. But the bill would allow local governments to use up to 25 percent of that total for rental assistance to homeless people.
Wednesday, January 20 Downtown homeless shelter plan scuttled The Corvallis Advocate | Rob Goffins and Steven J. Schultz Corvallis, OR - Scuttling plans to build a 90-bed downtown emergency homeless shelter, Corvallis Housing First (CHF) Director Gregg Olson states his organization will shift its focus for the site to permanent supportive housing. Instead of the current focus on transient homeless, Olson offers the Julian and Partners Place as examples of what his organization will be shifting to, saying, "We will be working with our clients only, offering emergency housing, not emergency shelter to just whoever comes through." Olson goes on to say that his board of directors believes the new focus is more in line with the housing first model.
Wednesday, January 20 Homeless Vets get mayoral pledge San Diego City Beat | Ron Donoho San Diego, CA - Inside a near-packed Balboa Theatre last week, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer aimed a hearty 750 words at homelessness during his annual State of the City address. He said the city is on a new "housing first" course to address the roots of the issue. And he announced a $12.5 million Housing Our Heroes initiative that would put roofs over the heads of 1,000 currently unsheltered Veterans who are living in the streets by the end of 2016.
Tuesday, January 19 Hawaii Legislature to tackle homelessness, police oversight Associated Press | Cathy Bussewitz Honolulu, HI - Hawaii lawmakers are gearing up to tackle homelessness and affordable housing in the upcoming legislative session. Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness per-capita in the nation, and Gov. David Ige and key members of the Legislature plan to make homelessness and housing issues a priority this year. Ige included money in the budget for a new rapid rehousing program to move families out of shelters and into permanent housing, and also added funds for outreach services and crews to clear homeless encampments. Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, wants to tie funding for homelessness programs to performance and to whether those programs are meeting goals.
Tuesday, January 19 More than 100 NYC homeless people taken to shelters during brutal cold overnight WABC New York, NY - Mayor Bill de Blasio said the frigid weather set off a 'Code Blue' Warning. A Code Blue Warning is triggered when temperatures reach 32 degrees or lower and requires shelter access to anyone in need of assistance. During a Code Blue, the Department of Homeless Services and the NYPD focus on clients on their vulnerable lists and work to contact them once every four hours to give them proper assistance. Teams of workers from New York City agencies fanned out across the five boroughs Monday night and Tuesday night to protect the homeless from the bitterly cold temperatures.
Tuesday, January 19 Fairfax housing services organization to receive Housing Trust Fund Loan Fairfax City Patch | Sharon Reed Fairfax, VA - Governor Terry McAuliffe announced more than $6.9 million in Housing Trust Funds, including a $600,000 Virginia Housing Trust Fund Competitive Loan to Pathways Homes Inc. for the Pathways Homes Permanent Supportive Housing First Program. Pathways Homes provides housing and recovery-based supportive services to adults with serious mental illness and co-occurring disabilities in Northern Virginia. Eleven projects are being funded and will create or preserve nearly 550 affordable housing units.
