United Way announces new $717,000 commitment in the effort to end homelessness

BOSTON - On the heels of a new report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which shows that funding "for permanent supportive housing," reduces the rates of chronic homelessness, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley is today announcing a new investment of $717,000 to advance the Housing First efforts of 13 organizations in Boston, Cambridge, Lynn, Lowell, Quincy and Somerville. These new funds will expand the region's Housing First efforts, provide a greater focus on families, and target the supportive services that make immediate permanent housing successful.

According to the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, there are more families in shelters now than at any time since the inception of the state's family shelter program in 1983. Boston's Annual Homeless Census in December revealed that the number of families experiencing homelessness increased 17% over last year, and the number of children increased 21% over last year.

The new grants are part of United Way's three year plan to invest $3 million in the effort to end homelessness. By 2010, United Way aims to serve nearly 10,000 people under the Housing First philosophy. Last year, a United Way Housing First grant enabled HomeStart of Boston to place 36 families escaping domestic violence into permanent housing. In another, Community Teamwork of Lowell leveraged United Way grants to support 100 individuals seeking homelessness prevention services and to partner with others to launch Lowell's 10 year plan to end homelessness. In all, last year's grantees developed new or formalized existing collaborations with 70 partners including, community and school services, landlords, veterans' services, management companies, local housing authorities, and domestic violence organizations.

The $717,000 in new United Way Housing First grants, was made possible by significant support from the State Street Foundation and will be invested in the following organizations:

Community Teamwork, Inc., of Lowell: To provide supportive casework and rental assistance to 60 individuals or families and formalize an Early Warning System to prevent homelessness.

Crittenton Women's Union: To provide 9-10 families with post-placement case management and improve recruitment and retention of clients in home-based case management program.

Father's Bill's & Mainspring:  To create 8 units of Housing First for families and deliver stabilization services for families in the organization's 41 existing and 8 new housing units.

Heading Home:  To fund a case manager to visit and develop individual service plans for up to 14 Housing First families.

Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center: To conduct a Housing First pilot program with 6 families and train case management staff on best practices in home-based service delivery.

Homes for Families: To provide regional and program-based technical support to Housing First providers.   

HomeStart: To provide housing search and placement to 75
victims of domestic violence residing at shelters operated by Asian Task Force
Against Domestic Violence and other community organizations.

Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP): To provide continued stabilization to 10 families and to provide case management to an additional 10 families and 10 individuals.

Project Hope: To provide 70 families with assessment, case
management, and housing search activities.

Quincy Community Action Programs (QCAP):  To develop a financial education curriculum for homeless families, create an early warning system for foreclosures, and develop a client assessment tool.

Serving People In Need (SPIN): To provide job training and employment services via partner agencies to Housing First clients and create an "Economic Empowerment Center".

Somerville Community Corporation: To develop a regional collaborative to work with the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, deliver financial education workshops to 100 students, and work with community partners and state officials to restore homelessness prevention funding at the state level.

Travelers' Aid Family Services:  To identify and purchase suitable Housing First properties, arrange financing, and place homeless families into the Housing First units.

The Housing First grants were made possible by a new United Way investment strategy which was announced last year. The strategy was created to drive the greatest
possible impact in United Way's focus areas by tying the organization's investments to specific goals and measurements. One such goal is to end family homelessness by increasing the number of homeless service agencies operating under a "Housing First" philosophy. In addition to moving into a Housing First philosophy, United Way's strategy also includes measures to support overall access to affordable housing, including increasing the number of individuals who gain financial skills and assets, helping families obtain and retain housing, and increasing the overall number of affordable housing units in our region.