Buffalo and Erie County’s Ten-Year Plan

1. Buffalo and Erie County’s Ten-Year Plan A collaborative initiative to end homelessness Katie McHugh Connolly Program Director Homeless Alliance of Western New York Buffalo, New York

2. Context • Buffalo and Erie County • Rust Belt • Control Boards • High poverty rates • Homelessness • In-line with cities of its size • Continuum of Care • Run by a non-profit lead agency • Homeless Alliance • Membership organization

3. Getting Started/Timeline • Outreach about 10-Year Plans at monthly meetings • ICH representative presentation • Discussion amongst the group • Decision from the group to develop a plan • Steering Committee assembled • Volunteers from membership • Funding secured • Small grant, local foundation • Lead person identified

4. Homeless Alliance Small Staff Membership Research Culture Root Causes VERY Limited Budget Groundwork Background Research Review of Other Plans Commitment to Change Member Buy-In Community Support How do we make a ten-year plan RIGHT for our community?

5. Prevention Enacting policies and developing services needed to prevent homelessness Resources Using mainstream government resources to prevent and end homelessness Independencethrough Housing Developing housing opportunities to end homelessness and aid self-sufficiency Services Improving collaboration among existing service providers and filling gaps Maintenance Ensuring that formerly homeless individuals and families can stay housed

6. Guiding Principles • Ground process in the voices of people experiencing homeless and persons at-risk of homelessness • Maintain an open and community-driven process • Stay abreast of trends, policies, and best practices • Ensure continuing relevance of the plan

7. NEW DATA! • Need for comprehensive data to inform the plan and the process • Don’t rely on census data • Can meet HUD’s required Point-in-Time count (last week of January) • Use a survey to glean the most information

8. Questionnaire Construction Committee Service Location Committee Street Location Committee Volunteer Committee Phase I: Data Collection Community-Wide Data Collection

9. Phase I: Data Collection • 24-hours • 165Community Volunteers • 35 Service Sites • Dozens of Street Locations • 1,000+Respondents

10. Findings Service/Street Respondents • 65% indicated they had been homeless in their lifetime. • 40% were currently homeless • 92% had been homeless more than once • 10% met “chronic” criteria Shelter Respondents • 53% were homeless for the first time • 47% had been homeless more than once • 7% met “chronic” criteria Self-Identified Reasons for Homelessness • Lack of Income • Lack of Work • Lack of Affordable Housing • Substance Abuse

11. Phase II: Planning Community Forums and Homeless Think Tanks Outreach Committee Best Practices Committee Environmental Scan Committee Research

12. Forums Activity-Based Brainstorming Problem-Solving Sharing Expertise Think Tanks Conversational Review of Process Sounding Board Sharing Experience

13. Who’s around the table? • Homeless service providers (All subpopulations) • Government departments and officials • Law enforcement • Private sector (foundations, banks, business) • Universities • Concerned citizens

14. Consultation with Key Players Think Tanks with Homeless Persons Written Plan Phase II: Planning Prevention Committee Resources Committee Independence Through Housing Committee Services Committee Maintenance Committee

15. Releasing the Plan: A Media Event!

16. Phase III: Plan Implementation and Progress Evaluation • Concurrent processes to both: • cooperatively implement the plan’s recommendations community-wide, including the development of an implementation plan and community indicators; and • provide continuous evaluation and monitoring of the plan’s progress to ensure relevance and success

17. PRISM Participants Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s Office Back to Basics Ministries Belmont Shelter Corporation Buffalo City Mission Buffalo Metropolitan Housing Authority Buffalo Urban League Catholic Charities Cazenovia Recovery Systems Community Action Organization Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled Compass House Cornerstone Manor Crisis Services Durham Memorial AME Zion Church/Central City Café Eden United Methodist Church Food Pantry Erie County Department of Environment and Planning Erie County Department of Mental Health Erie County Department of Senior Services Erie County Department of Social Services Erie County Office for the Disabled Feed My Sheep Franciscan Center Friends of the Night People Gerard Place Group Ministries Hearts for the Homeless Hillside Children’s Center Hispanics United of Buffalo Homespace, Inc. Interfaith Hospitality Network Key Bank Lake Shore Behavioral Health Living Opportunities of DePaul Loaves and Fishes M and T Bank Mental Health Peer Connection/Independent Living Program Mid-Erie Counseling Neighborhood Legal Services Restoration Society The Salvation Army – Buffalo Area Services Social Security Administration South Buffalo Community Table St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy Transitional Services, Inc. FLARE - Teaching and Restoring Youth UB Department of Social Work UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth United Way of Buffalo and Erie County Veterans Administration Western New York Veterans Housing Coalition YWCA of Western New York

18. To learn more about the PRISM Project, visit our website: www.wnyhomeless.org Or call the Homeless Alliance of Western New York at (716) 853-1101