"We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other."- Grace Lee Boggs

Official Detroit CoC

Newsletter

August 28, 2023

If you live in Detroit, Hamtramck, or Highland Park and are experiencing homelessness, please call CAM at (313) 305-0311. Intake is call-in only.

NEW Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8AM - 6PM

Detroit CoC NEWS

CAM Announcement

View the full announcement video

Today, the Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND) is proud to announce the successful transition of the Coordinated Assessment Model or CAM. HAND will serve a three-year term as the lead agency of CAM to provide a community driven system that strives to be a reliable path to housing. In collaboration with community partners Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency (Wayne Metro) and Community and Home Supports (CHS), HAND will be able to enhance CAM services through extended call center hours and in-person operations. Full phone assessments will return this Wednesday, August 30.

For more information, please go to HAND's website.

CoC Competition Update

The 2023 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition is underway. For the 2022 Competition the CoC was awarded a total of $32,035,919 in renewal and new project funding - an increase of 4.7%.

Competition Timeline

September: CoC Board makes decisions on new project funding
October: CoC Board makes final project priority ranking decisions and all project applications and CoC application submitted to HUD

More information is available on HAND's website.

Conferences

The annual Summit on Ending Homelessness provides a forum for federal, state, and local government, service providers, funders, and people with lived experience to share best practices in ending homelessness. This two-day event allows time for networking and collaboration for case managers and administrators alike who are diligently working to improve the welfare of people in Michigan who are living in poverty and homelessness.

Learn more about the conference on MCTEH's website.

Michigan Takes Action: Progress of the MCTEH Action Plan

Webinar Recording

For those of you who weren't able to attend the Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness (MCTEH) webinar, you can view the session recording as well as the meeting materials. Read the progress report here.

National Coalition to End Homelessness

Leadership Conference

September 29 and September 30

The National Coalition for the Homeless welcomes advocates, service providers, and especially leaders who have experienced homelessness to our 2023 Leadership Conference. Join advocates, policy makers and people with lived experience in two days of networking, story-telling, artwork and collaboration!

Plenary speakers will include Representative Cori Bush, Dr. Ruth Jones Nichols, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Engagement at HUD, and many others. Workshop sessions will all be led from the perspective of people who have experienced homelessness conversation.

Learn more here

Webinars and Trainings

Schoolhouse Connection

ARP-HCY Info Session

American Rescue Plan — Homeless Children and Youth, or ARP-HCY funds, are one-time funds that can help meet these challenges. ARP-HCY funds are designated to support the identification, enrollment, and school participation of children and youth experiencing homelessness, including through wrap-around services. These funds must be obligated by September 30, 2024 and spent by January 31, 2025.

SchoolHouse Connection is hosting this ARP-HCY Info Session featuring presenters from the U.S. Department of Education to provide strategies for meeting urgent needs, including allowable and strategic uses of funds, and examples and tools from state and local educational agencies.

Find out more and register at Schoolhouse Connections' website.

Resources

NLIHC Summer

Tenant Talk

National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released the summer 2023 issue of Tenant Talk newsletter designed to engage residents in housing advocacy. The new issue, Tenant Talk: Taking Pride into Our Work, explores the efforts of LGBTQ+ individuals to overcome housing discrimination and ensure access to safe and affordable homes for members of their community.

Read more about it here.

Supplement

We asked some of our interns about their experiences working at HAND. Here's what they told us. Some quotes were edited for clarity.

"Since starting my internship at HAND, I've learned that homelessness affects a wide range of the population and the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened homelessness across the nation. HAND helped me realize that we as a society must eliminate the stigma around homelessness and advocate for safe, affordable housing for all."

"From my time in this position, I learned a lot about how the homeless management system in general works. From the basics like what a Continuum of Care is, what acronyms like PSH or RRH and terms like CAM/Coordinated Entry mean, I have a better understanding now of where HAND rests within the system as well as how an individual goes through the process.

Through research and conversations, I also felt that I learned more about the stigma surrounding those experiencing homelessness, why that is, and how we might be able to address it. For instance, understanding substance abuse and homelessness, terminology, and how homelessness is not a personal trait."

"Prior to this internship, I had very little knowledge of the homeless system and what that entails. As I prepare to exit this internship, I can confidently say I have expanded my knowledge of not only the homeless system but also the functionality of a nonprofit.

One of my biggest takeaways was learning about the policies and procedures that go into coordinated entry. I had the opportunity to work with staff at HAND to put together an updated Coordinated Assessment Model Policies and Procedures Manual for Detroit. I also learned a great deal about the importance of having clarity for effective systematic work.

I am extremely appreciative of HAND for all of the opportunities I had this summer and I am grateful to each person I have worked with at HAND for being so welcoming and supportive. Thank you, HAND!"

"During my time at HAND, I got a peek behind-the-scenes of the homelessness response system in Detroit. There are so many stakeholders across the community, from direct service organizations to housing providers to system administrators, that are working in tandem to reduce the occurrence and duration of homelessness.

I am heartened by the emphasis placed upon the expertise of those with lived experience in the deliberation and decision-making processes within the Detroit CoC. I learned about, and at times was frustrated by, the complexities of funding for public and private housing, homelessness prevention, and direct services for those experiencing housing instability.

Above all, I have witnessed the passion, resourcefulness, and diligence of the individuals working to end homelessness in Detroit."

Thank you so much Spring/Summer Interns for your hard work!

Questions? Want to submit an item for our newsletter?

Email Kimberly Benton at kimberly@handetroit.org