# Presentation: 063654

## Putting the Pieces Together to Create a Better Community

- April  21, 2005

- Facilitator: David M. Mandell
- CEO, Integrated Community Solutions, Inc.

## Overview of the Housing Dynamics in Houston, Texas

- Approximately 14,000 persons are homeless in Houston
- Approximately 4,500 beds are available for persons who are homeless
- The Houston/Harris County area has over 21,000 vouchers, but there is over a 3-year wait to gain assistance
- In Houston, a single mother with 2 children who receives minimum wages must work 96 hours to afford a 2-BR apartment that averages $760.00

## These facts have........

-  Caused our community to leverage diverse resources
-  Encouraged our local nonprofits to think outside the box on the use of Federal, State, and local resources to address the needs of homeless families
-  Created a spirit of service that has mobilized diverse partnerships to enact community change
-  Mobilized the local media sources to publicize family homelessness as a newsworthy issue
-  Acted as a catalyst for Best Practice Modeling

## We began locally to investigate potential partners...

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but focusing on certain issues, from its own perspective

## We also had to embrace the fact that diverse partners often have different vocabularies as well as different frames of reference....

- HOME

- HOPWA

- HUD

- Tax Credits

- Standards of Care

- Continuum of Care

- Money

- Power

- Political
- Pressure

- Eligibility

- Application

- Shelter+Care

- Supportive Housing

- Tenant-based
- Rental Assistance

- CDBG

- SRO

## The challenge has been to utilize the strengths of these diverse partners 

- Service
- Providers

- HUD

- State
- Government

- Politicians

- TCADA

- City
- Government

- County
- Government

- National
- Advocacy
- Groups

- Community
- Leaders

- For-Profit
- Developers

- Faith-based
- organizations

- ...Others

- The challenge has been to utilize the strengths of these diverse partners

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but looking at those issues from a particular perspective
Each with chronic, predictable warnings about crises in care and lack of funding, but offering little in the way of statistics to prove it, or to show what they actually accomplish with the resources they have.
Each competing with the others for available resources, with little cooperation.

## And channel them to a common goal...

- Ending Family Homelessness

**Notes:**
Autonomous leaders and agencies, yet closely aligned, with a shared vision and a consistent view of community problems and issues
Not just complaints and warnings, but a plan for what to do about them
Linked by a practical, workable communication infrastructure.
Creating synergies through information-sharing and cooperation
“Wired in” as a political force to be reckoned with

## Each potential partner has rules, regulations, a unique focus, and policies....But we must facilitate a process that would bring each group together

## The key is understanding the terms, the programs, and how they can interact with one another so that we can change lives...

## Who are your partners, and what can they do?

## Department of Housing and Urban Development

- Federal funding source
- Program and capital $$’s
- McKinney-Vento Continuum of Care
- Pilot programs

## HomeAid America is a national nonprofit organization that builds and renovates shelters for America’s temporarily homeless. 

- HomeAid America is a national nonprofit organization that builds and renovates shelters for America’s temporarily homeless.
- Partnering with national builders and local homeless service agencies, the process begins with identifying a local building association to establish a local chapter within a community. Next, a local homeless service agency and a builder captain are chosen from a building-related company to manage the construction or renovation of the shelter. The builder captain also secures trade partners such as carpenters, plumbers, insulators, and roofers to provide labor, materials, and other services. Finally, the shelter is built or renovated.
- HomeAid then turns the shelter over to the local homeless service agency, which then owns and operates the shelter and provides many services to assist families in becoming self-sufficient.

## State Level Funding

- Home
- Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG)
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- Housing Opportunities for People with Aids (HOPWA)

## Local Funding Initiatives

- Home
- Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG)
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- Housing Opportunities for People with Aids (HOPWA)
- Homeless Bond Funding

## Other Partners...		

- Service providers
- Advocacy groups
- Developers
- Community leaders
- Faith-based groups

## These projects stand out as

- Best Practice Models

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but focusing on certain issues, from its own perspective

## Bonita Street 

- House of Hope

- Bonita Hope Transitional Housing Complex (Bonita House of Hope)

- Population Served: Individuals and families with HIV & diagnosed with substance abuse
- Builder Captains: Beazer Homes Houston Division, Davis Brothers Construction, and Lennar Homes Trade
- Partners: Davis Brothers Construction, Lennar Homes Houston, Beazer Homes, 50 others
- Beds added: 199
- Inkind value: Estimated at $900,000
- Project value: $3.5 million

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but focusing on certain issues, from its own perspective

## Oaks of Baytown Mutual Housing Association

-  Resident owned and operated
- Mutual Housing Association Concept
-  Utilized HUD’s desire to liquidate housing stock to acquire a 248-unit apartment complex
-  Refinancing of the property allowed extreme renovations to take place
-  Programs and services on site provide added value as well as much-needed opportunity for economic and educational advancement

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but focusing on certain issues, from its own perspective

## Project Porchlight

- Joint venture between Habitat for Humanity and AIDS   Foundation Houston
-  Each 3-bedroom 2-bath home can be delivered for $50,000
-  Ongoing followup from both agencies to ensure success

**Notes:**
A large group of independent, committed community service agencies and community leaders
Each with its own agenda
Each with its own way of doing things
Each vitally interested in addressing community issues, but focusing on certain issues, from its own perspective

## Working Together to Meet the Needs

- Understanding the needs
- Putting your partners together
- Acting as the facilitator to make the project a success

## To change lives....