St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church on Moore St. in Southport, NC. Photo: brunswickcountyncevents-wordpress-com.
On the afternoon of May 17th, 2018, St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church held a conference in Southport, NC: “Face of Homelessness”.
Barbara Serafin, Paul Witmer, and Rita Canfield were among those representing BCHC. Paul Witmer observed that most of the conference presenters’ assistance programs were contingent on clients already being present in housing, highlighting need for assistance for those in housing crisis who are at or near homelessness already.
BCHC would like to thank St. Phillip’s, the Southport Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship, and everyone who participated in the conference for focusing attention on and fostering cooperation over issues related to poverty and housing in Brunswick County. Together, we are making a positive difference.
Bringing It Home Conference 2018. Photo: BCHCL-R Joe Staton, Barbara Serafin, and Paul Witmer of BCHC
On April 30th and May 1st, 2018, members from the Brunswick County Homeless Coalition (BCHC) attended the second annual “Bringing it Home: Ending Homelessness in NC” conference at NC State University’s McKimmon Center in Raleigh.
The conference is sponsored by the NC Department of Health and Human Services, the North Carolina Housing Coalition, and the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, to “[bring] together state and national leaders to share best practices, discover successful strategies, build relationships through networking, and celebrate the positive impact we are making on ending homelessness in our state.”1
This was BCHC’s second year attending the conference. Representing BCHC in Raleigh were Barbara Serafin, BCHC co-president; Joe Staton, BCHC publicity committee leader; and Paul Witmer, BCHC veterans committee leader.
Joe Staton, who often works with data on the publicity committee, attended classes that focused on collecting and sharing data and making reports and decisions based on that data. “Probably the most important thing I learned is the federal and state standards for data quality in our record keeping,” Staton said. “Data has to be accurate, timely, consistent, and uniform. If you don’t have good data quality, that means you aren’t making good decisions based on data: You’re guessing based on assumptions. This is knowledge that we can really put to work to make better decisions and have a greater impact.”
Paul Witmer, who works directly with veterans who are sometimes in very difficult situations, attended training in working with landlords to foster the availability of affordable housing, and in getting specific help to clients, like Rapid Rehousing, foreclosure prevention, SOAR, and other programs. “The most important things that I learned really were who to contact; the points of contact for getting help for the people who need it,” said Witmer. “Going forward, our three most important areas are organizational assignments, commitment, and outreach.”
Terry Allebaugh of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness and Barbara Serafin of the Brunswick County Homeless Coalition at the 2018 Bringing It Home conference. Photo: BCHC
Barbara Serafin, who heads the 1-888 calls committee in addition to her duties as co-president of the organization, was trained in crisis response and trauma sensitivity. “When someone asks for help, they’ve already been traumatized. We need to be sensitive to their trauma, not make things more difficult for them,” said Serafin. “When we take a phone call, we shouldn’t just do an intake to give money or other help–we should investigate what they can do to reduce their risk, to make sure that they have a specific plan in place to avoid entering or returning to homelessness.”
Satana Deberry, Executive Director, North Carolina Housing Coalition
Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Jessica Holmes, Chair, Wake County Board of Commissioners
Denise Neunaber, Executive Director, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Reducing Barriers and Creating Housing-Focused Shelters Kay Moshier McDivitt, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Washington, DC
Emergency shelters play a key role in housing crisis response systems. This intensive training will provide an overview of the key elements shelters need to make the shift to low-barrier, housing-focused programs as they look to serve more households and reduce unsheltered homelessness in their communities.
Developing and Strengthening Rapid Rehousing Programs Ben Cattell Noll, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Washington, DC
Rapid rehousing is a vital component in any housing crisis response system. With rapid rehousing programs, communities help to make homelessness brief by quickly connecting individuals and families to financial assistance and services to stabilize in housing. This intensive training will review the core components of effective rapid rehousing programs and discuss how to address common challenges in implementation.
Putting the Pieces Together: Housing Crisis Response Systems
Emily Carmody, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Denise Neunaber, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Housing crisis response systems underwent many changes over the past several years. From coordinated entry to system performance measures, communities are moving towards operating as a system to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time only for the people they serve. This intensive training will provide an overview of why the system is changing and what to expect on the horizon for your community.
State and Federal Leadership Listening Session
Please join the NCCEH Board and membership as they host speed discussions with North Carolina leadership. Participants will share reflections on their community’s efforts in ending homelessness and what is needed in our state to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time only. Event tables will be hosted by leadership from State and Federal agencies and advocacy organizations.
Landlord Development: Outreach Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Landlords
Jef Rawlings, Johnston-Lee-Harnett Community Action Agency
Jenny Moffatt, Homeward Bound
Homeless service systems depend on strong partnerships with landlords. This session will explore how to engage and recruit local landlords to support efforts to end homelessness. Topics include risk mitigation funds, landlord events, and landlord retention.
Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Environment
Deena Fulton, North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Jennifer Tisdale, The Salvation Army of Wake County
Many individuals and families who access shelter have experienced traumatic life events before entering programs. This session will review key strategies for shelters and housing programs to use to ensure they are providing trauma-informed services.
The Foundations: Ensuring Quality Data
Cecelia Peers, Cape Fear Council of Governments
Nicole Purdy, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Andrea Carey, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
The first step in being able to use data as an agency and community is to ensure data entry is accurate. This session will review best practices for data entry and common mistakes that have a big impact.
Champions for Change Panel
Eric Edwards, Lisa Brand, and Ruebe Holmes, Champions for Change
Terry Allebaugh, North Carolina Caolition to End Homelessness, moderator
Formerly homeless panelists will share their stories of homelessness, how their lives were impacted, and how they are now involved as advocates in public dialogue and activities around homeless policy and practice.
Data and Real World Impact Tia Sanders-Rice, Jasmin Volkel, Denise Neunaber, and Ben Bradley, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
This session will explore how programs can use their data and reports to better understand program performance and evaluate their impact on homelessness.
Having an Impact: Housing and Homelessness Policymaking
Samuel Gunter, North Carolina Housing Coalition
Ehren Dohler, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
What’s on the horizon for federal and state policy? How do we make our voices heard in the process? This session will help participants understand the current policy landscape around housing and homelessness and how they can advocate to end homelessness.
Accessing Resources Beyond HUD
Emily Carmody, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Brooks Ann McKinney, Mission Health System
Jessa Johnson, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
There are many resources available to help people experiencing homelessness besides HUD programs. This session will explore how communities can access social security benefits through SOAR and housing and services through the Transitions to Community Living Initiative and other healthcare partnerships.
Beyond Reporting: Translating Your Community’s System Performance Measures
Denise Neunaber, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Courtney Morton, Mecklenburg County
System Performance Measures allow communities to view their progress towards ending homelessness from a wider system level. Learn the basics of these measures, what they mean for funding, and how they can be used to drive program and system decisions.
Feeling the Crunch: The Affordable Housing Crisis
and its Impact on Homeless and Housing Services
Samuel Gunter, North Carolina Housing Coalition
Terry Allebaugh, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness
Housing affordability is a growing challenge for communities across the state and country. This session will focus on mapping the affordable housing crisis, its causes, and how responses impact the work of homeless service providers.
Presenter biographies and slides for most sessions above are published on the NCCEH website.
Closing message from the conference organizers: “On behalf of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Aging and Adult Services, the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant Program, the North Carolina Housing Coalition, the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, and everyone who contributed…thank you for attending this year’s state conference on homelessness. State staff and agency partners worked to get as much information about promising practices to you as possible in hopes that you return to your programs with valuable information to serve those experiencing homelessness. The goal of ending homelessness in our state is truly a group effort, and we look forward to our continued collaboration as we work to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time only in North Carolina. We hope to see you again next year!”3
BCHC Participates in UNCW Grant Writing Class for Nonprofit Organizations
Barbara Serafin, left, with Joe Staton and Betsy Duarte at the March 2018 UNCW Grants for Nonprofits class. Photo: Justin Pope
Three members of BCHC, Betsy Duarte, Barbara Serafin, and Joe Staton, attended a class especially for nonprofit organizations on the topics of identifying grant opportunities and writing grants. The class was presented in a single session on March 15, 2018 by UNC Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and QENO (Quality Enhancement for Nonprofit Organizations), and led by Grants Specialist Althea Lewis and Nonprofit Advisor and Grant Consultant David F. Morrison.
The UNC Wilmington Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Photo: BCHC
Class materials included introductory information about grants, sources for grants, and specific tips for preparing grants that are accepted.
Introducing Grants
Grants were introduced simply as proposals (“Grant Proposal”) submitted in response to RFP or RFA opportunities (“Request for Proposal” or “Request for Applications”) that are requests to obtain funding in a form that does not have to be paid back. The RFP/RFA specifies the approximate amount of funding available, the deadline(s) for applying for the funding, who offers the funding, and who may qualify to receive it.
Applicants are expected to read completely and understand any RFP/RFA, and comply completely with their requirements in order to avoid needless disqualification of the application.
Getting down to the details of what grants represent: An organization offering funds has one specific purpose that they want to fulfill, and an organization applying for funds has its own, possibly different, purpose. Aligning these two in “the matching game” is an important part of the process. The applying organization must describe the specific part of their purpose that overlaps with the purpose of the grant, and not simply request money for their own aims (no matter how brilliant or how needed they may seem), either in a LOI (“Letter or Intent” / “Letter of Inquiry”) or in the application itself.
The Matching Game. Image: UNCW/QENO.
Funding Sources
Within the class, we focused on locating funding sources likely to be of benefit to the target audience (Eastern North Carolina Nonprofits). We talked about both potential sources and “sources for sources”.
Sources for Sources included: Grants.gov (The U.S. Federal Government grants website, with search feature) Philanthropynewsdigest.org (A nationwide searchable listing of grants offered) Ruralhealthinfo.org (The Rural Health Information Hub)
Resources. Image: UNCW/QENO.
Specific potential sources that we identified: Kbr.org (The Kate B. Reynolds Trust). With grants available only to nonprofits and government agencies, and only within North Carolina. Funding for things like capacity building, direct services, program planning has a grant maximum of about $50,000. Their deadlines work on a rotating basis each August and February.
Zsr.org (The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation). With grants available to North Carolina nonprofits, government agencies, schools, and churches. Funding areas have included things like community economic development and social justice programs. Deadlines and details are currently not posted at this writing.
Cfmfdn.org (Cape Fear Memorial Foundation). With grants available to nonprofits only in Duplin, Columbus, Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties of NC. Their funding focus is on health education and improvement. Grants up to $200,000 have been awarded in the past. Their LOI deadlines are June and December, and their Application deadlines are July and January.
Landfallfoundation.org (The Landfall Foundation). With grants available to nonprofits only in Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties of NC. Their funding areas for up to about $7500 are arts, education, and health & welfare. Their LOI deadlines are June and December, and their Application deadlines are July and January.
Grant preparation tips
Some highlights on the tips on grant preparation:
Use your “Need Statement” or “Problem Statement” to make a compelling case that your specific project is needed and important.
Make sure that your goals are specific and measurable, with specifically described benefits.
The Budget and its justification can be the hardest items in an application, making them good candidates to do first.
Make certain that all instructions are followed.
Closing
The BCHC members who attended the class have contact information for experts who have expressed a willingness to help look over grant applications before submission to help them achieve success. The class has been helpful already in the information that it provided, and hopefully it will be helpful in the future to help BCHC secure needed funding for operations and special programs.
Who: Mike’s Garage Band
Benefiting: Brunswick County Homeless Coalition, http://brunswickhomeless.com/
Organizers: Southwest Brunswick Newcomer’s Club, http://swbnc.org/
What: Benefit Concert for Brunswick County Homeless Coalition (BCHC)
Where: BSRI facility at 101 Stone Chimney Rd, Supply, NC 28462
When: March 23rd, 2018 from 5:30pm – 9:30pm
Why: To enjoy good music and help out those less fortunate
Ocean Isle Beach, NC, February 1, 2018 — On Friday March 23, 2018 the musical fundraising evening featuring “Mike’s Garage Band” takes place at BSRI in Supply. In support of the local charity Brunswick County Homeless Coalition, this event is presented by Southwest Brunswick Newcomer’s Club.
Beer and wine will be on sale, but food will not be sold, so please bring a substantial appetizer and/or dessert to share with others at your table. For those reserving tables, coordinate who brings what to create your own feast!
Admission for the evening is $20.00 per person. All event fees minus event costs will be given to Brunswick County Homeless Coalition.
Tickets are on sale now and seating is limited. For tickets by phone, or for additional information, call Kathy Hill of SWBNC at (703) 638-4653, or visit http://brunswickhomeless.com/mikes/ to learn more.
“This is a great opportunity to experience Mike’s Garage Band, and to show your support for The Brunswick County Homeless Coalition and the services that they provide to the in-need population in Brunswick County” reports Joe Staton, representing BCHC. “We are very grateful to Mike’s Garage Band, who donate their performance to charities and those in need, and to Southwest Brunswick Newcomer’s Club for organizing the event and selecting Brunswick County Homeless Coalition to benefit.”
About the Brunswick County Homeless Coalition:
About The Southwest Brunswick Newcomers Club:
Brunswick County Homeless Coalition (BCHC) is a group of volunteers from faith based ministries, not for profit organizations, local agencies and concerned citizens coming together for the greater good of Brunswick County’s homeless and in need population. BCHC’s mission is to serve as an advocate for the homeless and those in need by increasing awareness and education of issues, and by exploring, promoting, recruiting, facilitating and providing resources to meet these needs. BCHC’s vision is to ensure that needed resources are easily accessible by the homeless and those in need in order to decrease the incidence of chronic and transitional homelessness. Find more information at brunswickhomeless.com.
The newcomers club was formed in September 2006 to assist in the social, cultural and service orientation of persons new to the southwest area of Brunswick County, North Carolina. Through a variety of activities, the club facilitates in developing new associations and friendships, as well as assisting newcomers to Southwest Brunswick County identify with their community. We also hope to promote interest in local civic, cultural, service and philanthropic programs. We are a non-profit organization that does not exert political or religious influence. More information at swbnc.org.
Eight adults and a minor child were charged by police in El Cajon, California, for breaking a city rule against the public sharing of food. The city’s rule was intended to help curb the spread of Hepatitis A, a viral disease plaguing areas of California, and those charged were, in part, protesting the rule’s effects on the poor and the homeless, according a BBC report dated January 15, 2018.
Police cite residents for feeding the Homeless in public. Photo: Facebook / Homelessness News San Diego
Nine people in California have been charged after they handed out food to the homeless, violating a rule about sharing food in public places.
The group were protesting an emergency ordinance in the city of El Cajon which was introduced in response to California’s hepatitis A outbreak.
They handed out food, clothes and toiletries on Sunday before police arrived and issued citations.
Local media report that El Cajon City Council passed the ordinance in October. It prohibits food sharing on any city-owned property. The authorities say it is a safety measure against hepatitis A, but opponents argue it unfairly penalises the city’s homeless.
Police wrote a citation for a child who was among the volunteers, according to NBC San Diego. “I was passing out food and this guy was like can you step aside please,” 14-year-old Ever Parmley said.
Hepatitis A can be spread by touching contaminated foods or objects. There is a vaccine for Hepatitis A.
One of the protest signs, El Cajon, CA. Photo: Facebook / Homelessness News San Diego
An El Cahon councilman spoke out on the issue, expressing the opinion that feeding the homeless outside in parks during the hepatitis outbreak is not a good idea, and that those wishing to help should take hungry persons home with them to feed them and offer them sanitary facilities. Relief work is typically done in a neutral, public location for safety reasons.
Below is an excerpt from a Jan. 2018 article in SFWeekly about San Francisco, CA’s efforts to address the homelessness problem that has been growing at an alarming rate in that city.
The city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, organized in 2016, issued a report in October of last year identifying key goals.
The report says “Our vision is to make homelessness a rare, brief, and one-time event. Our aim is a significant, sustained reduction in homelessness in San Francisco.” and describes a “‘Housing Ladder’ that consists of temporary shelter, followed by rapid rehousing and rental subsidies, and permanent supportive housing until individuals are able to stay housed on their own,” echoing many measures also being evaluated by the Brunswick County Homeless Coalition.
Finding somewhere to sleep in the San Francisco homeless crisis. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / JCruzTheTruth)
San Francisco is not the only city grappling with the presence of tents on its streets and sidewalks. In Brussels, where approximately 2,600 individuals lack adequate shelter, camping tents are forbidden — but one canny do-gooder wants to help people make it through the Belgian capital’s wet, chilly winter with foldable, reusable cardboard tents manufactured at a prison.
That’s hardly an ideal solution in the long-term, of course, and no matter how cleverly it might be designed and packaged, cardboard makes for a less-than-dignified wall to keep out the elements. But it indicates the creative lengths people will go to to make life a bit easier for the unhoused in the face of municipal resistance.
San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, organized in 2016, has goals to change this sorry state of affairs, and they’re more ambitious than distributing cardboard. After the 2017 Point-in-Time Count estimated there were some 7,500 people experiencing homelessness citywide — of which 2,100 were considered chronically homeless, i.e. “people who have been living on the streets or in shelter for a year or more and have disabilities or health conditions that make it difficult for them to gain and retain housing” — the department’s 68-page October report reiterated a few key goals.
“Our vision is to make homelessness a rare, brief, and one-time event,” it reads. “Our aim is a significant, sustained reduction in homelessness in San Francisco.”
To do so, the department breaks up the homeless population into various demographic components, with specific targets for each. Among the notable ambitions are a commitment to making sure all families with children have shelter by December 2018 and permanent housing by December 2021, a 50-percent reduction in chronic homelessness by December 2022, and, perhaps the loftiest, eliminating large-scale street encampments by July 2019. There are other, more inward-facing goals as well, such as “Implement performance accountability across all programs and systems by December 2019.”
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, says the city has done good work on a few fronts so far, particularly in finding permanent housing for veterans, although funding commitments from Obama administration helped.
There is also concern that, as the July 2019 deadline for getting rid of large-scale encampments looms, pressure could mount to simply sweep them away for the sake of the timetable. Friedenbach notes that the city struggles with the minority of unhoused people who are severely mentally ill, and for whom neither shelters nor navigation centers are viable options. Still, the department report lays out in great detail the investments the city is making to meet its goals, which includes a “Housing Ladder” that consists of temporary shelter, followed by rapid rehousing and rental subsidies, and permanent supportive housing until individuals are able to stay housed on their own.
“From our perspective, any pre-development land that’s just going to be sitting there for a few years — let’s use it so homeless people have some safe and dignified space to be able to sleep,” Friedenbach says. “We need a diverse system. For some folks, the more institutionalized shelters are very comforting for them. They like having security guards, that feels really safe, they like having all the structure. It can feel more relaxing. For other folks, that feels really oppressive, and it’s not going to work — and the looser structure of a navigation center is better. And we just need more capacity in terms of beds.”
