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The Task Force Times

April 2018 Edition

CEO Corner

Continuing to Strengthen Our Region's Coordination 

     We are strengthening our relationships with the region's cities and governmental bodies. Since October of last year we have met with some of our region's 18 different city management staff and elected officials, initially focusing on those most affected by homelessness based on 2017 Point in Time Count results. These meetings have focused on introducing the cities to our Strategic Framework, new leadership, and understanding their challenges and triumphs as it relates to homelessness and affordable housing.

     We've been very impressed with some of the proactive work taking place in different parts of the region. North County's Alliance for Regional Solutions has been active for over 10 years and recently hosted a Summit on Homelessness for funders and leaders in their region. The East County Homeless Task Force has been meeting for over a year now and has already made great strides in helping their homeless neighbors find permanent housing.   


     We've had opportunities to present to broader leadership and decision makers about the importance of following a Housing First model and utilizing a regional Strategic Framework as a guide to best practices they could easily support in their communities. SANDAG, League of California Cities, and International City Management Association were all well attended presentations we gave with great questions and discussion from the attendees. We were honored to be invited to share our core principles and expertise.

     We look forward to more opportunities to hear from and assist other local cities in our region in the future.
  


Sincerely, 

Gordon D. Walker
Chief Executive Officer
Continuum of Care Notice

HUD Youth Homeless Demonstration Program
 
     Our COC Lead has been working on a collaborative HUD NOFA application on the Youth Homeless Demonstration Program in partnership with various governmental and non-profit stakeholders. The application is due next week and it is a highly competitive national application. We are confident that we are submitting a stronger application this year compared to last. We were provided feedback from HUD on our submission last year which gave us some tangible improvements to make for this next funding cycle. We were also able to speak to an awardee from last year who gave us helpful suggestions to build upon. We received HUD Technical Assistance on this application that was very beneficial as well.

     RTFH will keep the community informed of any updates on this as soon as we receive them. Thank you to all of the assistance and support provided on this team project from the other providers and staff who participated. This funding for our community would greatly benefit the homeless youth of San Diego and prevent this sub-population from becoming the chronic homeless of the future.
 


                                  Listening and Learning Tours
 
     The CoC Listening and Learning tour will continue with CoC funded agencies and RTFH members over the next couple of months. Our overall goal is to strengthen the relationships with our providers. We look forward to seeing your program sites and hearing about the great work you and your staff are doing to help those in our region experiencing homelessness.
Coordinated Entry System Catch Up
                                             
                     East County Project Homeless Connect

     CES is looking forward to participating in the East County Project Homeless Connect event this week. Similar to the downtown Homeless Connect event in January, we will be assessing clients for system entry but also on hand to connect clients to their Housing Navigators, get them match ready, and hopefully locating clients that we may have unsuccessfully attempted to contact in the past.

     The event is hosted by Crisis House at The Rock East County facilities from 10am-2pm this Friday April 20th. More information can be found at the East County Project Homeless Connect event page.

     As a reminder, updated CES Policies and Procedures published last month can be found on the RTFH website at the following link: 2018 Policies & Procedures

 
HMIS Highlights

HMIS Ad Hoc Exploratory Committee
 
     The formation of the HMIS Ad Hoc Exploratory Committee was approved by our Governance Board at our last board meeting on April 5th. This is an exciting time for our community to get to discuss the opportunities available through a new HMIS system. Our community and RTFH has used the same system for over 15 years. We are now looking for other software solutions that provide promising capabilities for not only HMIS functions and a large data migration project but also for a more user friendly Coordinated Entry System module, more comprehensive outreach applications, and possibilities for Point in Time Count enhancements.
 

     We look forward to learning more and moving forward with this new Committee. Updates on the process will be made in this newsletter and at our Board and Membership meetings. 

     As a reminder, all updated dashboards are accessible on the RTFH Regional Reports page. Please refer to them frequently for the most up to date forward facing data about homelessness in your region. 

 
 

WeAllCount 2018 Update
 
     We are officially one month away from publicly announcing the results of the 2018 WeAllCount effort in San Diego. This data will provide communities, homeless service providers, and policy makers a better understanding of the barriers and challenges our community is currently facing. We cannot emphasize enough that this endeavor would not be possible without the efforts of the 1,300 volunteers who donated their time to collecting this data. For those interested in reviewing last year's data, a link below is attached. We will attach a digital copy of the 2018 WeAllCount in next month's newsletter.
 
 
   
   
Client Spotlight

Patricia's Story
 
    
     
     I became homeless due to domestic violence. I didn't quite understand the huge problem of being homeless. I worked all my life and now I'm homeless? I was living in a tent. Drugs played a great role in the situation too. One night, after losing two friends on the streets, I got down on my hands and knees and cried out to God and asked Him for deliverance. I told Him I didn't want to die in the streets. That evening I ended up going into the hospital because my health was declining fast! When I got out I didn't have nothing except the clothes on my back. A stranger or angel came along and gave me a tent and two sleeping bags. I pitched my tent on my church platform. I refused to use drugs or alcohol. 

     After a few days there, the Pastor came out and said it was okay for me to be there and then invited me to church. I went and couldn't believe it! The sermon was called "On The Run". That blew my wig back! I called my insurance company's case manager and she put me in a shelter. The Lord had already started delivering. I need deliveries in all areas of my life. I had a check list I shared with the Lord of things I needed to do: divorce, health, housing, and family restoration.


     I had become connected with the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and I started taking suggestions from people there that could get me where I needed to be. The Holy Spirit used people as a vessel to help me. All the things I needed, He gave me- guidance and great people like Tashia at RTFH who never gave up on me. I now live in an apartment for seniors through a program I was matched to at Community Housing Works.

     So many that I want to say thank you to but I have to start first with God. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I'm saying you're worth it!
     
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The Regional Task Force on the Homeless
4699 Murphy Canyon Road
San DiegoCA 92123
 


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The Regional Task Force on the Homeless · 4699 Murphy Canyon Road · San Diego, CA 92123 · USA

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