Dear Editor,

A regional grant will fund a rapid re-housing program and support work to strengthen the safety net in Boulder County. The Boulder County Housing Authority’s (BCHA) Housing Stabilization Program has received a $680,560 Continuum of Care (CoC) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grant will support approximately 30 families or individuals in Boulder County who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness and will strengthen the work of the county’s Community Housing Resource Panel.

The housing panel is composed of seven community safety net organizations that administer supportive case management and rapid re-housing resources. Through the coordinated referral and assessment work of the panel, the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS) – which houses BCHA – provides a range of supportive housing options to homeless or imminently homeless households, with the goal of helping them move toward self-sufficiency.

“We are grateful for the deep working relationships we’ve built over time within our community safety net,” BCDHHS Director Frank Alexander said. “The Housing Panel is a unique way for non-profit and governmental partners to work together to screen and structure supportive rental assistance and case management, and to help people become stable as quickly and efficiently as possible. We couldn’t do this without the great collaboration of our community partners.”

In addition to BCHA and BCDHHS, members of the panel include: Emergency Family Assistance Association, Sister Carmen Community Center, OUR Center, Safe Shelter Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley, and Bridge House. Access to this resource is only available through referrals from these organizations.

“The lack of affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues facing our county at this time,” said Sister Carmen CEO Suzanne Crawford. “At Sister Carmen, we work with families who are struggling to avoid eviction and homelessness. We are grateful that our community has this additional resource to help these families.”

“We’re so proud of the collaborative work taking place across our county and our region to greatly reduce homelessness in our community,” Boulder County Commissioner Cindy Domenico said. “We know that access to safe, stable, and affordable housing is critical to any individual’s or family’s ability to thrive. This grant will help us respond to the growing need in our community and will strengthen our prevention-oriented safety net.”

The county’s housing panel is part of the Metropolitan Denver Continuum of Care, a regional system for helping people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness by ensuring that appropriate housing and services are available. The regional CoC is facilitated by the Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI).

The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers and State and local governments to quickly re-house homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Jim Miller

Boulder County