HOMEWARD PIKES PEAK

The Permanent Coordinating Organization for Homeless Services in the Pikes Peak Region

Annual Report: 2005

Each year one event seems to dominate, and this year it was the devastation caused on the Gulf Coast during the hurricane season. In September we welcomed over 2,000 guests to Colorado Springs from this region, and at the end of 2005 we still have over 1500 people with us.

Homeward Pikes Peak was involved from the beginning, partnering with Councilman Richard Skorman at his Poor Richard's Outreach Center, the first in the city to provide services for the hurricane victims.

After assisting with the initial set-up of the Disaster Relief Center, organized and run by the City of Colorado Springs, HPP returned to working with the local homeless population. After the closure of the DRC during the fall, HPP returned to the service of the Gulf Coast guests, assisting in the organization of and participating as a member of two boards overseeing client services: the Katrina Alliance (service providers) and the Katrina Executive Group (managers of the services). On the latter board, the Executive Director of HPP serves at the Chief Financial Officer.

The City of Colorado Springs and the local volunteers and service providers worked from day one in a fashion that brought national attention to the excellent helping paradigm that was developed. Colorado Springs was second to none nationally in the hurricane assistance effort.

In an effort to continue that record of excellence, the Katrina Executive Group was formed to oversee continuing services for up to one year for our guests. This work is ongoing and consists not only of assisting with daily needs, but also with looking toward the future. Job fairs have been held, literacy opportunities presented and assistance with schooling for children and adults offered. We hope that our guests will stay in Colorado Springs, and we hope that they will avail themselves of all of the great opportunities we are providing to become self-sufficient citizens of our city.

Five Year Blueprint to House Every Citizen of Colorado Springs

After nine months of work and soliciting input from service providers to the homeless, police, medical facilities, government representatives and homeless individuals, per se, the Five Year Blueprint to House Every Citizen of Colorado Springs was approved by the Homeward Pikes Peak Board and by the City Council of Colorado Springs. These approvals came in February, after a Forum on Homelessness was hosted by Homeward Pikes Peak in January to provide all citizens of Colorado Springs an opportunity to ask questions and to make comments concerning the blueprint.

The document was subsequently submitted to and accepted by the Interagency Council on Homelessness in Washington, D.C.

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CHAP (Comprehensive Homeless Assistance Providers)

This year the CHAP organization continues to be chaired by the Executive Director of HPP. Our goal in 2005 was to increase communication among service providers, so that organizations could become ever more familiar with what colleagues are offering in related homeless and needy service areas. This also builds on the 2004 goal of providing more and easier access to mainstream resources.

At each meeting an hour was devoted to reports from agencies who gave an in-depth description of their services. Feedback was positive, with many agencies acknowledging that they were not totally familiar with the services offered outside their own agencies. Communication was improved.

In addition, opportunities were given for agencies, both private and public, to address CHAP on topics related to homeless and needy services. Pikes Peak Library District, Aspen Grove Properties, Steadfast Development Group, Department of Human Services etc. were among the outside groups speaking to the CHAP service providers.

The CHAP organization continues with robust attendance, offering a vital communication link among the wide range of service providers to the needy and homeless of our city.

Mental Health Service Providers

Three meetings were held in 2005 to present opportunities for cooperative services among mental health service providers in the region. Funding has been cut dramatically for Pikes Peak Mental Health over the past few years, to the point where they accept almost no new clients who are under- or uninsured. Thus the burden is becoming ever heavier on the small, mostly faith-based organization who operate with little funding to fill the gaps in mental health services.

Homeward Pikes Peak is attempting to bring the small organizations together to ascertain where working cooperatively can enhance services and economies. These meetings continue; and while the topic proves challenging, I believe that the good will of the providers will prevail to form a co-operative system for mental health treatment that will fill some of the gaps in service until a more comprehensive system can be devised and implemented.

Coalition HOPE

There are two main categories of homeless individuals: the crisis homeless and the chronic homeless. The former tend to be women and children; the latter, men.

The former tend to be motivated individuals who are served through HUD-funded transitional housing programs, the latter tend to be individuals who are dual-diagnosed with substance abuse and mental health programs. They also tend to be terribly underserved and very expensive to our community.

In February Homeward Pikes Peak approached Pikes Peak United Way to co-found an initiative that would lead to funding for untreated substance abuse and mental health problems in our community. Meeting three times monthly, this initiative has morphed into one that is now examining a broader range of medical services and has

engaged the interest of several health care organizations in the county.

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Much work remains to be done, but we are addressing one of the most pressing needs of our community and are looking forward to continuing our work into the new year.

Super NOFA

The HUD Super-NOFA grant is our largest single source of funding for shelter for the homeless. Once again, in 2005, we have garnered over 99% of available funding from the "pro-rata share" of the grant: $971,740 this year. The "bonus grant," at which we have been very successful in the past two years, was cut this year from $750,000 (for five years) to $150,000 for the same period. Because of the amount of work necessary to provide the required matching funds and service infrastructure, there was only one agency interested in applying for the reduced funds. This was a start-up agency that dealt with ex-convicts. HUD did not recognize these individuals as homeless and the request was not funded. I believe the "bonus grant" will be eliminated this coming year due to federal fiscal obligations in other areas.

Homeless Headcount

For the first time in 2005 Homeward Pikes Peak achieved the goal of two headcounts per year. One was done on January 12, to ascertain the winter population and another was done on August 9 for the summer count. This far exceeds the HUD the requirement of one every other year.

As we continue with the counts we are continually striving to make them more accurate and inclusive. During the fall of 2005, we developed a plan whereby we will count the entire county population instead of just Colorado Springs. Police and sheriff's office personnel will aid in the count and will plot locations on GPS. The Office of the El Paso Count Sheriff will develop a county map for us with the locations of homeless populations. This will aid dramatically in the planning of services.

Also, we will be well-positioned to cooperate with the balance of the state in future headcounts. This process will be known in the future as the Homeless Point-In-Time Survey.

Annual Conference on Homelessness in Colorado Springs

On September 26 the Third Annual Conference on Homelessness in Colorado Springs was held. Once again, the conference drew almost eighty service providers and interested citizens who heard presentations and discussions on topics ranging from private sector answers to homelessness to help for substance abusers and the mentally ill to transitional housing programs.

This conference provides a unique opportunity for all sectors of the community to meet, to gain information on current programs and to offer input into how best to serve the homeless and needy populations of our region.

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Soup Kitchen Mediation

After almost a year of mediation between the Marian House Soup Kitchen and the Boulder Crescent Neighborhood Association, in which Homeward Pikes Peak was an active participant, the Good Neighbor Agreement was signed in January. A similar agreement between the Soup Kitchen and the Downtown Partnership was signed in 2004. These documents will remove impediments to Catholic Charities' proceeding with the planning and implementation of an expanded and improved version of the Soup Kitchen on the same site.

Life Skills Program

Upon observing the work of the homeless service providers for two years, it became apparent that there was much duplication in the area of life skills training.

HPP partnered with Anne Beer of Pikes Peak United Way to compile the offerings of

service providers into one document which shows all programs offered, whether outside clients are welcome and whether the providing agency will contract with other agencies to provide the programs.

Through this compilation we hope to offer, county-wide, a broader spectrum of life skills programs that will be uniquely suited to the needs of each client; and we hope to be able to do it in a more economical fashion, based on the mitigation of needless duplication of programs and the implementation of economies of scale.

Homeless Management System and Co-Operative Food Services

These two topics were to be addressed in 2005, but were held up due to problems incurred by the software provider, which worked directly for Mile High United Way and the Division of Supportive Housing and Homeless Programs of the Colorado Department of Human Services in Denver.

Events occurring in the latter quarter of 2005 give us confidence that the system will be up and running in 2006 and that we will be able to implement both the Homeless Management Information System (to be known as the Client Management System) and the Co-Operative Food Services Program in 2006.

The former system is required by HUD to track services provided. The latter system was devised by Homeward Pikes Peak as a way to take some of the food service burden from the Marian House Soup Kitchen and as a way to direct homeless individuals to dine at facilities where programs fitting their specific needs were being offered, thereby saving them time and saving the downtown area more foot traffic.

Fundraising

The main source of revenue for Homeward Pikes Peak continues to be the Annual Homeward Pikes Peak Gala and Golf Tournament, sponsored by Concept Restaurants and directed by Luke Travins. In 2005 over half of the HPP budget, or $47,000, was raised by these events. The El Pomar Foundation contributed $30,000 to HPP and the balance of the budget was provided by Board contributions and use of emergency funds.

As we strived to develop sustainable funding sources, we were awarded $20,000 for 2006 by the City of Colorado Springs in recognition of our work.

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Involvement of Retirees in Homeless Services

HPP has offered a yearly seminar on homelessness through PILLAR, and this year expanded the program by involving local service providers and giving them the opportunity to offer mentoring workshops and training for senior citizens. Several organizations have been able to expand the ranks of their mentoring programs with senior citizens: a group known not only for their experience, but also for their dependability and their ability to help by example.

The Executive Director

- Is being invited to participate on state-wide committees related to housing and homelessness. This is occurring as Homeward Pikes Peak continues to prove itself to be an organization which serious in its efforts to help the homeless and which is developing programs, with the input of the entire community, which are compassionate, creative, accountable and fiscally responsible.

- Offers monthly programs on parenting skills to residents of the New Hope Center shelter, and to offer general help and advice to them.

- Is involved in local advisory committees such as the Downtown Safety Committee and the Substance Abuse Advisory Council.

- Seeks out and applies for grant opportunities on a continuing basis.