1999 Best Practices Winners

Program Name:			Continuum of Care Planning Board
Program Focus:			Homelessness
Geographic Area:			Midwest
State:			Michigan
City:			Ann Arbor

Executive Summary
In an effort to improve and expand the collaboration among local, state and federal governments, nonprofit organizations, homeless shelter and service providers, and other community stakeholders, a nonprofit organization called Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW) based in Ann Arbor, MI, facilitated the creation of the Continuum of Care Planning Board. The board’s purpose is to reduce the intense competition for funds among homeless service providers, thereby maintaining the community’s focus on the primary objective of meeting the needs of Ann Arbor’s homeless individuals and families.

The board’s primary occupation is to review, evaluate and prioritize proposals for homeless services. Due to its interdisciplinary representation and financial independence, the board is uniquely positioned to provide a level playing field in terms of objectively evaluating proposals for the various projects that compete for HUD funding.

Initially, the board was composed of local government representatives, business and community organizations, lending institutions and members of nonprofit groups that did not receive any funding from HUD. However, this year, for the first time ever, the board decided to allow HUD-funded service providers to participate on the board. The change in policy occurred after the board realized that these service providers were key to developing complete "gaps" analyses.

By bringing all the key stakeholders to the table together, the Continuum of Care Planning Board was able to rearrange an untenable situation to create a productive and functional coalition focused on community priorities. The board established a process that facilitated moving beyond the infighting to identify creative methods to include and fund as many agencies as possible, even those that may not have been funded in the past. For example, the board was able to figure out how two agencies, which were not eligible for HUD funding on their own, could work together to qualify for funding through the HUD Super NOFA. This sort of collaboration could be used in other communities to smooth out relations between conflicting agencies or just to improve service implementation.

The success of this collaborative planning board initiative is evidenced by the fact that only two and a half years ago Washtenaw County was in danger of losing its funding. But, after the Continuum of Care Planning Board was created and order was restored to the homeless services providers industry, Washtenaw County received more than $1.8 in HUD funding for its homeless assistance programs.

Partners: Local Governments, Business Associations, Community Organizations, Lending Institutions, and Members of Nonprofit Groups.

Financing: Various HUD Funds

Point of Contact:

Eileen Ryan, Phone: (734) 994-2912