In Mississippi
Preventing and Ending Youth Homelessness

On April 3rd and 4th, 2018, community representatives from Mendocino County, California; Marion County, Oregon; the state of Maine; and the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi convened in Gulfport for a workshop led by A Way Home America, Rapid Results Institute, and HomeBase to discuss innovations in preventing and ending youth homelessness. Their approach: A 100-Day Challenge to rapidly view how things are working, set goals, and figure out what needs to change to achieve the goals.

National partners from HUD and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness participated with the group in activities and discussions of progress and challenges discovered during each community's 100-Day Challenge.

In Mississippi, the Open Doors Homeless Coalition, Continuum of Care on the Gulf Coast chose to create housing opportunities for 50 literally homeless young adults age 18-24 and to partner with Child Protective Services and the Youth Court system to prevent homelessness for 75 youth who would age out of care through implementation of transition plans. Through hard work, dedication, and commitment, a 15-member team, a youth advisory board, and 4 sponsors from 15 agencies in the six southern counties of Mississippi met the goals by housing 51 young adults and implementing 78 transition plans in 100 days.

For each of the communities, the end of the 100 days is just the beginning. The new system changes and collaboration will continue as a new way of doing business. With help from HUD and the other federal partners, the four communities have demonstrated that an end to youth homelessness is possible! While there is still work to do, the progress in just 100 days shows what is doable when communities work together.

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