In Puerto Rico

Community approach to help end homelessness

Laura Rivera, of HUD's Community Planning Development division, discusses the importance of coordinated assessments. Housing and services providers seeking solutions to end homelessness.

Seeking to engage every stakeholder on the quest to end homelessness, the HUD San Juan Field Office developed a cross-program collaboration effort to leverage resources in Puerto Rico.

The HUD team promoted and offered support to local public housing authorities, multifamily owners and agents, and continuums of care to develop effective partnerships to better understand and engage the homeless population at the community level to address their needs.

Ideas, tools and creative alternatives to increase opportunities for individuals and families to access supportive services and housing were discussed. One of the new tools to rapidly find available resources was developed by the organization Coalición de Apoyo Contínuo (www.coalicionpr.com/) a Personas Sin Hogar en San Juan, Inc., a service provider.

This coalition created and an app with contact information on resources available for the homeless. People can search by services or by location; it shows resources available within a 5-mile radio of the person's location. The app can be downloaded here. (www.coalicionpr.com/app-links/)

The commitment to end homelessness in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under the Mayors' Challenge initiative has been pledged by Governor Alejandro García Padilla. Mayors are encouraged to do the same for their respective jurisdictions. Together we can do it.

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