09 Jul 09 Volunteers Needed - Veterans Stand Down - Sanford, FL - August 8, 2009
Seminole County is holding its first Veterans Stand Down on Saturday, August 8, 2009, through a partnership with the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida and the Veterans Administration. Veterans Stand Down events are similar to HSN’s Project Homeless Connect events, but targeted specifically at the needs of homeless veterans. About 40 service agencies will be at the event in Sanford which is anticipated to serve more than 125 homeless veterans with meals, showers, food bags, clothing, employment opportunities, shelters, medical care, IDs and other essential services. (more…)
23 Jun 09 June CoC Meeting Recap
Today’s meeting was another lively and informative session with over 60 attendees. Having cancelled the May meeting, maybe we all just missed each other’s company.
Here’s a quick recap:
The minutes from the April meeting were approved.
The Healthcare Center for the Homeless would like feedback from the Continuum as it conducts its strategic planning process. Stay tuned for a quick, online survey coming to your inbox.
Vivian Bryant of the Orlando Housing Authority spoke about what they do. Because of the great deal of interest in the OHA by the meeting attendees, the OHA staff intends to put together a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) booklet to address the many issues and questions raised. Stay tuned for more on that soon.
HSN intends to apply for DCF Challenge Grant funding to offset the loss of DCF’s Grant In Aid funding and we are going to need your help. We are asking all agencies in the CoC to provide us with documentation of the private income that you have received for delivering homeless services. A letter will be going out to all agencies to formally request this information which will serve as leveraging for our Challenge Grant application.
HSN is helping put together Project Homeless Connect and Veterans Stand Down events, scheduled as follows:
- Veterans’ Stand Down, Sanford, August 8
- East Orange PHC, probably September
- Veterans’ Stand Down, Orlando, September 26
- Discovery Church PHC, probably October
- Downtown PHC, 12/4
HSN will be conducting a Violence Against the Homeless survey over the summer the will help us understand how we can better meet the needs of people who are homeless in Florida. Thank you for your feedback on the survey and would appreciate any help you can give in administering it. We’ll have the updated survey available soon.
Next meeting, Tuesday, July 28, 2009.
Tags: CoC Meeting
23 Jun 09 Homeless Housing Assistance Grant (HHAG) Overview
Florida’s Department of Children and Families annually offers Homeless Housing Assistance Grants (HHAG) to assist in the development of transitional housing for the homeless or for permanent housing for the homeless.
The applicant for the grant can only be the designated lead agency for the local homeless Continuum of Care plan, which is Homeless Services Network. HSN applies on behalf of specific housing sponsors and/or development teams. The grant is distributed in an annual competitive application cycle. While there are no limits on the number of project applications that may be submitted from a community, the state cannot award more than two grants to any given Continuum of Care in a given year.
Homeless Services Network is holding a mandatory technical assistance workshop for anyone who would like to apply for this funding. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., at the Heart of Florida United Way, 1940 Traylor Boulevard, Orlando, FL.
Attendees must R.S.V.P. to HSN at 407-893-0133, x101. (more…)
10 Jun 09 Emergency Financial Assistance for Housing
The Florida Department of Children and Families is preparing to staff up and be in a position to once again accept and fund applications from families with minor children who are behind in their rent, or who are homeless and need aid for a security deposit to get back into an apartment.
Tom Pierce, Director of the Office on Homelessness, issued the following memo that explains eligibility and the application process: (more…)
Tags: DCF
08 Jun 09 Job Posting: Community Outreach Manager, Harbor House (Orlando, FL)
Harbor House of Central Florida
Employment Opportunity - Community Outreach Manager - Full-time Exempt Position
Minimum Qualifications: (more…)
Tags: domestic violence, Harbor House, Jobs
04 Jun 09 New Foreclosure Protection Resources for Renters
This news comes to us from a recent National Alliance to End Homelessness newsletter:
Last Thursday, May 28, the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) published a series of resources about the new federal protections for tenants living in foreclosed properties. S. 896, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, was signed into law by President Obama on May 20 and requires that tenants in foreclosed properties be given 90 days’ notice prior to eviction. The resources include a Cover Memo, which succinctly and clearly explains the new protections and explains that the resources have been developed in order to assist with quickly implementing the protections. NHLP has also developed a Sample Notice to All Tenants. This sample notice is designed to be handed out by Landlord Tenant Courts, Public Housing Authorities, local legal service offices, or other housing advocates. Other documents created by NHLP include: (more…)
20 May 09 HUD-VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD- VASH)
The information provided below was developed by the VA to provide additional information on the HUD VASH program to HUD’s local providers and Continuums of Care. (more…)
Tags: VA veterans
15 May 09 May CoC Meeting Cancelled
Because of Memorial Day and the shortened work week, HSN will not be holding the monthly CoC meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 26.
The next regularly scheduled CoC meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 23.
Tags: CoC
13 May 09 2009 Point in Time Count Report
HSN has released its 2009 Point in Time Count report.
The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida (HSN) is the lead agency for the Continuum of Care encompassing Orange, Osceola, Seminole Counties and the City of Orlando. Each year, HSN is required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to complete an annual count of the homeless in the Continuum which includes 2,500 square miles of urban, suburban and rural settings.
The data is submitted as a part of HSN’s competitive Continuum of Care funding application which includes requests for homeless services funding between $4.8 million and $6.5 million annually from HUD. It is also reported to the State of Florida’s Office on Homelessness for aggregation into an annual statewide report. County governments use the data in the preparation of their five year HUD Consolidated Plans and one-year action plans for their Community Development and Housing Departments.
HSN has partnered with the University of Central Florida’s Institute on Social Policy and Research, which is headed by Dr. Jim Wright, a national expert on homelessness, to craft the tools used for the survey and aggregate the data that is collected.
Tags: CoC
06 May 09 HMIS Training Schedule, June-July
HSN continues to offer weekly training sessions for HMIS. If you have new staff that need training or would like refresher training, please let us know at hmis@hsncfl.org.
Here’s the schedule for June and July.
Wed, 6/3, 9a-12p
Wed, 6/10, 9a-12p
Tue, 6/16, 1p-4p
Tue, 6/23, 1p-4p
Wed, 7/1, 9a-12p
Wed, 7/8, 9a-12p
Thu, 7/16, 9a-12p
Mon, 7/20, 1p-4p
Thu, 7/30, 9a-12p
Tags: HMIS
