DATE: December 3, 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: Michael Wright, Administrator
Broward County Homeless Initiative Partnership
PHONE: 954-357-6167
EMAIL: mwright@broward.org
BROWARD COUNTY, FL – Broward County announced today that it has been selected to participate in Zero: 2016, a national campaign to end veteran and chronic homelessness in the next two years. Over 400 communities applied for the program and the County was among 68 chosen to participate. The Campaign is being spearheaded by Community Solutions, a national non-profit group. The organization said it would partner with the County to meet the federal goals set by President Obama to end veteran homelessness by Dec. 2015 and chronic homelessness by December 2016.
The initiative will formally launch in January of 2015 during the national 2015 Homeless Point-in-Time Count, during which local volunteers will comb the County to accurately count the local homeless population.
“We are proud to have been selected to participate in this nationwide initiative and very hopeful that, with active community assistance, we can reach this goal,” said Michael Wright, administrator of Broward County’s Homeless Initiative Partnership. “This is an excellent opportunity to accelerate our housing placements through this proven method of ending chronic homeless.”
“Chronic and Veteran homelessness are urgent, solvable problems,” said Zero: 2016 director Beth Sandor. “These communities represent a potential tipping point. If they can show that getting to zero is possible, we think it will become untenable for other communities not to follow suit. Zero: 2016 is about bringing shared accountability to this work. Participants are making a public commitment to get to zero on time, and they are going to use that commitment to drive measurable progress.”
Sandor added that communities would focus narrowly on data and performance management for the first 90 days of the initiative. The goal is to develop clear targets for the total number of housing placements needed locally to end chronic and veteran homelessness on the federal timetable.
Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released the results of the 2014 Homeless Point-in-Time Count, which shows that homelessness continues to decline across virtually all major categories, including chronic homelessness. Veteran homelessness was singled out by the report for its particularly steep decline-- more than 30 percent in the last four years. In Broward County, figures showed that the number of homeless decreased slightly by 1.6 percent, from 2,810 to 2,766 but the number of unsheltered persons increased by 5.3 percent from 829 to 879, compared to the same count done in January 2013.
The report also showed that communities selected to join Zero: 2016 account for a combined 31,669 chronically homeless Americans and 16,218 homeless veterans. Community Solutions said it estimates an overlap of 10,000-12,000 between these two populations.
The 69 communities selected for Zero: 2016 represent 31 different states and the District of Columbia. Among them are 50 communities who also participated in the 100,000 Homes Campaign and 19 new communities. Combined, the group represents the joint, public commitment of 234 housing authorities, local government entities, non-profit organizations, and community agencies.
Zero: 2016 will compliment with other large-scale initiatives working to help communities end homelessness, including the 25 Cities Initiative, led by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Mayor’s Challenge to End Homelessness, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Many communities selected to join Zero: 2016 are also participating in one or both of these initiatives, and Community Solutions has coordinated extensively with VA and other federal agencies to ensure that all three initiatives complement each other as well as possible.
About Homeless Initiative Partnership
The Homeless Initiative Partnership (HIP), a section within the Community Partnerships Division of the Broward County Human Services Department, plans and coordinates services for homeless persons, and serves as liaison to the Homeless Initiative Partnership Advisory Board, which acts as agent for the Board of County Commissioners in the development and implementation of homeless assistance programs. HIP is also the lead agency for the County’s Homeless Continuum of Care, a network of organizations, advocates, residents and businesses that plan programs to help alleviate homelessness in Broward County. The goal is to end chronic and veteran homelessness by 2016, and family and youth homelessness by 2020.
The Broward County Homeless Initiative Partnership is the lead and our collaborating partners include the Broward Homeless Continuum of Care Board; Miami VA Health Care System; Broward County Housing Authority; Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority; United Way; of Broward Broward Housing Solutions; Keystone Halls, Inc.; Henderson Behavioral Health, Inc.; Volunteers of America, Inc.; Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc.; Covenant House, FL.; Hope South Florida, Inc.; Broward County Elderly & Veterans Services Division; and Broward County Family Success Administration Division.
For more information, call 954-357-6101 or visit Homeless Services.
About Community Solutions
Community Solutions is a national non-profit dedicated to helping communities solve the complex social problems facing their most vulnerable residents. The organization’s work applies design thinking, quality improvement and a host of other cross-sector disciplines to issues like homelessness, unemployment, and public health. Zero: 2016 is a rigorous follow-on to the organization’s successful 100,000 Homes Campaign designed to help a select group of communities end chronic and veteran homelessness in the next two years. The initiative will formally launch in January 2015.