Brief Summary of 10 Year Plan
to End Homelessness in Otsego County
 (Last Revised:  August 6, 2007)

 Our vision:  All people in Otsego County will be in safe, affordable, permanent homes.

 We know that tonight some of our neighbors here in Otsego County will sleep in cars, abandoned buildings, tents, or at the Friendship Shelter.  Others may be doubled up at a friend’s home or at the Transitional House.  This will happen despite a highly developed homeless support system.  Many more families are on the brink of homelessness.  Every day, persistent poverty, untreated substance abuse, increasing unemployment, and domestic violence force our fellow citizens from their homes, and onto the streets or into shelters.

Several factors have caused the increase of homelessness over the past two decades.

§         Affordable housing has become scarcer for county residents with low incomes

§         Household income has not kept pace with housing costs

§         Support services that offer family stability are harder to afford and find

§         Household splits due to divorce, domestic abuse, etc.

 How many homeless people are in Otsego County?  We don’t know but we plan to find out.  Indicators such as the number of people staying at the Friendship Shelter, informal surveys, and anecdotal observation provide a rough idea for us to use as a baseline figure.  According to the Friendship Shelter, 39% of the homeless have full or part-time jobs. 

 Our current homeless assistance system  - including the Friendship Shelter, First Call For Help, and the Salvation Army – provides a roof for the homeless reasonably well.  However, our current system is not very good at preventing homelessness, nor can it change the overall availability of affordable housing, incomes, and support services.  These changes must come from outside the shelter system such as rental property owners, employers, housing developers, the criminal justice system, educators, churches, service agencies, elected officials, planning commissions, civic leaders, and other decision makers.

 The task of ending homelessness is formidable but no more than the many other accomplishments by the people of Otsego County.  We can end homelessness in ten years.

 Our Plan to End Homelessness
This plan changes how we deal with homelessness.  Our current system evolved to manage homelessness – not end it.  While this proposal cannot end poverty, nor always stop our neighbors from losing their homes, our plan ends the institutionalization of homelessness as we know it.

 Close the Front Door -- Prevention
Prevention is the name of the game.  Our current system ends homelessness for families every day – but they are quickly replaced with new people facing a housing crisis.  We must stop new homeless from entering the system.  Whether precariously housed or in crisis, early intervention with homeless prevention services saves money, families, and lives.  We must address the root causes of homelessness in order to eliminate it. 

 Open the Back Door -- Intervention
Most county residents who become homeless use shelter assistance services for only a short time and don’t become repeat customers.  Chronically homeless individuals comprise less than 20% of all homeless, yet consume more than half of all shelter-related resources.  Applying the “Housing First” approach of using shelters as a last option, we will quickly provide these individuals with permanent housing with services instead of spending years in the homeless system.  Research shows this solution saves thousands of dollars annually, reduces the need for public services, and stabilizes lives. 

 Build the Infrastructure -- Fix the System
Ultimately, homelessness will continue until there is an adequate supply of affordable housing.  More affordable housing doesn’t work unless there is a “housing wage” to match housing costs.  Incomes must be sufficient for the cost of rent or mortgage payments without sacrificing the other basic needs of food, clothing, health care, transportation, child care, and paying taxes.  Services must be there for new and existing renters and homeowners to help them maintain safe, affordable permanent housing.  Attempting to change the current homeless assistance system must take place within the context of larger efforts to help our neighbors who have low incomes.

One of the first action steps will be to identify system created barriers and develop strategies to minimize or eliminate them.

 Prioritized Goals

Goal 1:  Have current, accurate data on homelessness by determining the actual number of homeless people and determining the number of low income housing units available in Otsego County.
    Action Step 1:  Utilize HMIS
    Action Step 2:  Collect and publish data related to homeless
    Action Step 3:  Conduct a point in time street count
    Action Step 4:  Determine the number of low income housing units

 Goal 2:  Have an umbrella group of agencies whose primary mission targets the homeless and near homeless.  This would foster collaboration and coordination of services and provide a convenient link to the County Master Plan and funding sources such as MSHDA and DHS.
    Action Step 1:  Connect the 10 year plan with the County’s Master plan
    Action Step 2:  Expand membership of the Continuum of Care
    Action Step 3:  Create a process to evaluate the 10 year plan
    Action Step 4:  Provide an annual progress report
    Action Step 5:  Mesh the goals of the organizations involved

 Goal 3:  Help people overcome their impairing personal challenges that may result in becoming homeless including bad credit, mental health, alcohol abuse, and substance abuse. 
    Action Step 1:  Offer Financial Fitness workshop series
    Action Step 2:  Expand existing youth programming
    Action Step 3:  Ruby Payne Poverty workshop & Poverty Simulation
    Action Step 4:  Inventory and increase awareness of existing programs

 Goal 4:  Provide life skills training in a variety of formats to various target audiences to
address specific needs such as social behavior, landlord/tenant relations, personal financial management, decision-making and self-esteem 
    Action Step 1:  Getting By in a Just Getting By World
    Action Step 2:  Provide life skills training for all youth in Otsego County
    Action Step 3:  Love and Logic parenting education
    Action Step 4:  Landlord and renter forum on rental registry prograM

Goal 5:  Create a Housing Ombudsman to cut the red tape and help renters find a place to live.
Action Step 1:  Landlord/Tenant relations
Action Step 2:  Rental Locator – free on-line service
Action Step 3:  Tenant-based Rent Assistance Program

Otsego County Housing and Homelessness Coalition a.k.a. Continuum of Care
Members

Bob Lewis, Chair
Lorene Parshall, Coordinator
Financial Fiduciary:  The Friendship Shelter
Phil Alexander, Michigan State University Extension
Kathy Arndt, Friendship Shelter
Ron Chavey, Salvation Army
Todd Cook, Michigan Works!
Connie Dearman, USDA
Alex Gierhart, COP ESD
Meghan Grebe, Friendship Shelter
Joe Hebel, North Country Community Mental Health Access
Cherise Henkel, Transition House
Marlene Hopp, Otsego County Housing Committee, Otsego County Veterans Affairs
Theresa Kelly, Section 8 – MSHDA
Bob Lewis, Michigan Department of Human Services
Melodie Linebaugh, Community Development - NEMSC
Marlene McCulloch, NEMSCA
Suzan Petee, North Country Community Mental Health Access
Gladys Pickering, First Call for Help - United Way
Leslie Scheen, Rural Housing - NEMSCA
Troy Shank, Rural Development - USDA
Barbara Soffredine, Otsego Human Service Network
Kurt Soltman, Homeless Liaison – Gaylord Community Schools
Alice Yeoman, Northern Homes Community Development Corporation, Otsego County Affordable
                        Housing Alliance