We have a passion for inviting people and organizations to draw together to address emerging issues affecting fragile families in our neighborhoods.  We know the value of a coordinated response to individuals in crisis and promote collaboration among organizations that serve those fragile families. 

We work to identify community needs and measure community progress with a special focus on Hunger, Homelessness, and Affordable Housing.

We connect people with needed resources and educate the community about timely issues such as foreclosure prevention. 

We coordinate the use of the web-based Community Information Sharing System (CISS, formerly HMIS), a performance management system used by social service providers to track services for fragile families. This community data system provides quality aggregate data that can be used for planning and evaluation.

GOALS OF FRAGILE FAMILIES INITIATIVE
oCoordinate services with front-line organizations through the Continuum of Care: Schools, neighbors, churches, health & mental health, first responders, etc.
oShare best practices in serving fragile households
oUse data to track community rehousing performance, the demographics of who is struggling, and understand best assistance to support households in regaining stability
oIdentify unmet and emerging needs, including disaster needs, among fragile households
oShare community performance data with stakeholders
oSupport community initiatives to address unmet needs

HOW WE MEET OUR GOALS
As Lead agency for the MO-503 Continuum of Care to end homelessness:
o Provide staff support for 6-8 community leadership committees
o Track community performance through 10 metrics
o Prepare over 10 reports annually to maintain compliance with HUD reporting for federal, state, and housing funds,
o Prepare the annual collaborative application to maintain over 3M in annual funding for housing services to community organizations

As HMIS Lead agency:
o Manage CaseWorthy, a shared community database, that tracks the progress of households experiencing a housing crisis as they move to stability
o Maintain strong qualified, technical staff for essential database maintenance, program set-up and user training, data quality, analysis and reporting
o Support 13 organizations, 70 programs, and 126 users who depend upon CaseWorthy for client tracking and fund reporting
o Track households for two years after rehousing to determine if they reenter the housing system

Staff and support the Coordinated Entry call center for persons experiencing a housing crisis in St. Charles, Lincoln, or Warren Counties
o Staffed with over 6 staff, the team responds to more than 8000 calls and emails annually requesting information about housing assistance
o The Coordinated Entry team conducts assessments for households at risk of homelessness, enters data in CaseWorthy, and makes electronic referrals to community partners

2022 COMMUNITY RESULTS
o Provided assessments and referrals for over 2000 households in a housing crisis
o Prevented homelessness among 3264 households in a housing crisis
o Re-housed 410 households who were homeless
o The average length of time persons remained homeless in emergency shelter was 32 days
o 36% of persons served in housing programs obtained permanent housing
o 88% of persons who were re-housed maintained housing 2 years later
o 78% of persons experiencing homelessness were first time homeless
o 75 persons were assisted with immediate needs during the most recent flooding disaster
o Coordinated Entry assessed 9.1% more households in 2022
o 480 households were waiting for housing assistance on the housing prioritization list on 11/5/22

COMMUNITY PRIORITY NEEDS
1) Affordable rental units that will accept vouchers/short term subsidies – lack of availability has made this a critical issue. Agencies cannot rehouse neighbors even with subsidies due to lack of available units
2) Funding to maintain Coordinated Entry services
3) Continued support for an emergency motel voucher & transportation program when shelters are at capacity; access to affordable motel units; shelter, especially for men, those with physical disabilities and/or special needs (mental health, substance abuse, autism) and medical respite care; non-congregate options are preferred by clients due to trauma
4) Increased street outreach services as well as case management for targeted high-risk households that have been rehoused
5) More intensive housing navigation, follow-up, and landlord support for housing persons with high vulnerability
6) Continued need for flexible homeless prevention funding to maintain people in their homes, especially due to limited rehousing options
7) Additional supportive services to include locations to shower; laundry, weather shelters, transportation, cell phones/minutes for clients; mental health, legal services, and job search & job start assistance

We invite you to explore our resources and join the collaborative efforts to help the fragile members of our community.