UNITY of Greater New Orleans A Collaborative of 60 Agencies Working to End Homelessness Bringing New Orleans Home New Orleans City Council Housing and Human Needs Committee August 20, 2007

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Who are we? An award-winning collaborative founded in nonprofit and government agencies working to prevent, reduce and end homelessness Provide both housing and services

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Secure $12 million annually in competitive HUD funds Distribute funds to 50 agencies in Orleans and Jefferson; train their staffs Oversee work of 100 subcontracts

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Provide two basic types of housing: Permanent Supportive Housing Transitional Housing HUD Continuum of Care funds can be used to fund services in emergency shelters, but not the construction or operating costs of emergency shelters.

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Provide a wide variety of services: –Outreach, housing search assistance, case management, employment search assistance, substance addiction treatment, mental health services, medical care, legal services, child care

UNITY of Greater New Orleans UNITY requires the following performance from the agencies it funds: –At least 63% of transitional housing clients move to permanent housing –At least 80% of Permanent Supportive Housing clients stay stably housed for at least seven months –At least 20% -30% of clients must be employed upon discharge from program

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Who receives funding? 40 agencies receive UNITY Continuum of Care Funds 16 agencies receive UNITY Housing Repair Funds 11 agencies receive UNITY Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Funds

Unity of Greater New Orleans Continuum of Care Funds Armstrong Family Services Bridge House Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Concerned Citizens for a Better Algiers – Home Again Covenant House Daughters of Charity Health Services First Evangelist Housing and Community Development Corporation Galilee Community Development Corporation Gateway Goodwill Industries Hope House Harry Tompson Center Healthcare for the Homeless House of Ruth Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority Last Hope

Unity of Greater New Orleans Continuum of Care Funds Lindys Place Living Witness Louisiana Public Health Institute Loyola Law Clinic McCaleb Educational Foundation National Council of Negro Women New Orleans Mission New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation New Orleans Pro Bono Project NO/AIDS Task Force Odyssey House Ozanam Inn Project Lazarus Resources for Human Development Responsibility House

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Continuum of Care Funds Salvation Army Southeast Louisiana Legal Services St. Vincent DePaul Society Travelers Aid Society Tulane University Hospital Dept. of Pediatrics Volunteers of America UNITY of Greater New Orleans VIA LINK Salvation Army

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Housing Repair Funds Belle Reve Catholic Charities Community Christian Concern Home Again Hope House Living Witness Lovetouch Ministries, Inc. McCaleb Educational Fund National Council of Negro Women New Orleans Mission Odyssey House Ozanam Inn Project Lazarus Responsibility House Volunteers of America

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing funds Alternatives Living Catholic Charities Community Care Center Community Service Center Covenant House Desire Community Housing Hope House House of Ruth In This Together New Hope Total Community Action

UNITY of Greater New Orleans The current situation for people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Estimated double the rate of homelessness in Orleans and Jefferson post-K Now estimated at 12,000 homeless persons Living in abandoned buildings, on streets, in cars, in homeless housing

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Thousands more doubled-up with family and friends Were seeing a whole new population of homeless persons

UNITY of Greater New Orleans While moderating, rents remain high –2-bedroom apartment now rents for $978/month, up from $676 in 2005 ** Affordable housing in short supply **Fair Market Rents, as cited in The New Orleans Index, Second Anniversary Special Edition, from The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and Greater New Orleans Community Data Center

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Pre-Katrina: UNITY Collaborative housed 2,788 people in permanent, transitional and emergency housing –940 in Permanent Supportive Housing –1,011 in transitional housing –837 in emergency shelters

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Five months after Katrina: 484 beds for Permanent Supportive Housing – 51% of pre-K 629 beds for transitional housing – 62 % of pre-K 180 beds for emergency shelters – 22% of pre-K

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Current overall collaborative capacity is 64% of pre-K Can now serve 1,772 people –818 in PSH – 87% of pre-K –719 in transitional housing – 71% of pre-K –254 in emergency shelters – 30% of pre-K

UNITY of Greater New Orleans In the past year, UNITY collaborative has provided housing and services to more than 6,700 individuals and families Beds/spots in service programs are filled as soon as vacated

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Current initiatives

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Rapid Re-housing and Homeless Prevention Hurricane Recovery Program Contracting with La. Dept. of Social Services to provide Road Home $$ for homelessness prevention and rapid re- housing help in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Rapid Re-housing and Homeless Prevention $3.8 million to go to 11 agencies – helping more than 1,500 households Types of help -- rent assistance, utility assistance and supportive services for people/families at risk of homelessness within 30 days

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Ten-year plan to end chronic homelessness Working with Citys Office of Planning and Development Focus on creating Permanent Supportive Housing as the evidence-based practice to end citys chronic homelessness problem

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Hurricane Recovery Initiative Worked with Louisiana Recovery Authority to set goal of 3,000 PSH apartments (including bricks/mortar, rent subsidies, and services linked to the apartments) in Road Home Plan

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Permanent Supportive Housing development Working with Common Ground Community – nations largest developer of supportive housing – previously identified by City of New Orleans and Downtown Development District as the national model for ending homelessness to replicate in New Orleans Two Rockefeller/Univ. of Penn. fellows will staff Common Ground Institute for UNITY of Greater New Orleans

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Permanent Supportive Housing development Work with UNITY Nonprofit Supportive Housing Developers Working Group to identify & acquire sites, work with architects, apply for funding, oversee rehab/construction, train local nonprofits on supportive housing property management

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Idea-- housing that serves both disabled homeless people and the low-wage workers vital to the New Orleans economy Model values integration, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, high-quality on-site services, high architectural quality, stabilization of surrounding neighborhood Goal is to develop 500 units city-wide

UNITY of Greater New Orleans UNITY Welcome Home Outreach, housing search and placement model – Housing First best practice modeled after Philadelphia & San Francisco street outreach Works to end street homelessness

UNITY of Greater New Orleans UNITY Welcome Home $$ used for placement in UNITY collaborative housing, rent assistance, security deposits, furnishings, hotel vouchers as emergency shelter Funded by HUD and Katrina Aid today

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Web-based affordable rental housing database available to the public Landlords agree to rent at no more than 80% of FMR Typically at least 500 listings at a time Co-sponsored by Apartment Association of Greater New Orleans

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Critical Policy and Funding Challenges on the Horizon

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Key funding requests for Congress and State 3,000 Permanent Supportive Housing vouchers for persons with disabilities or otherwise vulnerable $10 million for rental assistance

UNITY of Greater New Orleans More GO Zone Low Income Housing Tax Credits to fully fund the recovery by repairing New Orleans rental housing stock Full funding for Road Home program homeownership program so that all homeowners – including those who are low- income – can repair their homes

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Permanent Supportive Housing Voucher funding Need Congress to appropriate funds for 3,000 vouchers in Fall 2007 Crucial last piece – have $$ for bricks and mortar, services Chance to help most vulnerable

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Proven best practice – Permanent Supportive Housing works, and is cost- effective Louisiana can be a national leader Need the City Councils support!

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Equitable housing redevelopment in New Orleans Support dialogue with City Council to find best ways to provide affordable, accessible rental housing to help New Orleanians return home Exploring ideas that work – pledge to continue

UNITY of Greater New Orleans Naval Support Activity – East Bank Working on proposal to use portion of the space to address needs of those facing homelessness Will work with neighbors and city leaders

UNITY of Greater New Orleans A Collaborative of 60 Agencies Working to End Homelessness Bringing New Orleans Home