Solutions start here. MHSA ANNUAL MEETING 2011

Thank you for being part of the MHSA mission: ending homelessness.

This year, our partnerships—both new and old—combined with our commitment to measurable outcomes have helped us advance closer than ever to ending homelessness in Massachusetts.

MHSA and our partners have continued to Educate Advocate Innovate Collaborate to advance the MHSA mission.

Educate

Through initiatives including the Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau, the MHSA Young Professionals Group, and Social Action Massachusetts,

MHSA and our partners have continued to spread the word that homelessness is a problem with a solution: housing.

Advocate

In 2011, the cap was lifted on the Community Support Program for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness (CSPECH) thanks to advocacy by MHSA and our partner The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) estimates CSPECH has already created a net Medicaid savings of more than $3 million.

Innovate

MHSA continued to work with our 12 partner agencies on our statewide Housing First initiative Home & Healthy for Good (HHG). HHG continues to save both lives and taxpayer dollars.

But permanent supportive housing is not only cost-effective—it is a proven, lasting solution to homelessness.

92% of participants in MHSA’s Post Detox/Pre Recovery program remained housed in the program seven months after program entry.

90% of participants in the Post Detox/Pre Recovery program were engaged in education, training, job search or community service at the end of the fiscal year.

100% of the participants in MHSA’s Journey to Success program remained permanently housed one year after they entered the program.

Boston has seen a 25% decrease in the number of chronically homeless individuals between 2005 and 2010, despite a struggling economy, thanks to Mayor Menino’s emphasis on permanent supportive housing.

Collaborate

This year MHSA was thrilled to receive $100,000 from the Citizens Bank Foundation to target chronic homelessness in Boston and Springfield. These funds have gone directly to support the work of two of our member agencies:

The Boston Public Health Commission’s (BPHC) High Utilizers of Emergency Services (HUES) to Home program

and the Mental Health Association’s Regional Engagement and Assessment for the Chronic Homeless (REACH) II program in Springfield.

In September 2010, MHSA and our partners gathered in Worcester for Homecoming 2010: Honoring Achievements in Ending Chronic Homelessness.

And more recently, MHSA and our supporters gathered in Boston in May 2011 for Home for Good: Solutions Start Here to honor outstanding work to initiate solutions to homelessness.

MHSA’s work to end homelessness would not be possible without our partnerships with you.

Thank you.