Three County Continuum of Care, 2023 Year in Review
As 2023 draws to a close and 2024 looms near, the Three County Continuum of Care wanted to highlight just some of the great work our partners have done this year. The work is often thankless and can feel like a drop in the bucket, but every drop adds up. Every relationship formed, every resource provided, every person housed makes a difference. We are so grateful for everyone working to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring, and look forward to what we can achieve together next year.
CoC Updates--since January 1, 2023: over 200 people have exited shelter to housing; 22 people with Emergency Housing Vouchers signed leases and moved into apartments; our region has received additional vouchers, and 23 have been issued; 155 people have enrolled in a permanent housing project, 59 of whom have a recorded move in date; the combined attendees for all trainings this year is over 800; the CoC received a grant from the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance to build out our online training platform, so that providers all over Western MA will have access to uniform knowledge, and we can't wait to continue that work in 2024!
Partner Updates--since January 1, 2023: ServiceNet successfully transitioned Northampton and Greenfield individual shelters to a new provider, expanded family shelters in Greenfield and Pittsfield, housed over 40 individuals, and is moving to a new Pittsfield shelter location on 1/8/24. Craig's Doors expanded service to 24/7/365 at 2 sites, partnered with Manna to offer guests amazing and healthy food, took over the Low Threshold Housing program (DPH) that funds 14 units, and received earmark in budget to provide all guests with free PVTA bus passes! Louison House has received an additional $50,000 for emergency and winter sheltering assistance, and housed 58% of shelter guests who are in shelter for more than 3 weeks!
This edition of our newsletter includes updates on the state budget, a number of interesting articles (including on the rising number of older adults experiencing homelessness), registration links for
