May 2026 Newsletter

Link to subscribe to our mailing list: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/WJSKgHh/threecoc 

Three County CoC Spotlights 

Spotlight: The Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry Evaluation – Thank you!  

The Three County CoC has completed its Coordinated Entry Evaluation with the assistance of our Technical Assistance providers, Maseta Dorely and Natalie Goodman. Thank you to everyone who participated in our listening sessions and the Coordinated Entry Committee meetings reviewing the Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry system and the Vulnerability Assessment Tool. Maseta and Natalie will be presenting their learnings and suggestions for improvements to our coordinated entry system in the fall to our membership – keep an eye out for updates on this!

Spotlight: Coordinated Entry Survey – We Want to Hear from You & Your Participants 

Please save a copy of this image to share with participants and other service providers!

If you were unable to attend any of the coordinated entry evaluation listening sessions, you still have an opportunity to share your thoughts and experiences interacting with the Three County CoC. The survey, which was developed by TAC and is completely

anonymous, asks questions related to your experiences with accessing the coordinated entry system, the coordinated entry assessment tool, case conferencing, and more. The survey additionally asks your thoughts on how you think the system could be improved. We value your feedback and want to hear from you and the participants who have been assessed as well. Your feedback will be used to improve our system of care. Please share with your team members and participants. The survey link is below, and to the right is the flier with a QR code to share with your participants.  

Link to the Survey: Three County CoC Coordinated Entry Survey Link 

Please feel free to save a copy of this flier to pass along to others who you think would like to attend!

Spotlight: The Three County CoC’s Annual Meeting June 18^th 11:45am – 2:00pm  

Please join the Three County CoC at our 2026 Annual Meeting with the theme Reflection: A Community Gathering at Greenfield Community College on June 18^th from 11:45am – 2:00pm. In the gathering, we will reflect as a community on this past year and look forward to the year ahead. There will be agencies tabling, time for networking, and a taco bar for lunch. Participants and people with lived experience are welcome.

Register to attend the Annual Meeting here: Annual Meeting Registration Link 

Project Updates at the Three County CoC 

Clinical Support Options Wells St Permanent Supportive Housing Partnership 

Image of Clinical Support Options' plans for the shelter and PSH project, currently being constructed in Greenfield, MA, as published in the Greenfield Recorder. Read the article by clicking on the image

The Three County CoC has a partnership with Clinical Support Options to refer participants to their Permanent Supportive Housing at Wells St in Greenfield, MA, through the Coordinated Entry System. There are 36 units that are designed to serve participants who are experiencing chronic homelessness within the Three County CoC’s service area. The referrals will be determined based on the acuity of the participants advocated for in case conferencing meetings and other considerations discussed in collaborative conversations. The CoC is accepting potential referrals at this time through the Coordinated Entry System and will finalize referrals in June. Participants will move through the process of submitting Section 8 applications with the support of Clinical Support Options staff for the vouchers connected to each unit, and will be moving into the units in late August of 2026. To refer a participant that you are working with who is experiencing homelessness, please see below how to get involved with the Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry System.  

Getting Involved with the CoC’s Coordinated Entry System 

To connect an individual with the Three County CoC’s resources, the first step for entry into our system is to have a service provider complete the Three County CoC specific Coordinated Entry Assessment with the participant. If you are working with someone who is experiencing homelessness and you would like to either connect them to an agency that could complete an assessment with them or become a trained Coordinated Entry Assessor, please reach out to the Three County CoC’s Coordinated Entry Specialist, Vega Johnson, at vjohnson@communityaction.us  

If you are working with survivors of domestic violence who are experiencing homelessness or are looking to collaborate to support those experiencing homelessness while in encampments, please reach out to Emma Coles at ecoles@commuityaction.us 

Three County CoC Updates 

Notice of Funding Opportunity Updates 

The Three County CoC has begun receiving renewal grant agreements for HUD FY 2025, for non-YHDP CoC projects whose contracts expire on or before June 30, 2026. These renewals has been announced by HUD here: https://www.hud.gov/hud-partners/community-coc  

The Housing and Urban Development Office had been ordered to release the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity by June 1^st, 2026 and make awards by December 1^st, 2026.  

The CoC is preparing for the FY2026 NOFO competition, in which we anticipate that the CoC Competition will be similar in nature to the restrictions set in the rescinded FY2025 CoC NOFO from November 2025. In anticipation of the upcoming competition and these changes, the CoC will be holding information sessions on the types of projects that agencies can apply for funding for, detailed below. We encourage returning and any prospective applicants to reach out to the CoC Program Director, Shaundell Diaz, if you have any questions about the application and award process, both before and during the NOFO competition. You can contact Shaundell at sdiaz@communityaction.us

Upcoming Information Sessions to prepare for the next Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)  

On May 19^th, the Three County CoC will be hosting an information session on the types of housing projects that the Continuum of Care Program can fund.  This overview will include information about eligible populations, types of housing assistance offered, length of assistance, and other side-by-side comparisons of each project type: 

• Transitional Housing (TH) 

• Rapid Rehousing (RRH) 

• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) 

We encourage all and any homelessness providers to attend.  

Our most recent Gaps Analysis has identified Rapid Rehousing and other short-to-medium term housing assistance programs like Transitional Housing as a priority. 

The information session will take place on Tuesday, May 19^th from 12pm – 1:30pm 

Register to attend the information session over zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6uhAespEQ1-c3-HhgcF6nA  

Legislative & Advocacy Updates 

Massachusetts State Level Updates 

• In the February newsletter, we showed information from the Governor’s FY27 budget. On April 15, the House released its budget bill. Debate began on April 27, and over 1,700 amendments were introduced by Representatives. The House passed the budget on April 29, and the Senate released their budget bill on May 5^th. After another round of debate, the two legislative chambers will come together in a conference committee, from which the final budget will be produced. After the House and Senate vote to approve this final bill, it will be sent to the Governor's desk to be signed into law (hopefully before July 1!) The table below shows proposed funding for some key homelessness programs. Be sure to subscribe to the Western MA Network to End Homelessness blog to stay up to date on all opportunities for advocacy! 

• The federal FY27 bill that includes HUD funding has not been released yet, but will be out before May 21.  

Program	FY27 Governor’s Budget	FY27 House Budget	FY27 Senate Budget
EA Family Shelter   EA Diversion	$258.6 million    $7.4 million	$258.6 million   $0	$258.6 million   $7.5 million
RAFT	$201.2 million	$210 million	$201.2 million
Individual Shelter   Winter beds	$114 million   $12 million	$115 million   $8 million	$114 million   $0
HomeBASE	$82.3 million	$82.3 million	$82.3 million
Unaccompanied Homeless Youth	$10.4 million	$10.4 million	$10.4 million
Rapid Rehousing	$5 million	$5 million	$5 million

Want more resources for staying up to date on legislative changes, advocacy opportunities, and resources? These are the newsletters & blog updates that we subscribe to: 

• Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness 

• MA Coalition for the Homeless 

• National Alliance to End Homelessness 

• National Low Income Housing Coalition 

• Public Health Insitute of Western Massachusetts, which includes updates from 

• Clean Slate MA 

• Healthy Air Network 

• Healthy Homes 

• Youth Mental Health Coalition  

• & more! 

413Cares

Looking for resources for the participants that you are working with? The Three County CoC highly recommends the 413 Cares Website for finding resources across Western Massachusetts, from housing and food to community and therapy.

Take a look at their website here: https://www.413cares.org/

Upcoming CoC Trainings 

Monday, May 18^th, 12pm – 1:30pm: What is the Three County CoC? Info Session (Part 1 of 2) 

 Learn about the role and purpose of the CoC and how communities work together to respond to homelessness. This training will provide a high level overview of the components of a CoC, key responsibilities, and the practices of a system that have been shown to strengthen a community’s ability to effectively prevent and end homelessness.  

Register to attend virtually here: Meeting Registration - Zoom 

And learn more about the training here: Your Invited to Attend the CoC 2-Part Info Session (constantcontact.com) 

Tuesday, May 19^th, 12pm – 1:30pm: CoC Housing & Projects Info Session (Part 2 of 2) 

Attend this information session to learn more about the types of housing projects that the CoC program can fund and the requirements for each of the project types. This will include a review of Transitional Housing, Rapid Rehousing, and Permanent Supportive Housing. We encourage all and any homelessness providers to attend.  

Register to attend virtually here: Meeting Registration - Zoom 

And learn more about the training here: Your Invited to Attend the CoC 2-Part Info Session (constantcontact.com) 

TalentLMS  

Was there a training that you missed? You can still view it on the Three County CoC’s TalentLMS training platform! The link to the training catalog is here: https://threecountycoc.talentlms.com/plus/catalog 

The Three County CoC’s Committees and Workgroups 

The Three County CoC has various committees and workgroups that all stakeholders in the region connected to our system are invite to attend. Please take a look at our highlights of the committees and workgroups in our November Newsletter, linked here: https://www.threecountycoc.communityaction.us/post/november-2025-newsletter  

Thank you for reading!  

If you aren’t already, please subscribe to receive Three County CoC mailing updates. You will receive emails about upcoming events, training opportunities, and newsletters like this one.  

Link to subscribe: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/WJSKgHh/threecoc  

Any questions about the contents in this newsletter? Please reach out to Vega, The Three County CoC Coordinated Entry Specialist at vjohnson@communityaction.us