Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness
The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness is a coalition of service providers, local governments, faith-based and other community groups, local businesses, the UNC-CH community and volunteers working together to end homelessness in Orange County.
Subscribers to the Partnership to End Homelessness listserv will receive periodic emails about activities, volunteer opportunities, and the work of our partners in helping to prevent and end homelessness in our community.
Resources
- Are you homeless, at-risk of becoming homeless, or helping someone in need? Looking for Help provides links to local resources that may be of assistance.
Homelessness-Related Events & News
- The Partnership released its 2011 Annual Report; highlights of last year's accomplishments include:
- Eight (8) disabled, homeless individuals were housed and received essential services through CASA and the OPC Area Program;
- Housing for New Hope street outreach workers housed 44 homeless people – including 10 families with children – in Orange County;
- Implemented the Job Partners job-readiness program for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness and recruited nine (9) local employers to hire Job Partners graduates;
- Developed the Orange County Support Circle Program (Support Circles are groups of volunteers who partner with people transitioning out of homelessness into permanent housing by providing them with relational and material support) and began recruiting people to form the first Support Circles;
- Implemented Transition Court which allows homeless people charged with minor crimes to follow mental health and/or substance abuse treatment plans instead of going to jail;
- Received a Continuum of Care grant of nearly $500,000 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities including the homeless; and
- Held the 5th annual Project Connect that provided 230 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness with over 2,344 contacts with service providers. Over 50 service providers and several hundred volunteers participated, and dozens of local businesses contributed to the event.
- Orange and Wake counties are participating in the national 100,000 Homes Campaign, a grassroots effort to find and place the most vulnerable, long-term homeless individuals into 100,000 households across the country by July 2013. To learn more about the campaign see these powerful videos:
100K Homes Introduction 100K Homes Registry Week
The United Way of the Greater Triangle, the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness and the Wake County Partnership to End Homelessness conducted “Registry Week” from January 23 - 27 during which homeless people were surveyed on the streets, in shelters and at food distribution sites.
Registry Week will result in a by-name registry of homeless people enabling us to prioritize those who have significant medical issues and have been homeless the longest for services and housing. What we learn together during Registry Week will help us reduce chronic homelessness in Orange and Wake counties.
Media coverage of Registry Week and the Triangle 100,000 Homes Campaign:
- The fifth, annual Project Connect was held on October 13, 2011 at the Hargraves Community Center, 216 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill, 27516
- 230 guests were served at the event; see our breakdown of demographics
- 2,344 client contacts between guests and service providers were recorded
- Many thanks to the dozens of contributors who made Project Connect possible
Please contact Jamie Rohe, jrohe@co.orange.nc.us, 919-245-2496, if you are interested in helping plan Project Connect 2012
- The Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness 2010 Annual Report highlights progress toward achieving its goals to end and prevent homelessness in the areas of Employment, Access to Services, Housing, and Community Participation. Major accomplishments include:
- Recruited nearly 100 community members to form committees to implement the Partnership’s goals and strategies in four main areas: Employment; Access to Services; Housing; Community Participation;
- Held the 4th, annual Project Homeless Connect that provided 131 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness with over 1,600 contacts with service providers;
- Began full implementation of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program with a $1 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
You can help end homelessness
- Orange County's Support Circles program is launching its first support circles this spring (2012). Support Circles are groups of 8-10 people, often from faith-based groups, that become a support network for a person or family transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. For more information, contact Kathy Millikan: kth.millikan@gmail.com. See recent coverage by the Chapel Hill News.
- The Partnership to End Homelessness' Job Partners program helps people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness become "job-ready" through goal-setting, coursework and assessments and then links them to job opportunities with local businesses. We are looking for volunteers to help oversee the program, liaisons between the program graduates and businesses, and for businesses willing to hire program graduates. For more information contact Jamie Rohe: jrohe@co.orange.nc.us; 919-245-2496.
- Other volunteer opportunities
Reports, Publications, and Resources
For more information, please email Jamie Rohe, Homeless Program Coordinator, or call 919-245-2496.