ESC Annual Report 2018

HOUSING & ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Housing Our
Neighbors
The Rapid Rehousing concept
assists literally homeless people
back into housing as quickly
as possible. Economic Security
Corporation of Southwest Area
(ESC) is a member of The Homeless
Coalition and received Rapid
Rehousing funding from the U. S.
Housing and Urban Development
Department. We have been able
to permanently house 18 families.
Families are assisted with move-in
expenses like rent, rental deposits
and utility deposits. It can be very
challenging finding housing for
persons experiencing homelessness
who may have significant barriers
such as no income, past evictions
or past felonies. Of the families that
we are able to house, 17% were in
recovery from addiction, 33% were
domestic violence survivors and
17% were chronically homeless,
meaning they had a disabling
IMPACT OF RAPID REHOUSING
THIS PAST YEAR:
condition and experienced
homelessness for a year or more
or had multiple episodes of
homelessness. The Homeless
Coalition membership have agreed
to a Housing First approach when
working with families. According
to the United States Interagency
Council on Homelessness, Housing
First is a proven method of ending
all types of homelessness and is the
most effective approach to ending
chronic homelessness. Housing
First offers individuals and families
experiencing homelessness
immediate access to permanent
affordable or supportive housing.
Without clinical prerequisites
like completion of a course of
treatment or evidence of sobriety
and with a low-threshold for entry,
Housing First yields higher housing
retention rates, lower returns to
homelessness, and significant
reductions in the use of crisis
service and institutions.
“We like how quickly we
got in an apartment.”
- Satisfied Customer
Collaboration
Working
In This
Community
to End
Homelessness
The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development’s (HUD)
Strategic Goal 3: Using Housing
as a Platform to improve the
quality of life is the cornerstone
of The Homeless Coalition’s
strategic plan. One of HUD’s
sub-goals that they have selected
is to implement a coordinated
assessment system for the Jasper
Newton County Continuum of Care
to End Homelessness in Southwest
Missouri.
In 2015, The Homeless Coalition
established a coordinated entry
system, and is referred to as
Housing Connect. The purpose is
to standardize access, assessment,
referral and housing placement
for all people experiencing
homelessness. This is a community
wide process that all members of
The Homeless Coalition have made
a commitment to utilize, prioritize
housing through assessment,
streamline and cut out duplication
of services. This program has
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