Courtney Morton
Housing & Homelessness Research Coordinator
Mary Ann Priester
HMIS Administrator
On August 14, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services hosted a Continuum of Care (CoC) Governance Kick-Off Meeting. This event shared important updates to the local CoC Governance process and provided opportunities for individuals and organizations to get involved in the establishment of a new CoC Governance Charter for the community.
Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte are partnering to shift the management of the Continuum of Care (CoC) from the City to the County. This change is being made as part of a comprehensive response to the community need for permanent, affordable housing. (To read more about the transition process, read last week’s blog post.)
This blog post provides a recap of the Kick-Off Event and highlights ways to get involved in the CoC Governance process.
KICK-OFF EVENT
Over 80 individuals registered for the Kick-Off event. More than 40 people representing nearly two dozen organizations participated in-person; others tuned in via a live-streamed broadcast. Stacy Lowry, Director of Mecklenburg County Community Support Services, opened the meeting by providing an overview of the CoC Transition. Mary Gaertner with the City of Charlotte then outlined the current CoC model. Natalie Matthews with Abt Associates, Inc., contracted technical assistance for the CoC transition, presented information about the CoC, CoC governance, and options for the community to consider (Link to Slide Deck). Finally, Ronnie Devine with Mecklenburg County fielded questions from the audience and described the ways to provide feedback and participate in the CoC governance process, which are summarized below.
FIND INFORMATION & RECEIVE UPDATES
All information about the CoC transition and any updates are available via the Charlotte-Mecklenburg CoC webpage, including:
- A recording of the Governance Kick-Off Meeting
- CoC Meeting Minutes
- Information about the CoC Transition
To add your name to the distribution list to receive updates, email: [email protected]
PROVIDE FEEDBACK VIA SURVEY
Community Support Services is seeking broad-based community input for the CoC Governance work. Feedback collected will inform the new CoC Governance Charter in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Please provide your feedback to help inform the CoC Governance work via this survey link. Please share this post with others who would be interested in sharing their thoughts.
PARTICIPATE IN LISTENING SESSIONS
Community Support Services is hosting three community listening sessions in September to hear feedback on topics including CoC decision-making; Board makeup; Collaborative Applicant procedures; CoC activities; oversight; conflicts; HMIS; and standing and ad hoc committees. Information from these sessions will inform the new CoC Governance Charter in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
To learn more about the listening sessions and to RSVP, please follow this link.
SERVE ON GOVERNANCE AD HOC COMMITTEE
The goal of the Governance Ad Hoc Committee is to develop the new governance charter for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg CoC. The Governance Charter will identify the responsibilities of the CoC, which include: operation of the CoC (holding regular meetings, adopting a written board selection process); designating a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the CoC; planning; and preparing an application for funding.
Participation in the Governance Ad Hoc Committee is open to all CoC membership and community stakeholders. The time commitment will be intensive during summer and fall 2019. The committee will be facilitated by staff from Mecklenburg County Community Support Services with technical assistance provided by HUD.
For more information or to sign up to be part of the committee, please email [email protected]
SO, WHAT
Governed by a charter, the CoC promotes and supports community-wide commitment to the goal of ending and preventing homelessness by providing funding; partnering with mainstream programs; and paving opportunities to housing sustainability.
Engagement with as many people and organizations as possible is vitally important as we work collaboratively to establish a dynamic CoC Governance Charter for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
During the months of August, September and October, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services (CSS) is providing multiple opportunities for community members to give feedback and be as involved as they choose to be. CSS is seeking to engage as many participants as possible, including individuals and families with lived experience, throughout this process.
Please consider sharing your time and voice by completing a survey, attending a listening session, or serving on the Governance Ad Hoc Committee. The new CoC will only be as good as the community makes it.
Mary Ann Priester is the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Administrator for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care (CoC). She provides data quality, security, and privacy oversight for the local HMIS system and technical support and training to 25+ agencies that serve individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Mary Ann also oversees data collection for the Point-in-Time Count.
Courtney Morton coordinates posts on the Building Bridges Blog. Courtney is the Housing & Homelessness Research Coordinator for Mecklenburg County Community Support Services. Courtney’s job is to connect data on housing instability, homelessness and affordable housing with stakeholders in the community so that they can use it to drive policy-making, funding allocation and programmatic change.
