Proposal for RFP #10037-2021 Community Development Division Housing-Focused Street Outreach
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Proposal for RFP #10037-2021 Community Development Division Housing-Focused Street Outreach Submit application to [email protected] Please limit your proposal and responses to the form provided. Any materials submitted in addition to this application form will not be considered in the evaluation of the proposal. Do not attempt to unlock or alter this form. Applicant Organization: Catalyst for Change Contact Person: John Adams Address: 459 W. Gilman St. Ste 110 D Madison, WI 53703 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: catalystforchangeinc.org Telephone: (608) 305-4742 Federal Tax ID or EIN 84-3428678 DUNS Number 117637887 Corporation Limited Liability Company General Partnership Legal Status: Sole Proprietor Unincorporated Association Other: . Tax Exempt Status: 501 (c)(3) since December 2019 1 | Page PART 1: Organizational Capacity 1. Describe your agency’s experience working with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Include the experience providing services such as street outreach, case management, and housing search and placement; number of people served; and outcomes. The founders of Catalyst for Change (CFC), John Adams and Michael Moody have extensive knowledge and years of experience serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness and unsheltered homelessness in Dane County, Wisconsin. John Adams, BS, Co-Founder, President, outreach worker, and CCS service provider, and Michael Moody, MSW, Co-Founder, CEO, outreach worker, and CCS service provider, have held various positions in homeless services over the past seven years. John began working as an overnight awake staff at Hope Haven in 2014 and then quickly transitioned to a full-time substance abuse counselor. After working at Hope Haven and experiencing serving people with substance use disorders and many people experiencing homelessness, John was asked to lead Bethel Lutheran Church's Homeless Ministry. In 2016, Michael Moody joined John at Bethel Lutheran Church's Homeless Ministry. They teamed up to support and advocate for people experiencing homelessness while also promoting a safe and welcoming space at Bethel Lutheran Church. After successfully restructuring Bethel Lutheran Church's Homeless Ministry by implementing behavioral expectations, suspension policies, and restorative justice practices, John and Michael were asked to be founding staff members of The Beacon Day Resource Center. John was the Lead Guest Services Specialist for six months and was then promoted to Program Director of The Beacon Day Resource Center. Michael began as a Guest Services Specialist and was later promoted to Community Partner Relations Specialist. From 2018 to 2021, John directed The Beacon, ran day-to-day operations, created and implemented policies, and worked directly with people experiencing homelessness. While working as the Program Director of The Beacon, John still prioritized meeting individually with people experiencing homelessness and assisting many people in obtaining housing, and connecting them to the resources they needed. While working as Community Partner Relations Specialist, Michael built partnerships and connections with other homeless services organizations. In 2019, John and Michael founded Catalyst for Change to fill the gaps in homeless services and centralize our mission of building connections and trusting relationships with people experiencing homelessness to support them as they grow and move to the next stage of their lives. We believe in elevating people by treating them with dignity and working with them as part of our team to assist them in achieving success. In May of 2020, we were able to add two highly qualified staff members to our team to expand our services. CFC hired two direct service staff members, Hana El-Omari, BSW, and Ben Li, BS, who have over a year of experience working directly with people experiencing homelessness. Hana worked at The Beacon Day Resource Center as a receptionist and Guest Services Specialist since June of 2020 and is deeply passionate about serving people experiencing homelessness and people affected by immigration status and issues. Ben Li is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work degree from UW-Madison and worked as an intern at the Beacon Day 2 | Page Resource Center from September 2020 through May 2020. Ben has also worked as a shelter assistant at Porchlight Men's Homeless Shelter. Ben is passionate about making systems-level changes to provide the most equitable and beneficial services to people experiencing homelessness. Both Hana and Ben joined the CFC team as part-time street outreach workers and CCS service providers. They will be working directly with clients to provide trauma- informed case management, housing and employment services, mental and physical health assistance, and much more. As an organization, Catalyst for Change has been performing street outreach in Dane County, Wisconsin, since September 2020. In September 2020, we began our partnership with the City of Madison through a mediation contract to reduce negative interactions between individuals experiencing homelessness and downtown business owners, the community, and local law enforcement. This contract was a mediation outreach contract rather than just a street outreach contract because Catalyst for Change has a successful history of mediating complicated relationships between people experiencing homelessness and their surrounding community. From September 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, Catalyst for Change Inc. staff performed 1,044 hours of direct services via mediation outreach to people experiencing homelessness in Madison. In addition, we entered 2,667 services into HMIS, ranging from in- person mediation to bus fare, emergency food, referrals to medical respite hotels due to COVID-19, and ride app services to transport people to shelter. From September 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, we connected 12 people experiencing homelessness to long-term, sustainable housing. We encountered and served 377 unduplicated individuals. We were able to refer 179 individuals to night shelters and 302 individuals to our day resource center to access resources. We mediated several interactions between local law enforcement, local businesses, and people experiencing homelessness to help keep people experiencing homelessness out of jail. We met with 46 different businesses located downtown and collaborated with them to best support them in managing people experiencing homelessness near their businesses. Because of our successful outcomes during our initial three and a half month contract, our contract was renewed for three and a half more months in December 2020 and another three and a half in April 2021. From September 1, 2020, until May 31, 2021, we have logged 4,495 service transactions with people experiencing homelessness, including services where we supplied people experiencing homelessness with items such as sleeping bags, tents, food, water, bus fare, dog food, and more. We served 483 unduplicated individuals. We have provided over 170 rides to our emergency shelter system, and we have connected over 31 individuals to COVID vulnerable hotels. We have housed 21 individuals in permanent housing. We have housed 21 people through connections we have established with local property owners and managers and worked to keep our clients stabilized in their housing. Because there are few openings in Permanent Supportive Housing through Dane County Homeless Services' Housing Priority List, we created our own version of "permanent supportive housing," where we work very closely with our clients and property managers to make sure that our clients are successful in their housing. Our goal is not to get clients housed, but rather our goal is to improve their overall quality of life and assist them in individual skill development to achieve success however it looks for them. We have extensive experience 3 | Page connecting our aging homeless population with resources like Medicare, food share, housing, V.A. benefits if they are eligible, and more. We have created close relationships with many other non-profit organizations in Dane County through our previous contracts, and we can refer vulnerable individuals to our medical respite hotels after hours to protect them from contracting COVID-19. We can also connect people to shelter after hours if they decide they would be interested in staying at one of our county's homeless shelters. No matter the population we are serving, we prioritize building trusting relationships with everyone we encounter. When we build trust and community and make our clients feel heard and seen, they are more willing to work with us and accept our referrals to various services. We believe that our ability to create a support network and trust with everyone we connect with leads to our successful client outcomes. Catalyst for Change's staff are all Comprehensive Community Services (CCS) providers through Dane County Human Services. People experiencing homelessness receiving CCS through Dane County can get connected with one of our staff members to receive services like Physical Health Monitoring, Individual Skill Development and Enhancement, Employment-Related Skill Training, Individual and/or Family Psychoeducation and Wellness Management and Recovery/Recovery Support Services. Through CCS, we can provide more comprehensive services to individuals experiencing homelessness, and we can continue working with them after they obtain housing. 2. Describe how your agency is part of the larger