Housing in Action Leadership Team
During the 2004-2005 school year, there were 477 homeless students in Madison Schools - that's almost 500 children who left for school not knowing where they would sleep each night. United Way and community partners will reduce homelessness among children and families in Dane County 50 percent by 2010.
In early 2005, United Way of Dane County assembled the Housing in Action Leadership Team for the purpose of creating a community mobilization plan to decrease homelessness and increase the number of individuals in stable housing. The team coordinates a broad segment of stakeholders, including developers, public policy makers, investors, the faith community, agencies with homelessness programs, and members of the homeless population. We are strengthening relationships and defining roles, so all are working efficiently toward the same ends without duplicating services.
By August, the mobilization plan and its goal were announced.
Goal: Reduce homelessness in children by 50 percent between 2005 and 2010
Strategies of the Housing in Action Leadership Team Mobilization Plan:
- Bridge Builder – Connect individuals in need of housing with vacant affordable housing by building awareness of resources and alternatives to eviction, providing financial management and issues education, and facilitating communication about shared needs.
- Improved Surplus Food Access – Improve the distribution system of surplus food to better meet the needs of hungry individuals through coordination with the Hunger Prevention Council and the Food Pantry Network. Partnerships will be enhanced, which will increase supply and promote sharing of effective practices. Of food pantry users, 83 percent spend at least 35 percent or their income on rent and 90 percent are food insecure.
- Case Management – Improve the availability, effectiveness, referrals, and client follow-up of case managers working with homeless families.
- Housing First – Target the chronically homeless, dramatically increasing a family's chance of success by making housing the top priority and providing it immediately when a family becomes homeless.
Partners:
- Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin
- City of Stoughton
- Dane County Executive Office
- Dane County Homeless Consortium
- The Dane Fund
- Gorman Company
- Habitat for Humanity
- Home Savings Bank
- Interfaith Hospitality Network
- Madison-area Urban Ministry
- Madison City Council
- Madison Community Development Block Grant
- Madison Metropolitan School District
- Meridian Group
- Stark Company
- Tenant Resource Center
- United Way of Dane County
- US Bank
- Workforce Housing Fund, Inc
For more information about the Housing in Action Leadership Team, please contact Nan Cnare at (608) 246-4353 or nanc@uwdc.org.