Indy Unveils Programs to End Youth Homelessness
(photo courtesy of Horizon House)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe city of Indianapolis and the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention have unveiled six new programs in its efforts to end youth and young adult homelessness in Marion County. The city says several partner organizations have been awarded portions of a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.
CHIP staff will lead daily operations of the YHDP, helping align efforts with the Indianapolis Continuum of Care’s Community Plan to End Youth and Young Adult Homelessness. The two-year program is implemented in communities around the country to prevent and end homelessness among youth and young adults.
“Securing resources and support through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program will only elevate our collective impact to ending youth homelessness,” said Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, executive director of CHIP. “We are so excited that our partners have come together to design and implement a coordinated youth response system that meets young people where they are, that listens and learns from young people about what solutions work, and that tailors and targets interventions to meet the needs of those most impacted. Interventions will be inclusive of all young people but with a keen eye towards equity and addressing disproportionality among youth experiencing homelessness.”
The programs and organizations receiving funding include:
- Youth Link – Adult and Child Health and Outreach are partnering on the new Youth Link project. The organizations will use the funding to support identification of youth and young adults who need housing assistance and will connect clients to health benefits, education, and employment.
- Damien Center – Damien Center and its Housing Assistance Program will use the grant for a new initiative to assist youth and young adults, including those parenting or pregnant and regardless of HIV status, by providing stable, independent housing.
- Project Prism – The new program is a partnership between HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program and Indiana Youth Group. The funding was used to implement the program, which provides up to two years of rent assistance and other supportive social services.
- Stopover Inc. – The organization plans to use YHDP grant money to provide safe and inclusive transitional crisis housing, combined with long-term housing support and supportive services to help maintain permanent housing status.
- Trinity Haven – Trinity Haven will use the funding to launch its Host Homes Program. HHP will provide safe, temporary homes for about six months where a young person can take time to repair relationships with family and make decisions about alternative housing options with a housing case manager.
- Diversion Project – CHIP is contracting with Outreach on this project to assist youth and young adults in avoiding literal homelessness by focusing on immediate housing crisis resolution and housing stabilization.