On September 19, 2024, the Bristol County Continuum of Care (BCCC) membership received, reviewed and voted on the 2024 CoC Rank and Order of Projects. The BCCC's Performance Review Committee (PRC) comprised of BCCC members with no relationship–financial or otherwise–to any of the applicants for funding in the FY2024 round previously received, reviewed, vetted, evaluated, scored and ranked all applications for this competition. This year the PRC's review included individual interviews and presentations from all projects. All proposal applications [ Continue reading. ]
News
CITY RELEASES COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON HOMELESS RESPONSE SYSTEM
The City of New Bedford has released a landmark report detailing the City's response to homelessness and identifying key areas for improvement. At the suggestion of service providers, the Mitchell Administration allocated American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds to commission the report, conducted by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC), a leading expert nationally in human services, health care, and homelessness. The report provides a data-driven analysis of homelessness which was developed through extensive data collection, community [ Continue reading. ]
RFP RELEASED for 2024 COC COMPETITION ROUND
COC COMPETITION MA-505 RFP is NOW AVAILABLE! On Saturday, August 10, 2024, the Bristol County Continuum of Care (BCCC), acting through the City of New Bedford's Office of Housing & Community Development (it's Collaborative Applicant), issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) that includes both instructions and application forms for New/DV Bonus and Renewal projects 2024 COC Program funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The RFP and competition applications are available in fillable format here: COC RFP 2024. [ Continue reading. ]
2024 REVIEW and RANKING PROCEDURES FOR COC COMPETITION
The procedures used by the CoC in the review, evaluation and ranking of renewal, new/dv bonus and reallocation projects is annually updated and made available to the CoC, project applicants and the community. This information is also referenced within the published RFP. The 2024 CoC’s Review and Ranking Procedures are available here: BRISTOL COUNTY COC REVIEW and RANKING PROCEDURES.2024 [ Continue reading. ]
2024 COC COMPETITION TIMELINE
The 2024 Continuum of Care (CoC) funding competition through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) opened on July 31.2024 and will conclude no later than HUD’s Submission deadline of October 30, 2024. Given the 90 day turnaround on the grant deadline, the Bristol County Continuum of Care's own CoC Competition Calendar is highly accelerated. Check out the BCCC competition timeline here: 2024 COMPETITION TIMELINE. [ Continue reading. ]
2024 RESOURCE | TRAINING SERIES :: IMMIGRATION
The Bristol County Continuum of Care (BC3) hosted a virtual training session on Immigration at the Intersection of Homelessness on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 as part of its Resource | Training Series. Helena DaSilva Hughes, Executive Director of the Immigrants Assistance Center (IAC), Corinn Williams, Executive Director of the Community Economic Development Center and Kenneth Amoriggi, Immigration Attorney with Catholic Charities of the Fall River Diocese (CCFR) presented information on immigration status basics, paperwork immigrant families/persons [ Continue reading. ]
HOMELESS DATA 2024
As has been the case for the past 15 years, the City of New Bedford's Office of Housing & Community Development, acting in its capacity as the Continuum of Care's (CoC's) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) lead, and on behalf of the CoC, has completed its annual “Point In Time” (PIT) count creating a census of those individuals and families experiencing homelessness within the city, both sheltered (living in emergency or transitional housing) and unsheltered (on the streets/in places not meant for human habitation). Concurrent with that [ Continue reading. ]
HOMELESS YOUTH HANDBOOK
The Homeless Youth Handbook is an online know-your-rights resource for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and housing instability in Massachusetts. The Handbook provides Massachusetts-specific information and is designed to empower young people to understand their legal rights and take action to overcome the many barriers they may face. Topics include, but are not limited to, employment, housing, foster care, immigration, and LGBTQ+ rights. Check out the Massachusetts Homeless Youth Handbook at: [ Continue reading. ]
RACIAL EQUITY PLAN NOW AVAILABLE!
Racial Equity Assessment & Action Plan The HSPN used CoC Planning funds from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to develop a Racial Equity Assessment and Action Plan in late 2023 and completed this effort in early 2024. This work was undertaken by the nationally-recognized Racial Equity Partners (REP) with the support of the HSPN Racial Equity Workgroup. The HSPN is grateful to the REP and Workgroup for developing such a meaningful document and will now begin the work articulated in the Action Plan section of the [ Continue reading. ]
COORDINATED ENTRY REBOOT 2024
We are pleased to announce it’s a new day for Coordinated Entry! New Bedford’s new Coordinated Entry System (CES) is focusing on individuals and families in our community who are currently experiencing homelessness. We are doing so by using CES to help get folks out of shelters, off the streets and in places not meant for human habitation so that they have a roof over their head as quickly as possible. This is no easy task given the many barriers to housing folks often face including CORI issues, past evictions, mental health, substance use issues [ Continue reading. ]
