The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued interim rules for the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG), formerly known as the Emergency Shelter Grants Program, in January 2012. In response, the NC DHHS office held conference calls to review the federal rules and to discuss the direction of the NC ESG Program, as well as a meeting with partners, representing specific segments of providers and networks that assist homeless persons, to further engage them in the process to create the NC ESG Program.

NC DHHS is pleased to further engage partners in the homeless network by inviting your community to participate in one of six regional meetings to be held in Durham, Hickory, Asheville, Greenville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

 

Regional meetings are designed as a tool for sharing information as well as an opportunity to receive valued feedback from our partners.  These meetings will be of interest to current ESG funded agencies, CoC members, agencies that do not receive ESG funds but who do provide homeless services, current HPRP funded agencies, emergency assistance providers, 10 Year Plan stakeholders, and some local government staff and officials. There is no fee for participation in these meetings. In some cases, local CoCs will hold a follow up meeting with local members immediately following the regional meeting. However, no meeting is CoC specific – so anyone from any region of the state is welcome to attend any of the meetings.

Please register 48 hours prior to the meeting below by clicking here. Once registration is complete, you will receive electronic confirmation and the location of the meeting.

 

Please contact Michael Leach, Homeless Programs Coordinator, at 919-855-4991 if you have additional questions.
 

Greenville Regional Balance of State Continuum of Care Meeting:

2000 East 6th St. Greenville, NC 27858

12:00PM-2:00PM

 

The Balance of State Continuum of Care is hosting three regional meetings in conjunction with the State ESG Regional Meetings. 

 

Under the State’s proposed plan for ESG, all applications for ESG funds will come through the Balance of State Continuum of Care and be submitted as one community (CoC-wide) application. Current ESG grantees and interested applicants should attend one of these regional meetings to learn more.

 

These meetings will give agencies within the Balance of State area a chance to meet each other, discuss CoC and ESG funding opportunities, and to learn more about the BoS CoC in general. All homeless services stakeholders are welcome, and encouraged to attend. The meeting will include time for a meet-and-greet and also a brief presentation on the Balance of State Continuum of Care purpose and structure. 

 

Communities should implement solutions to homelessness, not seek to criminalize it. USICH will soon release a comprehensive report that details effective alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness. The report is titled: Searching Out Solutions: Constructive Alternatives to the Criminalization of Homelessness.

 

USICH will host a webinar on this topic that details solutions for communities. Panelists will address the reasons why criminalization is not effective and will detail several key alternatives that can help communities achieve results.

 

Panelists include Deputy Director for USICH Anthony Love, Senior Counsel for the Access to Justice Initiative at the U.S. Department of Justice Melanca Clark, Executive Director of Pathways to Housing DC Christy Respress, and Deputy Public Defender in San Diego and cofounder of the San Diego Homeless Court Program Steve Binder.

 

Please click here to register for the webinar.