Community Action's coordinated strategy for those unhoused

Too many neighbors are experiencing the trauma of homelessness and that affects our entire community’s quality of life and economic prosperity. Did you know that underhoused students are 25% less likely to graduate than their housed peers? And 300+ households in Skagit County currently have no home, with many more struggling every day to find or keep housing.

Many are working hard to make it better, including Community Action and the 16 service providers that participate in Skagit County government’s Coordinated Entry homeless response system used to direct these services.

The system is challenging because of state and federal rules, limited funding and Skagit County’s limited affordable housing and lowest rental availability in the state. Because of this, Community Action is innovating.

In 2023, Community Action’s biggest innovation is Care Coordination, a method of providing holistic, wrap-around care that leads to faster housing solutions. Whether or not someone is “eligible” for scarce resources such as rental assistance, Care Coordination allows human-to-human support for anyone facing homelessness – an approach that’s proven extraordinarily successful in helping people achieve housing stability.

As part of the Care Coordination strategy, Community Action expanded its Street Outreach Team and Recovery Navigator Program, taking services to where people are living in all corners of Skagit County: outdoors, in barns, in vehicles, at winter and emergency shelters and where our clients gather. Community Action staff trained many partner nonprofits and law enforcement agencies to perform intake assessments.

Community Action also works on long-term solutions by developing permanent housing. Our Cascade Landing Apartment Homes in Burlington is currently leasing 34 new units and more homes are planned.

See more of this story here: https://tinyurl.com/care-coordination Join us for a virtual “Brunch & Learn with Community Action” to talk about Coordinated Entry and Care Coordination, 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 5: https://tinyurl.com/carecoordinationbl.

Richard Brocksmith, president

Community Action of Skagit County