During National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we look at how hunger and homelessness are connected. More than 580,000 people experience homelessness every night in the U.S., while nearly 37 million Americans struggle with hunger.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded Threshold CoC nearly $3 million to fortify our local youth homelessness prevention efforts in Douglas, Sarpy, and Pottawattamie counties.

On October 10, we observed World Homeless Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about homelessness and its underlying causes.  On October 9, we hosted 58 provider organizations to allow guests to check as many boxes as possible at once. In total, we were able to reach 277 individuals facing housing instability.

Part of our role as the leader of the local Continuum of Care (CoC) is to facilitate applications for federal funding opportunities. Loosely speaking, NOFO is a broad “competition” for federal funding dollars between Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing programs that serve unhoused folx in our area.

As children head back to the classroom, we must consider unhoused students who may lack the resources needed to succeed academically.

As temperatures rise during the summer months, many of us look forward to sunny days and outdoor activities. However, for those experiencing homelessness, the heat brings a different kind of challenge—one that can pose significant health risks and dangers.

To prevent exposure to dangerous conditions, several of our community partners host cooling centers during our region’s hottest months. Each facility has its own requirements, services, and daily capacities so we recommend staying tuned to each organization’s social media channels for information and calling ahead to confirm Cooling Center availability.

Recent studies show that LGBTQIA2S+ youth make up a significant portion of the homeless population, accounting for up to 40% of unhoused young people in the US. This overrepresentation is not a coincidence, it’s a result of systemic factors such as discrimination and lack of inclusive support systems.

While not all foster youth experience will experience homelessness or housing insecurity, studies show that former foster youth are much more susceptible. As the local leader in preventing homelessness, we understand the importance of acknowledging the intersection foster care and youth homelessness.

We are excited to announce a major change for our organization – we are now Threshold CoC! Our new name and brand are the result of months of research and planning that reflects our role as the leader of the local Continuum of Care (CoC)

Working in homelessness prevention demands empathy of everyone involved. We have a duty to understand the factors that result in people experiencing homelessness. We also know that the Continuum of Care (CoC) model and our work must take direction from the voices of those we serve.

Last month, we discussed MACCH’s role in the local Continuum of Care (CoC) as laid out by HUD. Since that time, we have conducted our mandated annual Point in Time (PIT) count. PIT counts are an important function for Continuums of Care across the country.

It is important for our community to understand how services for unhoused folx are provided, and more broadly, how they are distributed across Douglas, Sarpy, and Pottawattamie counties. Our goal this year is to shed some light on how the Continuum of Care (CoC) model works, and how we, at MACCH, fit into the larger system of homelessness prevention.