To read the current status report on the 10-Year Plan, please click the following link: Status Report

Beyond Shelter

Continuum of Care

The Continuum of Care (CoC) is a Housing & Urban Development (HUD) funding source that address the needs of single adults who experience homelessness.  Although the funds focus on one targeted component of the homeless population (i.e. single adults), the requirements of the CoC involves all sectors and homeless populations.  The CoC system is a comprehensive, coordinated housing & service delivery system to help prevent and address homelessness. The CoC is a key component in the Anchorage Coalition on Homelessness's 10-year plan.  The CoC plan is developed through community collaboration.  The community is welcome to attend CoC meetings to provide input, feedback and possibly become an eligible applicants (applicants must be a non-profit, local/state governement or PHAs and target single adults who experience homelessness).  For more information about the CoC, please contact Shannon Wilks at swilks@acmhs.com.

Housing First

Housing First is permanent housing, as opposed to emergency/transitional housing, and has intensive case management services available. As a result of being permanently housed the homeless can begin to access medical, mental health, substance abuse treatment, employment and vocational training and life skill resources.   Economic studies have shown providing permanent housing for the chronically homeless population significantly reduces the costs of homelessness.   For more information, see the attached documents.

SOAR Initiative

 The SOAR project is a collaborative project that includes the following agencies:  Social Security, DPA, Department of Corrections, ACMH, Homeless Service Providers, Local Hospitals, Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, MOA, Representative Payees, Native Orgs, Disability Law Center, Office of Public Advocacy, and others.  The goal of the project is to increase the success of states and localities in helping homeless applicants to become eligible on the initial application for SSA disability benefits. This project involves strategic planning among state, local and non-profit organizations to plan for collaboration and expediting processes; and developing and providing training, guidance and tools for local community staff so they prepare well documented, timely applications.