Effectively addressing homelessness requires our community to do more than solve individual crises. We have to build deeply connected systems of care with the whole person in mind. In many communities, physical health, mental health, behavioral health and homeless services function as mostly isolated systems of support, leaving people to figure out how to navigate […]
homelessness
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
A better way forward for youth experiencing homelessness
“Every little thing I did, I felt like I was in their way, even breathing.” This statement, shared during a focus group by a young person in our community without stable housing who relied on relatives and acquaintances for a place to stay, highlights the emotional toll youth face as they try to meet their […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Are we making progress on efforts to address homelessness?
In 2020, our community began to take tangible steps to evaluate gaps in services to address homelessness and chart a new way forward. Community leaders, service providers, people with lived experience of homelessness and community members gave input about challenges related to homelessness and shared their hopes for what could be. The result was the […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Improving housing stability benefits our community
Safe and stable housing creates the foundation that every person in our community needs to thrive, live a healthy life and reach their goals. As achieving stable housing grows difficult so too does the number of our neighbors forced to spend their energy in survival mode each day trying to figure out where and how […]
Posted inNews
Plan calls for 100 new affordable homes
The City of Springfield plans to build and rehabilitate hundreds of homes as part of a strategy to end homelessness within two years. The city’s 2010-2014 Consolidated Plan, created by the city’s Department of Opportunity, Planning and Economic Development (OPED), lays out plans to improve affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure and public services using millions […]
