About MDHI and MDHI Committees
Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative Background
The mission of Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) is to implement a comprehensive homeless housing and service Continuum of Care (CoC) system in the 7-county metropolitan region surrounding Denver.
A Continuum of Care is a regional system for helping people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness by ensuring that appropriate housing and services are available. The Metropolitan Denver Continuum of Care includes prevention, outreach and assessment, emergency shelter, transitional housing, supportive services, permanent supportive housing and permanent housing.
MDHI works closely with each county in its continuum (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson) to ensure that planning groups have the resources and support that they need to move forward with planning and implementation of strategies to end homelessness.
The three main programs of Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative include:
Regional Needs Assessment and Service Planning
MDHI leads the process for the annual HUD CoC NOFA application. Each year MDHI convenes a series of meetings for metropolitan stakeholder to identify local service gaps and metropolitan homeless priorities. Identified priorities are used to develop a comprehensive application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Since its inception, MDHI has brought in over $100 million in grants for the Denver metropolitan area. While MDHI facilitates this funding, none of these funds benefit MDHI, which is responsible for its own resource development.
Conducting and Disseminating Research
MDHI conducts a Point in Time survey during the last week of January and then issues a report which provides the community with current information on the status of homelessness in the Denver metropolitan area. MDHI also oversees the implementation of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the seven county Denver metro region.
Strategic Community Organizing
MDHI’s Coordinating Committee actively works with individual counties and cities within the Continuum of Care (CoC) to assist them to build strategies and to create their own plans to end homelessness. The long-term goal of MDHI’s coordinating efforts is to develop a regional plan to end homelessness.
Board Meetings
All members of the Board of Directors are expected to regularly attend and actively participate in Board meetings. Meeting times: 2nd Thursday of each month, Mile High United Way Founders’ Room, 2505 18th Street, Denver, CO 80211 from 2:00-4:00PM
Committee Opportunities
| Committees are groups that meet to create programs, craft documents and plans, make decisions, and carry out activities. Each Board member is expected to actively participate in one Board committee. Committees and meeting times are listed below: |
| Executive Committee-The MDHI Executive Committee consists of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and additional members as selected by the Board. This committee meets monthly prior to the Board meeting to set the Board agenda and to oversee the CoC process. The Executive Committee members also serve as the Finance Committee and review MDHI income and expenditures, develop, review and oversee financial systems and operations.Meeting time: 1st Monday of each month, MHUW, Barb Room, 9AM-10:30AM | |||
Chair: Linda Barringer; lbarringer@thefamilytree.org
Point in Time Committee- The Point in Time Committee coordinates the Point in Time survey. The goal of the Point in Time Study is to count the number of homeless individuals on one day of the year and to educate the public about the presence of homelessness in their communities. MDHI works with representatives from each of the seven counties in the metro-Denver area to coordinate this project. The last Point in Time was conducted on January 25, 2011.
Meeting time: meeting are held at MHUW, meeting times vary
Chairs: Linda Barringer, lbarringer@thefamilytree.org
Coordinating Committee- The purpose of this committee is to actively work with each of the seven counties in the metro Denver area to help deliver or broker technical assistance or support identified by these local communities to develop local plans to end homeless and to encourage the adoption of a regional plan to end homelessness.
Meeting time: 4th Thursday of each month, MHUW, 9:00AM-11:00AM
Chair: Lindi Sinton, lsinton@voacolorado.org
HMIS Policy Committee-The purpose of this committee is to supervise the administration of and set policy for the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the metro Denver region. A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a software application designed to record and store client-level information on the characteristics and service needs of homeless persons. Homeless assistance providers use HMIS to coordinate care, manage their operations, and better serve their clients.
Meeting times: usually two Wednesdays per month (may vary), MHUW, 9:00-11:00AM
Co-chairs: Linda Barringer, lbarringer@thefamilytree.org
CoC NOFA Review Committee- MDHI leads the process for the 7-county annual HUD CoC NOFA application. As part of the application process, this committee plans large stakeholder meetings, establishes priorities, and sets criteria for final project rankings.
Meeting times: meetings are held at MHUW, meeting times vary
Nominating Committee-The Nominating Committee actively recruits new Board members, interviews prospective candidates, and recommends a slate of candidates to the Board for yearly elections and as vacancies arise. The Nominating Committee also recommends a slate of candidates to fill the officer positions.
Meeting times: meetings are held at MHUW, meeting times vary
Chair: Sarah Maxwell, sarahm@stride-co.org
Employment Committee— The goal of this committee is to cultivate strong employer networks that are based on strong relationships between jobseekers who have experienced homelessness, employers in specific business sectors, and employment specialists who support these job-seekers to obtain and retain permanent employment.
Meeting times: second Tuesday of each month, 3:00-4:30pm, locations vary
Co-chairs: Laura Ware, lware_94122@yahoo.com; Chris Dewhurst, cdewhurst@broomfield.org