On April 19th, the Van Buren County Continuum of Care hosted a kick-off to the 10 year plan development process through a community meeting designed to provide participants with a common understanding of housing issues and concerns in VBC, begin to identify the root causes of housing barriers, and assist in developing a strategy that will eliminate the barriers to safe, decent, affordable housing in VBC. Thank you to all 37 participants who attended!

Deb Nieboer - Chair, Continuum of Care
Jeff Elliot - Chair, Human Services Collaborative Council
John Clement - Director, Community Mental Health
Marc DelMariani - Director, Department of Human Services

Early July 2006
Progress continues on the development of the 10-year plan, thanks to the dedication of Shelley Klug from the SWMPC and the Continuum of Care (CoC) participants.

During monthly CoC meetings, Klug updates the group on activities that have occurred outside the meeting and leaves members with data gathering tasks for next time.

This month, we will begin to outline our goals and objectives for this plan. The meeting will be at 3:00 pm on July 12th at the Human Services Building on Hazen St. in Paw Paw. All are welcome.

An outline of our plan is due to MSHDA in August, so the July meeting will be our most important yet!


Late July 2006

Goal development is well underway, and your input continues to be essential. Klug has developed a website, housed by SWMPC, to provide frequent updates and solicit feedback on various aspects of the plan.

Copy and paste this URL into a new window to view this important site:
http://www.swmpc.org/endhomelessness.asp

The next meeting is August 2nd at 3:00 pm at the Human Services Building on Hazen St. in Paw Paw.

August and September 2006

A draft of the plan is due August 31st. The time is flying. Meetings have been very productive, and CoC members are looking forward to finishing the plan in October.

Don't forget to check the website listed above for regular updates of the draft plan, and feel free to attend CoC meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 3:00 pm at the Human Services Building in Paw Paw to offer your input.