Oregon Coast Community Action is happy to announce that we have been allocation

$195,151.00 of Out of the Cold funding for this winter season. 

 

Out of the Cold Wave 2 (OOTC W2) funds are designed to build critical infrastructure and services for shelter and shelter services as Oregon grapples with the concurrent crises of the winter season. The Oregon Emergency Board (under Section 1, Chapter 644; provisions of ORS 291.328 and under the authority of ORS 291.326(1)(a), (b), (c), and (d); ORS 291.371; and ORS 291.375) provided funding to Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) to support the provision of shelter and shelter-related services. These funds will be allocated to Community Action Agencies (CAAs) around the state to safely house people in non-congregate and socially distanced congregate emergency and transitional shelters, as well as services to help people obtain and maintain access to permanent housing. Our frontline workers responding to the critical needs of people experiencing homelessness need additional services and support to ensure that our system can respond to the unique needs of persons experiencing homelessness.

 

These funds are designed to help our frontline workers with needed resources, including PPE, shelter modification, and other critical measures to reduce the spread of infection in shelter spaces. Public health experts recognize the disproportionate rate and negative effects on Native Americans, Tribal members, Black, African American, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, linguistically diverse populations, and people with disabilities. Many people infected by COVID-19 are BIPOC members. A key component of the OOTC W2 funds is the commitment to equity and racial justice. OOTC W2 services explicitly require subgrantees to partner or contract with a culturally specific provider, per legislation (see note below). This step is designed to ensure diverse community stakeholders and local leaders are an integral part of the program design, message, and outreach for the utilization of these funds. As such, OHCS requires that subgrantees work to identify a partner and set up agreements with partner agencies that they are also financially supportive of associated service efforts.

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If your agency supports houseless-ness and you think you are applicable to receive OOTC funds to support your project please submit an application by 11/17/2022

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Allowable Program Components and Expenditures

Allowable Program Components and Expenditures align with EHA in the State Homeless Funds Operations Manual.  ORCCA will be funding projects that fall under the following areas:

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Street Outreach

Street Outreach Provides the following allowable expenditures, but is not inclusive of all services allowed:

• Reaching out to unsheltered homeless people, including marketing and communication; 

• Conducting initial assessment of applicant basic needs and eligibility;

• Case management;

• Emergency health services:

  • Connecting people to emergency shelter, housing and/or critical services;

  • Providing urgent, non-facility-based care;

  • Providing crisis counseling;

  • Providing urgent physical needs, such as meal, blankets, clothing items, etc.; 

• Contract or partnership with culturally specific organization, healthcare and community focused service providers

• Travel expenses incurred by outreach workers, social workers, medical professionals and other agency employees providing allowable street outreach services;

• Purchase and operation of a shower truck, or similar, is allowable with prior OHCS approval

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Shelter and Facility Operations (inclusive of motel/hotel vouchers)

Provides the following allowable expenditures, but is not inclusive of all services allowed – NOTE: Structured Camping sites are a permissible use of the funds. 

• Maintaining the operations of an Emergency or Transitional Shelter;

• Lease or rent payment for shelter facility;

• Utilities (includes water, sewer, garbage, gas, electricity, internet, phone) for shelter facility;

• Security equipment and/or service to operate shelter facility;

• Janitorial supplies and service to operate shelter facility;

• Facility management to operate shelter facility;

• Repairs to facility;

• For structural rehab or facilities conversion, contact your OHCS Program Analyst 
  for more details or information if you are interested in this allowable expense;

• Furnishings for shelter facility; and

• Hotel/Motel vouchers for clients, including block purchases of hotel/motel as well as paying for damages related to clients staying in hotel/motel.

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​Shelter Resident Support Services

Provides for the essential needs of people who have lived in shelters to safely transition to stable housing. NOTE that a household is not required to stay in shelter in order to receive any of these services. A subgrantee could serve a household through street outreach and pay for all of the below services without the requirement for the household to stay in shelter. This is to align this program with Housing First best practices for client choice and autonomy. Additionally, we encourage subgrantees to collaborate closely with their Local Housing Authority and other long-term housing supports to leverage this resource to its maximum extent. Housing assistance must be made available to households that have received hotel/motel vouchers to be certain of the available transition to stable housing. Eligible services include but are not exclusive to the following costs

•  Intake and case management, including pre-eligibility determination for housing and other needed services;

• Housing placement (e.g., first and last month’s rent payments and arrearages (up to 12 months), manufactured home rental space “lot rent”, application fee, security deposit, utility deposit). NOTE, these expenses do not require formal lease/rental agreements. Rental assistance payments cannot be used for homelessness prevention.;

• Purchase of government identification documents (e.g., driver’s license, birth certificate, etc.);

• Credit repair assistance (not debt payment);

• Tenant readiness education;

• Food and clothing, including cost of food while a client is staying in a hotel/motel, inclusive of the use of gift cards to purchase food while in shelter;

• Crisis intervention/counseling;

• Transportation (e.g., car repair, insurance cost, DEQ clearance, bus tickets, bus passes, etc.);

• Costs to board and care for shelter residents’ animals, such as boarding costs, kennels, leashes, veterinary services, food, toys, etc. NOTE: Subgrantees must have an animal policy in place to ensure the safety and welfare of all residents and provide it to OHCS upon request; and

• Client direct services.

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Data Collection

OOTC W2 funding may be used to support staff and related costs necessary to collect and report shelter bed nights,

client services, client demographic data, performance outcomes and other reporting requirements. Eligible data collection costs include, but are not exclusive to:

• HMIS licenses;

• Data entry;

• Equipment upgrade;

• Network systems upgrade (it is recommended that systems be networked);

• Staff training.

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