Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness
InCommons Collaboration Challenge
Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness
The Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness (DCEH) saw an opportunity with leaders of the community creating a 10 year plan to end homelessness by 2016 (Heading Home Hennepin). The downtown congregations formed a collaboration as a response to this initiative. Formed in 2007, the mission and focus of the DCEH is to work together to end homelessness through education, political advocacy, support of Heading Home Hennepin, and building relationships with the homeless, near homeless, congregations, volunteers and community organizations to affect the common good of our community. The DCEH has representatives from member congregations who come together to share information, to eliminate duplications in services provided, to effectively engage their congregations in getting involved in ending homelessness by using their civic voice, educating themselves, and participating in volunteer opportunities. The DCEH is comprised of fifteen downtown Minneapolis religious organizations with two community partners.
About You
About You
First Name
Heidi
Last Name
Johnson McAllister
Country
United States
About Your Organization
Organization
Downtown Congregation to End Homelessness
Organization Website
Organization Phone
612-242-4670
Organization Address
333 12th Street South
Organization Country
United States, MN
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Your Story
Collaboration Title
Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness
Country your work focuses on
United States, MN, Hennepin County
Describe your locally-based collaboration and the problem it sought to address
The Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness (DCEH) saw an opportunity with leaders of the community creating a 10 year plan to end homelessness by 2016 (Heading Home Hennepin). The downtown congregations formed a collaboration as a response to this initiative. Formed in 2007, the mission and focus of the DCEH is to work together to end homelessness through education, political advocacy, support of Heading Home Hennepin, and building relationships with the homeless, near homeless, congregations, volunteers and community organizations to affect the common good of our community. The DCEH has representatives from member congregations who come together to share information, to eliminate duplications in services provided, to effectively engage their congregations in getting involved in ending homelessness by using their civic voice, educating themselves, and participating in volunteer opportunities. The DCEH is comprised of fifteen downtown Minneapolis religious organizations with two community partners.
Tell us about the community in which this collaboration took place
On any given night, 3,000 individuals, families and youth are out on the street and as the county system is overtaxed, people come to the faith communities for help. The faith communities cross Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Unitarian traditions. As people of faith, we believe that we are called to work for justice and the common good of all people.
Issue Selector
n/a
Partnership
Who was involved in co-creating or implementing your collaboration (other organizations, leaders, community members, etc.)?
With the support and encouragement of Senior Clergy from each of the congregations, staff members from each congregation and community partners Heading Home Hennepin, Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation and Metrowide Engagement on Shelter and Housing were involved in the co-creating of the DCEH. Together, these organizers worked together to create a mission, vision and goals.
To what extent does your collaboration involve partnerships that are outside or cross traditional organizational or sector boundaries?
From the beginning, the collaboration was across sectors and across faith traditions. With the tensions in our world between faith traditions, this is an unprecedented collaboration that breaks down barriers and fears. In a society that debates about the separation of church and state, the governmental agency of Heading Home Hennepin is a direct partner and breaks down barriers.
Innovation
What makes your locally-based collaboration innovative and unique?
Our collaboration is unique as it is unprecedented. There are similar nonprofit organizations that do grassroots advocacy on social justice issues. Often, they have many issues beyond homelessness and poverty. The DCEH has a direct focus and works intimately within congregations as we have members of the congregations doing the organizing work. The relationships developed allow us to respond quickly and effectively to issues.
Additionally, Minneapolis is the only community across the country that has a collaboration, which was created to support the work of a 10 year plan to end homelessness. The collaboration has been part of the plan and is considered staff of the Office to End Homelessness, which implements the plan of the Heading Home Hennepin. Additionally, a staff from Office to End Homelessness sits on our Steering Committee. The way we live out our direct partnership has been unprecedented and exciting. This has created relationships in order for the faith communities to dramatically build upon the movement to end homelessness as we are able to communicate with our members quickly and efficiently for them to respond!
Did you take risks in establishing this collaboration? Explain
The establishment of this collaboration is built on years of relationships and was preceded by many attempts to build collaboration, but Heading Home Hennepin has focused us to be effective in our work for ending each person's homelessness in a systemic and effective ways. The risks we take are the risk of not being effective, but the evidence of our first two years has shown we are effective.
How did this collaboration differ from the normal way of doing your work?
Each of our congregations have been responding to homelessness for many years, working in their own silo. This collaboration differs from normal way of working as it creates effective ways of advocating and educating our members together. Additionally, the collaboration looks at ways to eliminate duplication of services and people accessing services from more than one congregation.
Impact
How do you know your collaboration has been effective?
Various assessments have been used to measure the success of the goals. These include post evaluation surveys, collecting demographic information about program participants, written evaluations of various educational events, and interviews with congregation members about their activities and attitudes regarding homelessness and advocacy.
These show that in our short couple of years, the level of consciousness and participation has already grown in tremendous leaps and bounds as our education is raising awareness both of the members, but also Senior Clergy and lay leadership of the congregations. This has had a dramatic impact on the culture of the congregations engaging in advocacy to end homelessness together.
What progress or impact has been made?
Our progress of the first two years has developed strong foundation under our feet. With the continued regular visibility we established in 2009, congregants are recognizing and understanding themselves to be a part of the DCEH and want to participate.
One way members participate is through the advocacy work, which has grown to over 669 advocates who receive action alerts via email and respond.
Next Steps
How would you go about continuing, expanding, or replicating this collaboration?
The focus of this organization is social justice, specifically in regards to homelessness and poverty. For DCEH it is not only about ending homelessness by offering a stronger network of services; for DCEH it is about tackling the inequitable root causes of homelessness and poverty and addressing those issues at their core so that all people have a place to live. It is about getting to the truth behind the disparity in our society and taking action to give all people access to safe, affordable housing. Our work will continue to live out our mission and vision. After our first three years, we will do a major evaluation and strategic plan and visioning for our organization as we move into the future.
Other communities of congregations within the metro are interested in replicating our collaboration. As of now, we are not interested in expanding beyond Minneapolis and Hennepin County as this will defuse us and we have a collaboration based on a foundation of relationships. The DCEH will provide support and coaching, but will not be directly in charge of creating another collabrative.
Describe the current stage of implementation and desired next steps
In our first two years, we have spent considerable time on organizational development as well as specific outcomes. Presently, we are able to move forward with less energy devoted to development and more energy to work on our strategic goals.
In the next year and a half, we look forward to increasing our advocacy efforts, as we have the goal to expand our base to over 1,000 advocates. Our work will continue to build on the advocacy network to support changes to policy, funding requests from government, and the system improvements for the continuum from shelter to permanent housing. Our advocacy network will be invited to participate in the senate district organizing efforts as we add more districts, two in 2011 and four in 2012.
Th Direct Service Providers are working on a collective data system to track all financial assistance. Currently, folks go from church to church asking for assistance. A database will allow us to look at a person's needs more holistically and be able to build relationships with guests in a different way.
Our congregations provide educational opportunities individually and the Interfaith Team of lay members from the congregations provide collective educational opportunities. Specifically, the downtown congregations are individually and collectively devoting a day in October or November to focus on ending homelessness in our community. Additionally, the Interfaith Team is hosting an all DCEH event with a production on homelessness by zAmya Theater Project, which educates about homelessness. We will continue to build on these events by hosting an annual focus on homelessness.
The Steering Committee, Executive Team and Fund Development Team continue to pay attention to the internal working and sustainability of our organization. We are developing a fund development plan, creating solid communications with message and stories, and developing effective ways to work together.
| 137 weeks ago Heidi Johnson McAllister said: Augustana Lutheran Church Basilica of Saint Mary Central Lutheran Church First Christian Church First Unitarian ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > | |
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