$28,038 raised by 22 donors
33% complete
$85,000 Goal
ABOUT US:
Homeward Alliance is a Larimer County-based non-profit with a mission to empower individuals and families who face homelessness to survive, move forward and thrive. We serve over 5,000 children, youth, adults and seniors each year at the Murphy Center for Hope, based in Fort Collins, and at outreach locations including the Loveland Resource Center, Loveland Salvation Army, local domestic violence shelters and libraries. We offer a continuum of programs and initiatives--including basic needs, resource navigation, employment and case management--designed to help people secure housing, economic stability, and move forward with their lives.
We operate according to data-informed, best-practices and our diverse staff reflect the community we serve.
Homelessness has been called one of our country’s most “urgent, tragic and completely solvable” problems. Our approach is to work at system, program and individual levels to build a response system that is intentionally centered around best practices, data-informed interventions. We envision a community in which homelessness is rare, short-lived and non-recurring.
2023 OUTCOMES:
Last year we helped 385 people escape homelessness, helped secure 219 jobs for people experiencing homelessness, served 2,101 unduplicated people with resource navigation activities (ID attainment, housing applications, job search, etc.), provided resource support and navigation to 740 families experiencing or at risk of homelessness, among many other outcomes. Among those enrolled in our housing case management programs, we recorded a 80% 6-month housing retention rate.
TESTIMONIALS:
"I remember that day of September 8th, 2021, as if it were yesterday. I stayed the night at Catholic Charities Homeless shelter my first night out of jail. That morning, I remember thinking to myself, I do not know where I am going, but I know that I want a better life. My peers told me that the Murphy Center will help with getting a phone, housing resources, clothes, shoes, coffee, breakfast, and a warm place to be.
I walked into this building, and my life was forever changed. I was introduced to Emily who helped me get my first cell phone, Anthony who helped me with my wardrobe. And then I was paged back to meet with Tom and Bev. They listened to me and believed me. They believed in me more than I believed in myself at that moment in time. Those were the most uplifting and angelic words that I have ever heard in my life. That was all I needed to hear at that moment. They then were able to offer me a housing choice voucher that would solve so many obstacles in everyday life for me.
At that moment, I knew I would never have to sleep on a frigid sidewalk again. I knew that eating out of a dumpster would be a figment of my past, and in that instant, I knew that I had a fighting chance." -Heather, now housed and attending college
"Thank you for helping our family. Your existence has allowed us to sustain and maintain our dignity." - Note from family served by Family Navigator (homelessness prevention services)
"Every one of the staff members at the Murphy Center know me. They have provided me with food, shelter, clothing, socks, conversation. They have uplifted me. They’ve called the ambulance for me. They have treated me like a human being and respected me, even when I was drunk. They never, ever treated me poorly even when I was mean and ornery. I don’t know all their names, but when I look them in the eye I know they know me and my story." -James, now housed and employed
To empower individuals and families who face homelessness to survive, move forward and thrive.
We were founded in 2008 with a simple mission: collect and distribute life-sustaining supplies to the people who needed them most. In the 16 years since, that program has helped thousands of people survive and meet basic needs. More importantly, we have applied (and continue to apply) our founding principles: collect data to identify gaps, implement evidence-based solutions to fill those gaps and evaluate our work in terms of outcomes and efficiency, and, simultaneously, lead or participate in system-level efforts to address the issue.
That has led us to absorb or launch over a dozen additional programs and initiatives, all intentionally unique to our community and designed strategically to work in coordination with existing services and fill gaps in need.
In 2016, HWA was selected as the operator of the Murphy Center (MC), helping transform the facility into a best-practice, Housing First-aligned Emergency and Resource Center. The MC is also the primary point of entry into our region’s coordinated (housing) entry system.
In 2020, we were selected as the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Lead Agency for the Northern Colorado Continuum of Care (NoCO CoC)—the official planning entity that oversees the homelessness response system in Larimer and Weld Counties.
In 2020 – 2021, HWA operated a non-congregate shelter site and an official COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery/Quarantine site for people experiencing homelessness in Larimer County, both in partnerships with health organizations. We leveraged the data and expertise gained to apply for, and receive, funds to construct an on-site medical and behavioral health clinic at the MC. The clinic, operated by SummitStone Health Partners, opened in March of 2024.
In 2021 we were selected as the Lead Service Agency for the City of Loveland and tasked with the development and implementation of a strategic plan to address homelessness.
Broadly, our organizational goals are intentionally aligned with the goals of the Northern Colorado Continuum of Care: to end and prevent homelessness for as many people as possible immediately, and functionally end homelessness across the region.
HWA seeks to provide evidence-based services that produce positive outcomes for people experiencing or seeking to avoid homelessness and, simultaneously, lead or participate in system-level efforts to address the issue. Our goals reflect that dual effort:
• Goal #1: Empower individuals and families to escape homelessness and/or maintain housing, achieve economic stability via employment or other income, and develop permanent support networks;
• Goal #2: Help individuals and families who are homeless meet basic needs via the provision of day shelter, food, showers, supplies and connection to resources;
• Goal #3: Collect and utilize data to inform program development, educate the community, identify service gaps, and issue system-level recommendations on the issue of homelessness; and
• Goal #4: Advocate for and participate in the implementation of system-level changes that improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and reduce community costs associated with homelessness.
In the last three years, we have empowered over 1,000 people to escape homelessness, assumed a leadership role in our rapidly improving, regional homelessness response system, and built a staff and board that represents the diversity of our community and elevates those with lived experience.
Organization name
Homeward Alliance
other names
Homeless Gear, Inc.
2008
Tax id (EIN)
27-4641606
Category
Human Services
Organization Size
Large Organization
Colorado State Tax Credits
Colorado Homeless Credit
Address
242 Conifer StreetMailing
PO Box 873Larimer County, CO, US