About
The Longmont Housing Opportunities Team (LHOT) is a collaborative partnership working to end homelessness, with over 50 members representing government, social services, shelters, housing providers, domestic violence agencies, police, mental health, school district, banks, youth services, churches, senior services, businesses, recovery programs, and private individuals.
The Longmont Housing Opportunities Team has continued to grow and adapt since it was first formed in 2000. Attendance at monthly meetings remains constant and new agencies and individuals join often.
Mission
To reduce homelessness, LHOT brings together community partners and mobilizes resources.Vision
Homelessness is eliminated in Longmont.
History
Addressing our extreme increases in homelessness is of critical concern to our community. A group of community service providers started meeting in 2000 to ensure that services for the homeless were not being duplicated and to conduct an annual Point-In-Time survey. The community determined at a Retreat on the Homeless held in November, 2003, that only by coming together could we affect a solution to this issue. As a result of the retreat, LHOT’s mission and membership were expanded to reflect an acknowledgement that the issue of homelessness is a community-wide one impacting not only city government, but non-profit service providers as well as local businesses and the faith community. The LHOT group has been meeting at least monthly since 2003, has completed many projects and has obtained funding for ongoing services and projects.Goals
- Permanent and Transitional Housing
Develop and maintain new and existing permanent and transitional housing units as part of a Housing First and rapid re-housing system that meets current and future needs. - Services
Provide access to quality supportive services which seek to address the root cause of each person's homeless situation and move them from a state of homelessness to one of self-sufficiency. - Community Awareness and Coordinated Responses
Create community awareness and support for LHOT's coordinated effort to eliminate homelessness in Longmont. - Shelter System
Maintain the presently available shelter and emergency assistance for all of Longmont's homeless populations until an adequate supply of transitional and permanent housing becomes available. - Prevention and Redirection
Utilize community resources to prevent at-risk families and individuals from becoming homeless. - Funding
Continue to develop budgets and funding to ensure that an effective response to identified needs can be waged using the strategies in this plan. - Skills, Education, Training and Employment
Help homeless individuals acquire requisite skills and training critical to the procurement of gainful employment and/or self-sufficient living. - Evaluation and Accountability
Ensure that Longmont's efforts to end homelessness are on track and meet established goals, objectives, and outcomes.
Continuum of Care
Longmont’s Continuum of Care for homeless and persons at risk of homelessness is described in the chart on the following page. The current Continuum is a cooperative effort among several local housing and human service agencies in the community. While a formalized system for addressing the needs of the homeless, or those at risk of becoming homeless does not currently exist, many services to meet the needs of homeless and at risk families are available in Longmont and Boulder County. Three major efforts to address housing and homelessness in Longmont include:
- Denver Metro Homelessness Initiative – Boulder County (including the City of Longmont) participates in this regional coalition of housing and human service providers and government representatives from six counties in the metro area that continually assess the regional continuum of care for homeless and at-risk families and apply as a group for Super NOFA funds from HUD to provide transitional and supportive services.
- Longmont Housing Opportunities Team (LHOT) – a local coalition of over 70 housing and human service providers and government representatives that are assessing the level of homeless services in Longmont and work to address the gaps in the Continuum of Care. The Team will be working on supporting the Housing First Program in 2008 serving 35 homeless and at-risk families and joining with Boulder County to provide Housing First for 22 homeless individuals, 10 of which are from Longmont. In addition, LHOT has worked with the City of Longmont to provide funding for a Mental Health Services contract to serve the families in the Housing First Program.
- Boulder County Housing Consortium - a countywide coalition of housing providers that meet quarterly to discuss a wide variety of housing issues, programs, legislations and needs.
The City sees its housing programs which benefit households with incomes below 50% of the median as actions to prevent homelessness. Supportive services and the ongoing Foreclosure Prevention, Rent Deposit, and Housing Counseling programs also play an important role in preventing homelessness. Job training, education, budget and homeownership training and counseling and many other services may keep families self-sufficient so they will not lose their homes.
Prevention of low-income individuals and families with children (especially those below 30% of median) from becoming homeless will be addressed through both the City’s counseling and service programs, and its non-profit organizations, including the Inn Between, the Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain Valley, the Atwood Shelter, but most essentially the OUR Center. The OUR Center’s preventive measures include a range of services including, rent and utility payments, motel vouchers, counseling and referral to services.
LONGMONT CONTINUUM OF CARE |
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Outreach OUR Center • Longmont Police • Longmont "Eyes and Ears" Program • Boulder County Social Services • Longmont Housing Authority • Boulder County Housing Authority • Safe Shelter • Churches • HOPE |
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Intake and Assessment • OUR Center • Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain Valley |
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Prevention
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Emergency Services
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Transitional Housing
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Permanent Housing
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Supportive Services •Addiction Treatment Center • LEVI • Community Food Share • Meals on Wheels • Senior Services • Mental Health • OUR Center • RSVP • Youth Services • Food Basket Program • Boulder County AIDS Project • Boulder Valley Women's Health Center • Center for People with Disabilities • Dental Aid • El Comité • Imagine! • |
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