Four local agencies have been awarded millage contracts to enhance supportive housing for youth and adults with mental health and substance use concerns.
“One of the key recommendations made by Washtenaw County’s Community Mental Health Advisory Committee was to invest millage revenue in supportive housing,” says Trish Cortes, executive director of Washtenaw County Community Mental Health.
To achieve this objective, the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development worked with us to develop and release a request for proposals to solicit bids for three-year supportive housing projects in the areas of youth and adult crisis, prevention, and stabilization. Eight proposals were submitted, and four were selected for funding.
“We’re grateful to our colleagues at the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, and the Office of Community and Economic Development for reviewing all of the proposals--with special attention to equity--to recommend funding these critically needed community projects.”
Over the next three years:
The Shelter Association of Washtenaw County will receive $240,000 for a Housing Crisis Stabilization Program. The program will add seven shelter beds that are dedicated to clients who are in an imminent housing crisis and need immediate temporary housing. In addition to temporary crisis housing, clients will receive behavioral health supports and housing case management to locate and transition to permanent, safe housing. The funding will help SAWC staff the program and will provide the resources required to help clients secure permanent housing.
Avalon Housing will receive $558,000 to add staff to its supportive housing service team, which serves residents across the 25 properties Avalon manages in Washtenaw County. Avalon’s supportive housing programs serve single adults, youth, and families, and pair affordable housing with an integrated service model that includes case management, peer recovery support, in-home primary care, and community building. Support coordinators use evidence-based practices to provide wraparound case management, 24/7 front desk monitoring and support, real-time crisis intervention, and assistance with managing substance abuse and unmitigated mental health disorders.
The Ypsilanti Housing Commission will receive $132,500 to provide supportive housing services. In year one, the funding will be used to help the commission attain Supportive Housing Dimensions of Quality Certification from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which will ensure that the commission’s Family Empowerment Program is equipped to provide high-quality services to clients as a new public supportive housing provider. In years two and three, the funding will allow the commission to provide supportive housing services to residents of New Parkridge in Ypsilanti. Services will include mental health screenings, case management, community building, site-specific programming, and more.
And Ozone House will receive $360,000 for its Transitional Living Program, which currently offers six beds for runaway and homeless youth aged 18 to 24. Millage funding will allow Ozone House to add four more beds over the course of three years, serving approximately 25 youth per year by the third year. The program provides a safe place for homeless youth to build skills and capacities that contribute to healthy, positive, and productive functioning by offering case management, life skills training, therapeutic services, and supervision/role modeling. In addition to adding capacity, the funds will allow Ozone House to hire a housing case manager to link transition-aged youth to permanent housing opportunities.