Grants - At Risk Housing Coalition (ARHC)
Minutes - View minutes from past meetings.
HISTORY:
The At Risk Housing Coalition (ARHC) is an ongoing formal task force comprised of representatives from health and human service agencies and governmental departments. ARHC was formed in 1993 by Women's Opportunity and Resource Development to initiate a community-wide effort to prevent and address homelessness. ARHC functioned for ten years as a loosely-organized body, meeting monthly and forming committees and collaborations to address identified needs.
In 2004, ARHC formalized as a coalition requiring membership and adherence to agreements and protocols. ARHC continues to work on issues surrounding low-income housing and homelessness in Missoula and coordinates the local effort to plan and provide comprehensive services through a continuum of care.
FUNCTIONS:
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ARHC meets monthly. Sub-committees meet as necessary to plan and complete projects.
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ARHC performs an annual informal Gaps and Assets Review. ARHC uses the review to assess unmet needs, affirm existing community efforts surrounding homelessness and as a platform for planning and developing projects.
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ARHC members perform the Annual Homeless Survey.
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ARHC plans, reviews and endorses local projects for HUD Continuum of Care funding.
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ARHC endorses projects in the form of letters of support. Projects receiving endorsement have been evaluated to meet established criteria.
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ARHC advocates for particular issues affecting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
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ARHC committees work on distinct projects, such as community needs assessments and program planning and coordination.
COMMITTEES:
ARHC maintains committees to work on distinct projects. When an issue arises that requires more discussion, the large group refers to the appropriate committee. ARHC committees make decisions by consensus.
Steering Committee: This committee oversees ARHC's functions. The Steering Committee reviews policy issues and makes recommendations to ARHC for decisions. Steering Committee members act as the Endorsement Committee and Membership Committee as required.
Endorsement Committee: The Endorsement Committee convenes as needed to review proposals for ARHC endorsement of grants and projects according to established Endorsement Criteria.
Membership Committee: The Membership Committee reviews and approves or denies applications for ARHC membership and orients new members.
Emergency and Winter Shelter Committee: This committee completes an inventory each fall of the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing beds, food and other resources and produces a contingency plan for "overflow.” The Committee annually discusses the best use of county Winter Shelter funds and makes a recommendation to OPG. This committee appoints individuals to work on the Winter Shelter Committee to coordinate the distribution of those funds. The Winter Shelter Committee meets weekly with the grantee from December through March to staff cases and fund requests.
Project Planning Committee: This committee does long-range planning and data gathering for large projects. The Project Planning Committee meets as needed.
OPERATION:
The Office of Planning and Grants coordinates ARHC communications. The coalition is internally facilitated and operated by the membership. ARHC members facilitate meetings on a rotating basis. Meetings and committee participation are open, and any member may raise an issue for consideration by the group.
MEETINGS:
ARHC typically meets the first Monday of each month, from 10 am to 12 pm. Main meeting and Committee meeting times and locations vary. All ARHC and committee meetings are open to the public. Contact the ARHC Coordinator at 258-4980.
MEETING STRUCTURE - ARHC Meetings (the entire membership)
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Facilitation / Agenda / Minutes
ARHC meetings are facilitated by members on a rotating basis. Two weeks prior to each ARHC meeting, the ARHC Coordinator at the Office of Planning and Grants sends out a call for agenda items via email. The Coordinator distributes the agenda and previous month's minutes to the group via email one week prior to each meeting.
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Decisions
ARHC makes decisions by majority vote of members present. ARHC Voting Members and Designees are allowed to vote on any issues about which they are well informed. Committee decisions are made by consensus.
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Opening
The ARHC meeting begins with introductions, review, revision and approval of the previous month's minutes, choosing the next month's facilitator and meeting location.
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Agenda
The meeting proceeds through items on the agenda. Agenda items are those which take longer than 2-3 minutes to present and require discussion and/or decision-making.
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Information Sharing
The meeting concludes with information sharing, where each member briefly presents information about their programs. Members are encouraged to have items that will take longer than two to three minutes or require discussion or decision-making on the regular agenda, rather than during the Information Sharing time.
For more information, please contact the ARHC Coordinator at the Missoula Office of Planning and Grants at 258-4980.
