Gov. Matt Meyer’s Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness– tasked with cutting homelessness in half and ending youth homelessness in Delaware within the next five years–takes its next steps toward that goal.
The group issued a report in December with high level recommendations based on feedback from service providers, surveys, and analysis of funding. It lays out initiatives to improve access to services and expand emergency shelter, which will be carried out by subcommittees.
Matt Heckles, director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, described the process as dynamic.
“This is our best guess and to get us going,” he said. All ten subcommittees have a chair and co-chair, except for Street Outreach and Engagement, which they are still looking for a lead on.
Heckles said DHSA invited experts to join the subcommittees, and he wants them to start meeting monthly or bi-monthly in the next few weeks.
“As these subcommittees work, as they start to dive into the issues, if we need to revise that list, we certainly can,” Heckles said.
Subcommittees include: Hope Center Expansion to Kent and Sussex counties, shelter capacity and operations, and data and outcomes subcommittee.
Moving forward, Heckles wants the 15-member interagency to serve as a steering group for the subcommittees.
He suggested the larger collaborative reconvene in six months to address progress, specifically the subgroup tasked with shelter plans for harsh weather.
“That's around October, and it would be great for that Code Purple group to have done some work and made some recommendations,” he said. “So that as we get into the next cold season, their work can be recognized.”
Heckles said winter storms this year exposed gaps in volunteers available to operate Code Purple shelters in New Castle County, which he wants addressed quickly.
He added other initiatives, like creating more shelter capacity, “may take a little longer.”
