The Louisiana Homeless Coalition is a group of four regional agencies and one statewide service that work together to help people who are homeless. The branches work with non-profit organizations as well as regional department of human service offices to help Louisiana residents with their housing needs. They help people who are vulnerable, seeking stability, or struggling to pay for housing.
My goal is to create programs that will end homelessness and ensure that affordable housing is available to everyone in the state. Many families are living in poverty and struggling to keep up with the rising costs of rent and key utility bills. The Louisiana Homeless Coalition and its partners, such as Center Point Hope, are organizations that can provide help and support.
Special Needs housing programs
This is a program for people who need help with housing. It provides a comprehensive approach to stability. There are programs in place to help those who are truly vulnerable, including victims of domestic violence, immigrants, people with chronic substance abuse, single parents, Louisiana residents with serious mental illness, and HIV/AIDs families. This means that people who have served in the military or who have physical disabilities and live in poverty also have special needs.
The Louisiana Homeless Coalition will work to meet the needs of homeless people in the state by using funds from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The programs available offer financial aid for housing expenses as well as access to federal government HUD supported programs. Some examples of housing assistance programs for people with HIV/AIDS or other disabilities include the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program and the Section 811 Housing program in Louisiana.
There are many resources available to help people with special needs. Some organizations that work to end homelessness are the Northeast Louisiana Housing & Supportive Services Corporation, Center Point Hope for Homeless, and the central and Southwest Louisiana Homeless Coalitions. The help that each of these provides varies. HOPWA provides direct financial assistance for utility or rent payments, while Section 811 offers a voucher service. There is also help available for immigrants who need to find a low income apartment and who need help adjusting to life in the area. Some type of assistance is provided.
In addition to men, women and children are also a focus in Louisiana. There are programs to help people who are fleeing domestic violence and also to help single mothers who are currently homeless. There are many different types of situations that can be addressed. The Louisiana Homeless Coalition provides children with housing and care.
When parents have to pay for a lot of things for their child, like food, child care, and rent, it can be hard. The coalition will provide vouchers for child care and low income apartments to women and their children.
Programs also emphasize the importance of keeping families together. A stable, two income household is necessary to end a cycle of poverty. This means that half of the households headed by a single person in Louisiana are having difficulty affording their housing, but almost none of the households with two wage earners are having the same issue. The Louisiana Homeless Coalition provides assistance to homeless people by helping to keep them together as a family unit.
Additional resources from the Louisiana Coalition
The government tries to help families who are struggling with housing and to prevent homelessness. The Coalition is a major supporter of coordinating resources across the state. They bring together organizations that are based on faith, local parish governments, non-profits, groups such as the United Way, and even businesses. The state is looking for ways to reduce homelessness and is asking for help from the public. They have information on government programs that can help prevent homelessness or help people find housing quickly, and they can refer people to those programs if they qualify.
Most of the financial aid that people seek comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). There are many groups who administer grants from this government agency, and the Coalition is one of them. We are trying to raise money to help with housing needs in areas of the state that are most in need.
For information on Louisiana Homeless Coalition affiliated programs, please call the following numbers. The Mental Health and/or Substance Abuse Hotline at 1-800-662-4357 can provide you with information about section 811 housing in Louisiana. If you are HIV positive or have AIDS, you can call (318) 442-1010 for information on housing programs. If you are a woman or child who is a victim of domestic violence, you can call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-411-1333 for information on housing programs.