July 12, 2024
HealthNet Gaston was recently awarded the Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) Grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Catawba County is one of 20 NC counties that the YHSI will focus on, starting this fall. The goal is to establish and implement a response system for rural youth homelessness (through age 24).
This will include:
· Improve the capacity of youth in participating communities.
· Establish a broad, regional, collaborative partnership network.
· Help Coordinated Entry Systems address the needs of at-risk and homeless youth.
· Improve data collection, analysis, and use between systems.
· Assess, address, and improve equity in the youth homeless response system.
HealthNet Gaston is currently working to raise awareness of this outreach. It plans on conducting a regional needs analysis and evaluation with local strategy
Recommendations, create and support Youth Action Boards (regional and local) that empower youth who are experiencing, have experienced, or are at-risk of experiencing homelessness.
It will also assess and recommend Coordinated Entry System improvements and provide education, information, training and support to assist local communities in implementing their rural response system addressing youth homelessness.
The other western North Carolina counties covered by the grant are: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, and Transylvania.
For more information about the local outreach and how to help, contact Carson Dean, HealthNet Gastonia technical advisor - Carson@carsondeanconsulting.com.
HealthNet Gaston is a nonprofit healthcare organization in Gastonia, NC that also provides homeless services.