Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative Inc
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) was formed in 1994 to reduce homelessness in the Denver metropolitan area by coordinating housing assistance, supportive services, and related resources available from local stakeholders. MDHI brought together 70 organizations, including homeless service and housing providers, local and state government agencies, foundations, mental health centers, neighborhood groups, and people with lived experience of homelessness to develop a Continuum of Care for residents experiencing or at risk for homelessness.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
OneHome
The OneHome program is a regional, client-centered process that enables our community to assess and identify the housing and support needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, target outreach and housing navigation for those with the greatest need, and match the right level of service and/or housing intervention to these individuals as quickly and efficiently as possible, while being respectful of client choice and local providers.
Metropolitan Denver CoC
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) CoC Program guides and supports the development of local continuums of care (CoCs) for persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Under a contract with HUD, MDHI leads the ongoing development of the CoC that serves the seven-county Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. This entails coordinating the acquisition of annual HUD CoC Program funding for homeless assistance providers in the area, as well as evaluating and enhancing the delivery of homeless assistance services throughout the region.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
MDHI's goal is for homelessness to become rare in the Denver metropolitan area and, when an individual or family does experience homelessness, for it to be a brief, one-time occurrence. The regional community is pursuing this vision by developing plans of action with shared goals and coordinated agendas; building the capacity of funders and homeless assistance providers to implement best practices that quickly resolve housing crises; measuring results, monitoring system performance, and holding funders and providers accountable; and communicating transparently and continuously to stakeholders about progress toward these objectives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
MDHI works with each county in the metro region to ensure that planning groups, service providers, and other stakeholders have the resources and support that they need to move forward in planning and implementing strategies to prevent and end homelessness. Over the past two decades, MDHI's Coordinating Committee has worked with representatives from all seven metro counties, which include more than 40 municipalities, to help them develop strategies and plans for reducing homelessness.
MDHI's cross-jurisdictional reach and collaborations with government agencies, service providers, mental health agencies, employment specialists, landlords, foundations, and homeless and formerly homeless representatives allow the organization to leverage expertise and best practices from around the metro area and the country. The members of MDHI's board of directors and committees ensure communication and collaboration across the seven-county region, with representation from city and county governments, housing authorities, mental health centers, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the private sector, formerly homeless individuals, and local residents.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Organized in compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program, the Metropolitan Denver CoC linked MDHI, serving as a coordinating umbrella organization, to participating stakeholder organizations and individuals. With support from HUD and other public and private sources, MDHI has since become a regional leadership body that coordinates resources and services, identifies needs, and disseminates best practices for ending homelessness.
As leader of the Metropolitan Denver CoC, MDHI evaluates the outcomes of projects supported by HUD under its CoC and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) programs. ESG funding provides needed resources for outreach, homelessness prevention, emergency shelters, and rapid re-housing, while CoC funding supports rapid re-housing, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing. Project performance is evaluated through the application of relevant metrics to periodic reporting and assessments; the results help to inform CoC-governance and CoC-grantee discussions about project-specific and CoC-wide priorities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the past year, MDHI has successfully implemented coordinated entry across the seven county region and made significant improvements to the annual Point in Time survey.
Across the MDHI Continuum of Care in 2017, the OneHome coordinated entry system and team helped lease up: 32 Youth Households, 26 Family Households, 105 Non-Veteran Individual Households, and 526 Veteran Households.
As we continue into 2018, we look forward to making improvements to the regional HUD funding, implementing written Rapid Rehousing Standards, launching a new regional ESG program, and improving governance and Continuum of Care membership policies and procedures.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative Inc
Board of directorsas of 04/12/2018
Melanie Lewis Dickerson
Community Solutions
Andrew Alsip
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Maryjane Carr
Community Representative
Claire Clurman
Community Representative
Patricia Hall
Federal Government Employee, Retired
Brenton Hutson
Volunteers of America
Daphne McCabe
Boulder County Housing & Human Services
Shelley McKittrick
City of Aurora
Bob Munroe
Solvera Advisors
Brian Ngo-Smith
Aurora Mental Health Center
Benjamin Ryan
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Erik Soliván
Community Representative
Eugene Wade
Downtown Denver Partnership
Lori Rosendahl
Jefferson County Housing Authority
Stevi Gray
CO Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Jamie Rife
Purposity
Malinda Anderson
Urban Peak
Ken Hayes
Boulder County
Cheryl Secorski
CO State Dept of Local Affairs
Alix Midgley
Dept. of Regional Affairs, Adams County
Board leadership practices
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No