06/18/2012

CSH Charrette in Indiana: Solutions Beyond Shelter

CSH presented the final Solutions Beyond Shelter report to the political leaders and members of the Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County communities today. This report was developed through the CSH Charrette and includes recommendations to assist the community in ending homelessness. Read about the process leading up to Charrette week in "Greater Lafayette Community Meetings"  posted in The Pipeline on May 3.

Charrette Week kicked off on June 12 with two full days of intense dialogue at Jefferson High School with the conversation focusing on six issue areas: 1) Housing: from Homelessness to Permanent Housing,  2) Interagency Coordination and Access, 3) Health: Physical Health, Mental Health and Addictions, 4) Homelessness Prevention, 5) Re-entry, and 6) Employment, Education and Training. More than 200 people participated in the Charrette process.

During Charrette week each of the issue areas was explored in a “fishbowl’ setting with a group of experts sitting in a circle surrounded by community stakeholders. Two hours was dedicated to each topic with the first hour focused on local and external experts engaged in a dialogue about new systemic and programmatic responses to each issue area. Experts from diverse communities and organizations drew from their experiences and expertise to exchange views and craft suggestions for moving forward. During the second hour the community members surrounding the fishbowl had an opportunity to respond to what they had heard and offer their own suggestions on the issue areas, bringing the broader expertise of the community to the discussion.  Debrief sessions were held with each fishbowl group after the larger meeting to capture their feedback and reflections on the issue area.

CSH staff then drafted recommendations that were presented to the Community at a meeting on June 15. CSH used feedback from this meeting to refine the recommendations that were included in the final report. The Solutions Beyond Shelter team will now use this report to develop an implementation plan for their community to provide a framework that will support them meeting their ambitious goals.

“This will require a paradigm shift in the community and with the agencies - how can we do a better job as a community to pool our resources to offer flexibility and also allow for matching each other’s resources,” said CSH’s Lindsey Bishop Gilmore.

Read USICH’s take on the CSH Charrette

Local media coverage of the event

WBAA Public Radio 

 Journal & Courier  

 

Copyright 2022 ©  by CSH. All Rights Reserved