RURAL NEVADA CONTINUUM OF CARE PURPOSE

The RNCoC is a united coalition of community and state systems that assist homeless and unstably housed residents in the rural and frontier regions of Nevada to obtain or retain housing, economic stability, and an enhanced quality of life through comprehensive services. The RNCoC addresses critical issues related to homelessness through a coordinated community-based process of identifying and addressing needs utilizing not only HUD dollars but also mainstream resources and other sources of funding.

BACKGROUND

The Continuum of Care (CoC) is a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The RNCoC serves over 12,000 individuals and families each year by connecting its most vulnerable populations to Emergency Shelter (ES), Transitional Housing (TH), Rapid Re-housing (RRH), and Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) with a key on supporting clients through life skills training, employment and education supports, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The CoC program “is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.” Through the designation of geographic areas as local implementations of the CoC, HUD promotes collaboration, coordination, and data-driven decision-making. Additionally, through the annual CoC Competition, HUD provides essential funding for housing and supportive services for homeless individuals and families.  For the Rural Nevada Continuum of Care to adhere to these requirements and remain competitive for federal funding, they require CoC Coordination expertise.

A CoC’s responsibilities and duties include:

• CoC Governance
• Systems Operations and Planning
• Operating Homeless Management Information System
• Overseeing Coordinated Entry System
• Preparing and Submitting Annual Funding Application to HUD

The Rural Nevada Continuum of Care (RNCoC), HUD code NV-502, also called the Nevada Balance of State, coordinates homeless services across 95,000 square miles in the 15 counties that comprise this geographic region.  These 15 rural counties and cities include: Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing, Storey, and White Pine. Winged Wolf Innovations, LLC (WWI) serves in a consulting capacity within the Rural Nevada Continuum of Care (RNCoC) to coordinate efforts around Continuum of Care (CoC) funding awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).