Community planning processes take a lot of work. I recently participated in one such process and worked on the resulting report, A Landscape Assessment and Strategic Plan for Increasing Economic Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness in Whatcom County. The goal of the plan is pretty straightforward: expand the opportunities of people who have experienced homelessness to develop skills, increase income, and improve self-sufficiency.

What did it take to pull the plan together? For one, a committed Steering Committee -- with leadership from Greg Winter of Whatcom Homeless Service Center and Barbara Leveque of Whatcom Community College -- that met once a month for almost a year. Getting homeless and employment services providers that had never met before in the same room was key, as was gaining the cooperation of large systems like Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and WorkSource. Together we struggled with the larger and more complex questions around homelessness and learned from each other's client stories of hardship and triumph. We completed extensive research on the characteristics and work readiness of people experiencing homelessness, the existing network of employment and education services available in the county, and the county's current economic context (not always an easy one!). Finally, we had our plan in hand.

And yet truth be told, a plan is just a plan and needs people to bring it to life. The folks in Whatcom County are doing just that by developing a homeless employment collaborative* (Strategy #1 outlined in the report). The collaborative will be made up of agencies focused on implementing programs to improve employment outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

Community planning processes take a lot of work, and that work can really pay off in the end. Whatcom County is off to a great start!

(*To learn more about this type of model, please refer to Appendix 5 of the report which outlines the work of the Supportive Housing Employment Collaborative (SHEC) in San Francisco, CA.)