Dothan Housing & SEACH Merge to Address Homelessness in the Wiregrass Metro Area
SEACH Becomes a HUD-approved Continuum of Care (AL-508)
Dothan Ala.— Dothan Housing (DH) and the Southeast Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (SEACH) contracted with the Low-Income Housing Coalition of Alabama (LIHCA) to conduct an organizational assessment of SEACH’s ability to function and apply to become a Continuum of Care (CoC). LIHCA’s overall recommendation was for SEACH to formally partner with DH by becoming the MTW Expansion Agency’s fourth nonprofit under the agency’s umbrella to apply to become a regional CoC.
“We are thrilled to welcome SEACH into the Dothan Housing family,” said Samuel P. Crawford, CEO of DH.
The merger resulted in SEACH becoming a HUD-recognized CoC with the new name, AL-508, covering the same five counties (Dothan-Houston, Henry, Dale, Coffee, and Geneva) in the WMA as DH’s Wiregrass Regional Voucher Program (WRVP).
“As one of the co-founders of SEACH, it has been my dream to address homelessness with affordable housing solutions in the area.” David C. Jamison, Board Chairman of DH.
Simultaneously, during this timeframe, DH and SEACH partnered with Collaborative Solutions to create the WMA 10-Year Strategic Plan to End Homelessness that focused on utilizing DH’s MTW flexibility and Special Purpose Vouchers (SPVs) to address homelessness in the region. DH’s Director of MTW & Strategic Initiatives, Tera Wells, led the organizational assessment and ten-year strategic plan.
“This collaboration will allow us to use our MTW flexibility under Local Non-Traditional Activities for rental subsidy programs like Rapid Rehousing, supportive services such as homeless outreach and homeless counseling, and affordable housing development programs to purchase motels for permanent supportive housing, said Dr. Michael C. Threatt COO of DH.
The CoC will be a conglomerate of various organizations and nonprofit agencies seeking to provide solutions to local citizens experiencing homelessness or on the verge of becoming homeless. Nonprofit organizations and agencies interested in joining the CoC can attend the upcoming SEACH meeting on March 7, 2024, or email Tera Wells at tswells@dothanhousing.org for an application.
The next step for the newly formed CoC will be applying for funding with HUD to launch programs that will help fulfill the goals within the 10-year strategic plan. For more information on SEACH, its merger with Dothan Housing, or available homeless solutions, please contact Jack Porter at 334-500-3835 or visit the new SEACH office starting March 11, 2024, located inside OCHEC (Dothan Housing’s New Administrative Headquarters) on 1001 Montana St. Dothan, AL 36303.
