Welcome

The West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition, Inc. was organized to develop the West Piedmont Planning District's Continuum of Care planning and implementation of services to address homelessness in the area. The organization evolved from a sub-committee of the West Piedmont Planning District Commission to the creation of a Steering Committee, made up of representatives from a wide variety of public and private agencies and organizations, to address the needs of homeless individuals.

The WPBHC serves the cities of Danville and Martinsville, and the counties of Franklin, Henry, Patrick, and Pittsylvania. The West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition, Inc. seeks to assure that every individual and family, including the at-risk, has a safe, quality, and affordable place to live. We seek to provide a continuum of care for the citizens of these areas.

Our Mission

The Coalition will advocate for safe, quality and affordable housing for those in need, including the homeless, through leadership, assessment, coordination, and expansion of existing services and creation of new resources.

What Does Homelessness Mean

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition states:

"The Continuum of Care is a community plan to organize and deliver housing and services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless as they move to stable housing and maximum self-sufficiency. It includes action steps to end homelessness and prevent a return to homelessness."

The Continuum of Care serves three main purposes:

1. It is a strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the community, based on the identified needs of homeless individuals and families, the availability and accessibility of existing housing and services, and the opportunities for linkages with non-homeless mainstream housing and service resources;
2. It is a strategic process to develop a broad based, community wide, year round initiative; and
   
3. It is an application to HUD for homeless-targeted housing and services resources.

Services and Resources include, but are not limited to:

• Homeless Prevention - Assistance to help people maintain their housing and prevent homelessness.
  
• Outreach, Intake and Assessment - To identify an individual's or family's needs and link them to appropriate housing and/or services.
  
• Emergency Shelter - Short term, safe and decent shelter provided as an alternative to the streets.
  
• Transitional Housing - Housing with supportive services to help people develop the skills they need to live in permanent housing.
  
• Supportive Services - Supportive services should be available throughout the Continuum of Care in order to address the specific needs of each individual. Supportive services may be provided in conjunction with housing, or through referral. Services should be available to address both the immediate and long term needs of homeless persons, such as education, employment assistance, health care, substance abuse treatment and mental health care, child care, transportation and other services.
  
• Permanent Housing - Affordable housing in which residents pay no more than 30% of their income for housing costs.
  
• Permanent Supportive Housing - Housing with supportive services designed to allow persons with disabilities to live in the community as independently as possible.

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