Two groups of Elon students working in two separate academic years provided the crucial research to help secure more than $600,000 in new federal resources to fight homelessness in three Piedmont North Carolina counties.
Six senior seminar students working during the fall 2003 semester under the supervision of Dr. Betty N. Morgan, associate professor of political science and public administration and director of Elon’s Center for Public Affairs, conducted the initial research. The students designed the survey instruments, conducted field-based interviews and related research, and aggregated and analyzed the data from over 100 surveys on the state of homelessness in the area.
The Alamance County Interagency Council for Homeless Assistance (ACICHA), headed by its volunteer president Suellyn Dalton, submitted the data to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
ACICHA’s and Mrs. Dalton returned to the campus in December 2004 hoping to secure additional student assistance to support the next level of the application process. Dr. Morgan, about to leave for a Fulbright residency in Lithuania during the spring 2005 semester, made arrangements with Tammy Cobb, Outreach Coordinator with Elon’s John R. Kernodle Jr. Center for Service Learning, to work directly with ACICHA in her absence. Ms Cobb and Kat Cochrane-Yamaguchi, Assistant Director of Volunteer Service and Service-Learning, arranged with Dr. Beth Warner, assistant professor of human services, for her winter term 2005 “Call to Service” Global Studies class to pick up the effort. The GST students collected a second round of interview and submitted the raw information to ACICHA for analysis.
The combined student–faculty–community partnership led to the HUD award of $604,740. The data-driven grant focuses on expanding, modernizing and re-thinking homeless services in the region. AICHA will distribute the grant to three primary initiatives: $321,720 to Alamance-Caswell Area MH/DD/SA Program for Shelter Plus Care (SPC) housing vouchers in Alamance and Caswell Counties; $133,020 to The New Reidsville Housing Authority for SPC housing vouchers in Rockingham County; and $150,000 to Residential Treatment Services in Burlington, NC for rehabilitation services and the opening of a Mebane Street transitional living facility for homeless, recovering women.
Founded in 1999, ACICHA is certified by the Alamance County Commissioners as the official body for Federal Homeless Continuum of Care program planning, oversight, and accountability. The group is responsible for the annual Federal Point in Time head count and accompanying data required for most HUD funding for homeless persons.
ACICHA is always open to participation by new members and meets on the first Monday of each month at Allied Churches offices in downtown Burlington. The participating agencies represent the broad spectrum of groups serving homeless persons in the greater Alamance county area. For more information about ACICHA contact, Suellyn Dalton, (336) 438-2035.
Participating students from Dr. Morgan’s fall 2003 public administration senior seminar class were:
- Jennifer Cushman
- Kara Fultz
- Graham Grosvener
- Rory McFatridge
- Zachary Palmer
- Cecelia Thompson
Participating students from Dr. Warner’s January 2005 class were:
- Mark Brewin
- Kelsey Davis
- Kendra Nickel
- Sara Shortt
- Amanda Zamzes