The Coalition for the Homeless is thrilled to announce that we are the winner of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence‘s 2014 Pyramid Award for the Art of Social Innovation! A special thanks to Dick and Ardi Wilson for their sponsorship of this very competitive award.
Bed One-Stop offers a centralized way for homeless people to secure a bed at any of Louisville’s emergency shelters. Now, homeless individuals and families can reserve beds by stopping by 1300 S. Fourth Street, Suite 200, Monday through Friday from 10-1:30, or by calling (502) 637-BEDS from 10-2 seven days a week. We also maintain a centralized waiting list for homeless families and contact them when there’s an opening that meets their specific needs. Through this coordinated effort, we’re preventing homelessness by making referrals to relevant services in the community.
In our first year, we took calls from nearly 9,400 homeless clients and met with nearly 1,700 people. In that same period of time, we referred over 2,200 people to local homeless prevention services. We have also improved the accuracy of our homeless client data from 60% to 96% in just the first year of the program.
This is an effort that would not be possible without the participation of four of our fabulous member agencies: Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, Volunteers of America, and Wayside Christian Mission. We have simply multiplied the benefit of their existing emergency shelters, which provide critical assistance to our neediest Louisvillians. It also wouldn’t be possible without our phenomenal Bed One-Stop staff members: Megan Pardue, Jayme Campbell, and Lisa Bauer. Finally, we are grateful to the PNC Foundation for their generous support of this program.
The Coalition will accept this award on Friday, October 24, at the CNPE Pyramid Awards of Excellence Luncheon.
The Coalition for the Homeless’s mission is to prevent and eliminate homelessness in Louisville through advocacy, education, and the coordination of our 30 member agencies. We have been the lead advocate for Louisville’s homeless since 1986, when we were founded after several people died on Louisville’s streets. Our programs succeed in addressing the root causes of homelessness and in making services to the homeless more cost-effective, efficient, and humane.
Our member agencies provide housing, food, clothing, health care, counseling, and legal services to the homeless–from veterans living on the streets to families living out of their cars. Our job is to evaluate the needs of the homeless and of our agencies, to identify and address gaps in services community-wide, and to implement smart, long-term solutions.