Washtenaw Housing Alliance

1. Washtenaw Housing Alliance Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti & Washtenaw County Michigan

2. A Plan is Just a Plan…… • We Make the Road by Walking • History of Housing Alliance • Structure & Governance • Challenges in Implementation • Lessons Learned

3. A Quick Hit of History • Alliance Pre-Dates 10-Year Plan • Formed in 2000/2001 • Builds on Success of Initial Community Campaign Responding to Homelessness (2001-2003) • Alliance Delegated Authority by “Powers that Be” in 2003 to Create and Implement 10-Year Plan • “Blueprint to End Homelessness” Published in Fall, 2004 • “Phase 2” Action Planning and Early Implementing Now Coming to Close

4. Structural Elements that Support Success • Incorporated Non-Profit Entity • Partnership of Public, Private and Non-Profit Sectors • Delegated Authority • Local Government Has Unofficially Designated The WHA to Oversee Implementation of 10-Year Plan • Community “Buy-In” (both literal and figurative) • County, Cities, Businesses, Community Leaders • Collaborative Management Strategy • Lean Staff – Focused on Process Management • Engagement of Core Providers in Governance Process

5. It’s NOT “Who’s the Boss?”“It’s the Collaboration, Stupid!” • Commitments to Collaboration Embedded in Organizational Structure • Structure and Function Build on Respect for Importance of Provider-Driven Process – Most Vested Owners Are Helping “Drive the Train” • Active Engagement of Jurisdictional, Mainstream Systems, and Community Leadership is Key

6. Board Structure Supports Function • Board of Directors and Community Leadership • 4 appointees – St. Joseph Mercy Health System • 8 appointees – Community Members • 4 appointees – Service Providers (Operations Committee) • Operations Committee • Key to Provider Participation • Standing Committee of the Board of Directors • Recently Expanded from 10  28 Member Agencies

7. Shared Vision/Shared Leadership • Reliance on Blueprint Vision and Mission as “Community Glue” • Reliance on Community Board Leadership • Promoting Community Advocacy, Investment, and Ownership • Building Public Support and Political Will • Reliance on Alliance Member Leadership • Issues Leadership & Agenda-Setting • Assessment and Review of Action Plans and Implementing Strategies

8. Who’s Minding the Store? • Small Core Staff • Executive Director • Administrative Support Manager • Program Planning & Evaluation Coordinator • Development Director • Staff Provides Instrumental Leadership and Follow-Through in Intermediary Functions • Process Management • Scheduling & Coordination • Work Group Orchestration and Integration • Coordinates Outcomes Evaluations • Data Integration • Communications

9. More on Staff Roles • Focused on “Keeping It Simple” • Minimizing Bureaucratic Expectations • Avoiding Funding Competition in Services Domain • Focusing on Centralized and Coordinating Functions • Assists in Creation and Publication of Work Group “Products” • Emerging Functions / Potential New Roles • Housing Resource Coordination • Centralized Homeless Response/Gaps Case Management • Data Management/HMIS Coordination • Continuum of Care Coordination

10. Key Staff Skills and Sensibilities • Big Picture and Long-Term Vision • Flexibility • Pro-Active Administrative Support • Facilitate Collaborative Leadership • Diplomacy in Perpetual Cycles of Negotiation

11. Challenges: Funding and Administrative Operations • Mobilizing Ongoing Operations Budget • Treading Lightly in Heavily Trodden Paths • Avoiding Undermining Members’ Needs • Cultivating “Community Partners” as Sponsors • Managing Pass-Through Funding • How Much Administration? • How Much Management and Oversight? • How Much (If Any) of an Administrative Fee? • Special Fund-Raising Initiatives • Supportive Housing Services Campaign (Housing First) • Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative

12. Challenges: Integrated Funding • New Community Funding Model Emergent from Blueprint Process • Integrated Funding Plan Driven by Major Community Funders • Funding Coordination Focused on “500 Unit Plan” • Reliance on Provider-Based Funding Recommendations

13. Challenges: Balancing Values • Managing Sometimes Conflicting “Cultural” Values in the Trenches • “Housing First” vs. “Housing Ready” • “Dry” vs. “Wet” Housing • “Voluntary” vs. “Mandated” Services • Inclusiveness in Process vs. Organizational Efficiency • Ability to be Flexible and Nimble in Decision-Making • Ability to Exploit Unanticipated Opportunities

14. Challenges: Managing Collaboration • Managing Conflicts That Arise When Players Wear Multiple “Hats” • Balancing Agency-Specific Interests vs. Community Interests • Aligning Intersecting/Overlapping Community Initiatives • Early Childhood Initiatives, Youth Services Initiatives, Adult Literacy Initiatives, Aging Initiatives, Substance Abuse Initiatives, etc… • Facilitating Strategies for “Shared Leadership” • Decision-making in Collaboration Requires Clarity, Openness, Transparency, and Hard Work

15. Challenges: Data Development • Who’s Driving the Data that Drives the Process? • Need to Manage the Flow and Shape of Data • Need Broader Buy-in to Community Info System Than HMIS Systems Have Typically Nurtured • Developing Data Meaningful for Policy-Making and Systems Change Processes

16. Challenges: “Building the Plane While Flying” • Change is a Constant • Responding to Political & Economic Shifts in Community • Sensitivity to “Life Stages” of Process • Building Structure that is Self-Sustaining • Sustaining Funding for General Operations • Nurturing New Leaders & Participants • Continuing to Educate Community – “Old News” • Building “Shared Leadership” Models • Expanding Membership Generates New Concerns • Cultivating Norms for Collaborative Governance • Negotiating Relationships with Community Leaders

17. What Do We Know Now That We Wished We Knew Then? Planning and Action • Need to Focus a Little More on Action and a Little Less on Planning (too many groups taking too long and focusing on too much) • Need to Go Where Community’s Energy Flows (sometimes the time is right for action even if it isn’t in the plan) • Need to Maintain Allegiance to Practice Principles and Outcomes More than to Particulars of Original Plans (plans laid in Year 1 aren’t always in synch with Year 3 realities)

18. What Do We Know Now That We Wished We Knew Then? Governance and Decision-Making • Need Stronger and More Clearly Defined Institutional & Jurisdictional Supports • Need Better Models for Shared Decision-making (especially when it involves policy and systems change initiatives)

19. What Do We Know Now That We Wished We Knew Then? Collaboration Matters • When You’re Committed to Community Systems change, the Locus of Control is Never Really Terribly Clear….. • Collaborative Planning and Governance is Heck of a Lot Harder than it Looks • Whatever the Cost, Collaboration is Worth the Price of Admission

20. Contact Information Washtenaw Housing Alliance PO Box 7993 Ann Arbor, MI 48107 734-222-3575 www.whalliance.org Chuck Kieffer Executive Director (kiefferc@ewashtenaw.org) 734-645-0810