Providing services to, providing housing for and initiating programs to improve the quality of life for our area homeless families and individuals.
Homeward Bound is the Centralized Intake location for the Macon County Continuum of Care and through a collaboration of its partnership agencies, made up the Governing Board for the Macon County Continuum of Care, and is funded through grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Homeward Bound provides supportive housing, case management and supportive services and necessary referrals to homeless persons living in the Decatur/Macon County area. It was established in 1995 from the work of the newly formed Homeless Council Continuum of Care. Now, more than 20 years later, the Homeward Bound program continuing to meet its original concept, has added components, and is diligently working to meet the needs of homeless individuals and families.
Special Needs: chronic disability, chronic physical or mental health, substance addiction, history of DV or childhood abuse/neglect, or a child/youth with disability
Barriers: No HS/GED, illiteracy, low English proficiency, criminal history/detention, unstable employment history
The national average age of a homeless individual is 9 years old.
Many individuals and families in our area are homeless and many more are at risk to become homeless. HUD requires all of their funding recipients to conduct a biennial, 24-hour period survey of homeless persons in the areas served.
(households with at least 1 CH adult were added to the definition in 2011)
Adult
Disability
Homeless for:
Case Management & Supportive Services
All Homeless persons are eligible for these services:
Transitional Housing
Homeward Bound houses families and individuals in 18 apartments on West Macon Street in Decatur owned by the Community Investment Corporation of Decatur, a non-profit community development corporation. More than 25 other units are available through a leasing agreement property management companies in the area.
Intake Process
Homeward Bound clients are referred by staff from emergency shelters and area human services agencies. No formal referral is required. Intake orientation explains the requirements of the program, and what is expected of participants. When accepted into the program, the Outreach Specialist gathers pertinent information as required by HUD and then a case manager begins working with a client. A participant can be in the program, as long as they are working productively on their individual case plan, for 12 months to 2 years. Six months of follow-up services are available to those leaving transitional housing.
Permanent Housing Programs
Permanent Supportive Housing, Dove, Inc. leasing several units throughout the community and these units are used to provide supportive housing to those individuals and families that are eligible for permanent support. Homeward Bound provides the services. Families/Individuals must be homeless, have a diagnosable disability and need continued support services to qualify for permanent supportive housing.
Elmwood, owned by Elmwood I, Inc. h, opened in 2003. First Presbyterian Church and Dove, Inc. partnered on the refurbishing of these classic apartments in Decatur’s Historic District. Homeward Bound provides case management for those living in these eight units of permanent supportive housing.
Harbor Place is eight units of permanent housing for women, with children, who have successfully completed the first stage of substance abuse treatment and are looking for a safe place to continue their rehabilitation. Dove, Inc., owns Harbor Place and Homeward Bound provides the services.
St. James Place SRO's, which opened in 2008, is a permanent housing project, owned by Dove. There are 14 SRO units of permanent housing for chronically homeless individuals. Supportive services are provided by Heritage Behavioral Health Center.
CoC Application Priority Listing and Project Listing are available for review
PUBLIC NOTICE
Decatur-Macon County Continuum of Care (IL-516)
FY 2018 Continuum of Care Application
Objective Selection and Ranking of Projects
The Macon County Continuum of Care (CoC) announces the availability of grants to prevent and end homelessness through the United States Department of Urban Development’s “Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Fiscal Year 2018 Continuum of Care Competition.”
Notification and Solicitation Availability of Grants for Homelessness
CoC Rankings and Project Selections FY2017
The Homeless Council is now accepting applications for new projects.
Request for CoC Project Applications posted july2017.pdf
Macon County Continuum of Care Invites Letters of Intent for the FY18 Emergency Solutions Grant Program ESG 444-80-0496.
The Macon County CoC is now accepting Letters of Intent for the FY18 State of Illinois ESG grant (#444-80-0496). ESG Grants are available in the category of Emergency Shelter, Street Outreach, HMIS, and Rapid Re-Housing only. The State has indicated that Homeless Prevention money for remaining in current housing will not be offered for the FY18 competition. Interested organizations may apply for individual components or multiple components. For more information on program components please visit http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=82943 In order to be considered, interested agencies must complete the following by 11:59 CST on April 11, 2017. It is highly recommended that you review the GATA resource library for information about the new State of Illinois granting process).
The Macon County CoC Governing Board will convene later in April to consider applicants to be invited to apply. You will be notified by email of the Board’s decision.
FY2016 Project Priority Listings
To review the Continuum of Care Review Score and Ranking Procedures and Process for Reallocating documents, please link below
Point in Time Results
