Inter-County Community Action Council YHDP - Youth Homeless Demonstration Project

In July of 2018, the Northwest Continuum of Care (NWCoC) was awarded one of eleven grants nationally for the Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP,) totalling 1.4 million dollars. YHDP was designed to help communities build local systems and support a wide range of housing programs to end youth homelessness. As the collaborative applicant for the NWCoC, Inter-County Community Council (ICCC) began the process of developing systems and mapping out coordination efforts to work towards reducing and eliminating homelessness for youth in Northwest Minnesota. In the fall of 2019, three projects were funded, one being ICCC.

In partnership with Mahube-Otwa Community Action Partnership, Northwest Community Action, and Tri- Valley Opportunity Council, ICCC is working towards developing a safety net of services to strengthen youth, preserve families, and help support successful transitions to adulthood for homeless youth, age 16-24, in eleven counties (Clearwater, Polk, Red Lake, Pennington, Marshall, Norman, Lake of the Woods, Roseau, Kittson, Hubbard, and Mahnomen) of Northwest Minnesota. To accomplish this, ICCC and partners provide navigation, case management, and housing for unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults. The rapid rehousing model used for this grant also includes rental assistance and case management for up to 24 months.

In an effort to end youth homelessness and support and enhance the YHDP efforts, ICCC was recently awarded a Building Systems Grant through the Northwest MN Foundation. These funds will continue our partnership with NWCAP and TVOC, and be used to promote programming and make youth homelessness resources available and accessible anywhere in Northwest Minnesota.

To date, ICCC and partners have housed a total of 14 youth and are currently assisting 8 youth with finding housing.

Find us online:

Website: https://intercountycc.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InterCountyCommunityCouncil/