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An official website of Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin county

Projects and initiatives

Continuum of Care

Partnership to end homelessness

The Continuum of Care supports coordination of the countywide effort to prevent and end homelessness. This effort addresses homelessness at all levels. Continuum of Care committees include elected officials, housing and service providers, advocates, people who’ve experienced homelessness, and cross-sector partners.

Governing boards and committees

Hennepin County is proud to be the collaborative applicant on behalf of the Hennepin Continuum of Care. In this capacity, our responsibilities include:

  • Preparing and submitting an annual collaborative application to HUD
  • Submitting the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, and System Performance Measurement (SPM) data
  • Convening and providing staff support as needed for CoC boards and committees

The Hennepin CoC boards and committees contribute to the governance structure of the Hennepin CoC. The Executive Committee is the lead decision-making body. Several active and engaged CoC committees, subcommittees, and working groups in Hennepin County contribute to and lead efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

Full description of the CoC governance structure (PDF, 1MB)

Continuum of Care governance committees

Heading Home Hennepin Executive committee

  • Act as champions for efforts to prevent and end homelessness, as evidenced through public advocacy, funding and external communications.
  • Provide an enduring forum for broad-based, collaborative and strategic leadership on homelessness in Hennepin County 
Previous meetings

Tuesday, June 16 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 31 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.

Monday, December 8 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Thursday, September 18 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Monday, June 30 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Previous meeting recordings

Contact

Email David at david.hewitt@hennepin.us.

HUD McKinney Vento CoC funding committee

  • Monitors and evaluates performance of all projects funded by Continuum of Care, per HUD guidance
  • Solicits new project applications (if new funds are available), and recommends the ranking of current projects submitted annually — HUD makes final funding allocations based on a competitive national application score and process, based on how our CoC is moving the gauge on HUD System Performance measures

Meetings

  • First Monday of the month, 1–2:30 p.m.
  • Attend virtually through Microsoft Teams

Contact

Email Laura at laura.derosier@hennepin.us.

Homeless prevention and rapid rehousing advisory committee

This committee helps the county develop and oversee homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services.

Meetings

  • Third Tuesday of the month, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Meetings held virtually

Hennepin County coordinated entry leadership committee

  • Informs policy and procedure development and revisions for the family Coordinated Entry System
  • Provides guidance to help ensure consistent application of CES policies and procedures

Meetings

  • First Tuesday of the month, 10 a.m. to noon
  • Attend virtually through Microsoft Teams 

Contact

Email: ces.hennepin@hennepin.us

Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG)

  • A committee of community members, that draw from their own lived experiences to be voices for those that otherwise go unheard
  • Work with government officials and grant administers to influence how money is spent and decisions are made
  • Partner with neighbors and community members to educate and advocate for a better future where homelessness no longer exists in our community. 

Hennepin County LEAG is not currently accepting applications for new members. 

Meetings

  • Second Monday of the month, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
  • Meeting held virtually

Contact

Email Eric at eric.richert@hennepin.us

Grants to reduce homelessness

Hennepin County applies for federal funding on behalf of our partner nonprofits, to help their work to reduce homelessness.

  • Federal money comes from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) McKinney Vento Continuum of Care
  • Money goes for grants to local partners
  • Partners help people find and stay in housing
  • People served are single adults, families and youth who meet HUD’s criteria for homelessness
  • The county and its partners compete nationally to receive the money

2026 Continuum of Care Competition and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program Grants NOFO 

The 2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP) Grants NOFO is HUD’s yearly funding opportunity to support local work to end homelessness.

Application documents

The following application documents will be added when available:

  • 2026 CoC ranking process, procedures and appeals
  • 2026 CoC priority list
  • 2026 CoC collaborative application Questions

Laura DeRosier, Hennepin CoC coordinator
laura.derosier@hennepin.us

2026 CoC NOFO new project pre-applications

New projects must submit a new project pre-application. The pre-application is submitted directly to the Hennepin/Minneapolis Continuum of Care (MN-500) for review, local ranking, and approval, prior to the national competition. Details and deadlines will be added when available.

New Project pre-applications for the following project types

Details of the project types are indicated with the page numbers from the FY2026 CoC and YHDP Program Grants NOFO document

  • Transitional Housing (TH) – (p.63-64)
    • Non-profit organizations are not authorized to administer rental assistance, as outlined in statute 24 CFR 578.51(b)
    • Non-profits may:
      • Use non-CoC funds for rental assistance, requesting CoC funds for supportive services, operating costs, project administration, or indirect costs;
      • Request CoC funds for leasing; or
      • Request CoC funds for rental assistance if you enter into a subrecipient agreement with your State, local government, or a Public Housing Authority (PHA) to administer rental assistance under your transitional housing project.
    • Currently, Hennepin County cannot administer rental assistance.
  • Support Services Only (SSO) – very specific service requirements/expectations (see p.64-66)
  • Stand alone – (p.64-65)
  • Street Outreach – (p.65-66)
  • Coordinated Entry – (p.66)

New project pre-application documents

Questions

Laura DeRosier, Hennepin CoC coordinator
laura.derosier@hennepin.us

Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025 

The Youth Homelessness NOFO for FY2024 and FY2025 combines Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP) and Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Grants (YHSI) funding. YHDP funds direct housing and services for homeless youth, while YHSI funds system-level work including planning, coordination, and capacity-building.

As the collaborative applicant for the Hennepin Continuum of Care (CoC), Hennepin County will coordinate and submit a YHDP application. Community organizations are encouraged to explore applying for YHSI funds.

Hennepin CoC is accepting proposals for Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Voucher Supportive Services Only (SSO) projects that meet HUD and local requirements and serve people in Hennepin County. Projects must have an active Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hennepin County for FYI vouchers.

Application documents

Tentative timeline

July 14 – NOFO overview recording posted to website
July 14 – Pre-application released
July 20 by 5 pm – Pre-application due to Hennepin County
July 27 – Notify selected applicants
TBD – Submit Project Applications in e-snaps
July 31 – Priority List posted
Aug 6 – Consolidated Application posted
Aug 10 – Consolidated Application and Priority List submitted to HUD

The following application documents will be added when available:

  • FY2024/2025 YHDP priority list
  • FY2024/2025 YHDP collaborative application questions

FY2024/2025 new project pre-applications

Hennepin CoC is accepting proposals for Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Voucher Supportive Services Only (SSO) projects that meet HUD and local requirements and serve people in Hennepin County. Projects must have an active Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hennepin County for FYI vouchers.

Questions

Laura DeRosier, Hennepin CoC coordinator
laura.derosier@hennepin.us

Data and research

Current data and trends

Hennepin County single adult homeless shelters dashboard

Annual Point in Time count

  •  Point-in-time count

Detailed evictions overview

Eviction dashboard

Evictions research

Homeless response system research

Family homelessness research

Related pages

Contact

Office to End Homelessness