Homebase of the Virginia Peninsula Inc.
Anne Davis, Executive Director
PO Box 58
Hampton, Va. 23669
(804) 825-9485
(804) 825-9498 fax

Concerned about fragmentation, duplication of effort and gaps in service among agencies serving homeless people in the Virginia Peninsula (from Hampton to Williamsburg), a community forum sponsored by Metro United Way came up with the strikingly simple idea that led to this effective, low-budget initiative: One central non-profit agency would coordinate all the community's resources and services for homeless people, conducting intake (by telephone, 24 hours a day and seven days a week) for every family and individual -- homeless or at immediate risk of homelessness -- approaching any community agency for services.

"NOBODY goes to a shelter without going through this office first," Anne Davis explained. Any individual who comes to any service agency on the peninsula is put in touch with HomeBase by telephone, where an intake worker with an answering service hired by contract interviews the individual or family in detail to determine not only its immediate needs but also longer-range concerns, before making the most appropriate referral.

This process, using a computerized housing and services resource database, pulls together all the region's service providers in an integrated service. HomeBase develops the database, takes responsibility for coordinating all referrals to emergency shelter, and serves as a clearinghouse for donated food, linens, furniture and household goods for homeless families.

With the mission of minimizing, and where possible preventing, homelessness, HomeBase lists numerous initiatives beyond direct information and referral. It seeks grant funding to provide emergency assistance; develops a network of hotel and motel rooms for donated emergency shelter when other shelters are full; develops state tax-credit incentives for donors; develops volunteer mentors to support families recovering from homelessness; and works with public and private agencies to develop and maintain other programs.

Receiving support from United Way and the federal equivalent and grants, HomeBase works out of a suburban bank building with a staff of three full-time employees, one part-time worker and volunteers, and gets by with a lean budget of less than $100,000 a year.

Davis notes one challenge to replicating this otherwise effective program: It can be very difficult, especially for a non-profit organization, to overcome turf wars among the agencies served. For this reason, most of the few successful replications have been administered by city agencies, as in St. Louis, where the organization that dispenses funding is in a stronger position to enforce compliance. It's possible for a non-profit to do it, as HomeBase's success reveals; but Davis admits that it wasn't easy. "It takes a lot of work, a lot of persuasion," she said. "We have to prove that we're not here to threaten but to help, and that every agency is vital to the continuum of care."

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