Continuum of Care (CoC)
A Continuum of Care (CoC) is a regional strategic planning body that works on housing and related services with the goal of reducing homelessness. The CoC includes prevention, outreach and assessment, emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing – many partnerships!
In Minnesota, there are 10 CoC’s; St. Louis County happens to be its own CoC where others are more regional (e.g., the Northeast CoC is made up of counties surrounding St. Louis County). Each CoC has governing board (Heading Home Advisory Council in St. Louis County) and a CoC Coordinator who works with partners and community to coordinate HUD funding for various rapid-rehousing, transitional and permanent supportive housing projects. The CoC Coordinator also supports community wide planning and project monitoring and support.
Lived Experience Council
The St. Louis County (SLC) Lived Experience Council (LEC) has been serving as SLC’s Continuum of Care (CoC)’s advisory and action group to work on improving our homelessness response system since 2021. The LEC is comprised of people with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability from across SLC. LEC members provide their valuable time, energy, and expertise to guide SLC CoC. They also work directly with the SLC CoC governing board, the Heading Home Advisory Council (HHAC) and other program areas.
Heading Home Advisory Committee
The Heading Home Advisory Committee is the community-directed entity responsible for oversight of homelessness planning, coordinating, and funding activities in the St Louis County Continuum of Care (CoC).
CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
Each year, HUD administers a grant program called the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition, also known as the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This grant was previously called the Notice of Funding Availability or “NOFA”. This roughly $3.5 million grant supports infrastructure and services for people experiencing homelessness within the St. Louis County CoC planning region. St. Louis County has been designated by the Heading Home Advisory Council as the Collaborative Applicant, which is responsible for coordinating the NOF in our community. This website contains relevant information and documentation for the NOFO and will be updated as needed, especially during the competition phase, from July through the Fall.
FY 25 COC NOFO Update
On
January 8-9, HUD circulated an update via the SNAPS listserv and republished
the FY24-25 CoC Program NOFO with updated dates. These announcements were in
response to the Court Order to HUD to prepare to honor the structure and
priorities of the FY24-25 NOFO.
The
final decision of the court cases about the CoC NOFO
may impact this
award process. However, we will complete our application process before the
court cases are decided, so we are acting as if this process is the final one.
Renewals were not ranked or reviewed this year and there are no tiers. Renewal projects do not need to submit a local or esnaps application. Project expansions and transition grants need to apply in esnaps. Expansion and transition project applications will be placed
in the ranking order of the project they are requesting to expand or transition. Keep in mind, depending on how the court case goes and if we do receive detailed guidance, our process may change.