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.
FY24-FY25 COC NOFO Update
HUD made the decision to fund all renewal grants. As a result, no expansions or new projects were funded and consolidations did not occur.
FY26 CoC NOFO
Renewing projects have been scored on their data-driven scores and 2 new data elements that were introduced this year. SLC CoC is waiting for the FY26 NOFO to publish and will provide materials for the community and any new projects who may be interested in applying at that time. Click here to see NOFO updates from HUD.