Release Date

Homeless Strategy Division: Organizational Capacity Building Initiative

The City of Austin is committed to making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. Accomplishing this goal will require deep investments across the array of services and programs within and adjacent to the Homelessness Response System. To ensure the effectiveness of these investments, our community must also invest to strengthen the capacity of organizations that work directly with our unhoused neighbors to resolve their homelessness.

The City has committed $106.7M of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to advance the following three-year goals established as part the Finding Home ATX initiative – a community-led initiative that brought a diverse group of organizations, community advocates, and issue area experts to develop a comprehensive plan to help end homelessness:

  1. House an additional 3,000 individuals;
  2. Add 1,300 new units of affordable housing for the population experiencing homelessness; and
  3. Build a better Homelessness Response System (HRS) by ensuring program access and outcomes are equitable, investing in social service provider capacity building, and developing stronger system oversight and performance management functions.

The City’s ARPA spending framework includes funds for organizational capacity building. The primary focus of this funding is to (a) help organizations effectively expand services and deepen impact; (b) improve equitable access & outcomes across services; (c) support the integration and elevation of minority-led, smaller, and newer organizations into the HRS and build pathways for these organizations to access government funding; and (d) increase cultural competency of service provision throughout the HRS.

Awarded organizations

September 9, 2022: City of Austin to Help 21 Non-Profits Tool Up to Address Homelessness

  • A New Entry Inc.
  • African American Youth Harvest Foundation
  • Austin Area Urban League
  • Austin Mutual Aid
  • Austin Voices for Education and Youth
  • Building Promise USA
  • Change 1 Mind Change 1 Life
  • LINC Austin Outreach
  • Mission Accomplished
  • No More, No Más, Inc.
  • Purposed By God Outreach Ministries
  • Queertopia
  • Roslyn’s Novel
  • Saffron Trust Womens Foundation
  • Springdale Park Neighbors
  • Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center
  • The Charlie Center
  • The Other Ones Foundation
  • Thrift-ish
  • Walking by Faith Prison Ministry
  • We Can Now

Overview of the Assessment, Acceleration, and Small Grants Program

In line with these goals, The City’s Homeless Strategy Division is partnering with the City’s Office of Innovation to allocate up to $1.0M for this Organizational Capacity Building Initiative. The purpose of this Initiative is to help organizations prioritize organizational capacity investments, receive technical assistance to quickly implement short-term capacity investments, and/or participate in a cohort-based accelerator program addressing capacity building needs. This application will be used to select awardees to participate in the Organizational Capacity Building Initiative process.

What does the program offer? 

Awardees will be required to complete a Needs Assessment with Blue Sky Partners that will assist service providers in assessing and prioritizing organizational-level investments to scale services and deepen impact for individuals experiencing homelessness. Additionally, Awardees will participate in one or more of the following based on the outcome of their needs assessment:

  • Cohort-based accelerator, a several week-long intensive program designed to enhance readiness to meet the level of need and funding present in Austin;
  • Technical assistance to implement short-term capacity investments, such as business model planning, legal services, staff training, and/or technology development;
  • Direct, one-time grants to address needs identified through Needs Assessment, such as staffing, consultants, and/or equipment.

Awardees will execute a contract with the City’s Innovation Office Funding to receive up to $45,000 in services and/or small grants. Awardees will be compensated $2,500 for their time upon completion of the required Needs Assessment with Blue Sky Partners. Based upon the findings of the Needs Assessment, Awardees will have the potential to be awarded up to $42,500 in additional funding for participation in the cohort-based accelerator program, technical assistance services, and/or direct grants to fund short-term capacity needs.

Who is eligible to apply?

This opportunity is open to registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities that serve or support people experiencing homelessness within the City of Austin and Travis County. Applicant must be (or be willing to become) a registered vendor with the City of Austin. Review the Rubric Guidelines for application scoring.  

What is the program timeline?

  • Application open for submission: May 26, 2022
  • Application submission deadline: June 16, 2022 (by 11:59 p.m. CDT)
  • Awardee selection and notification: late June / early July 2022
  • Needs assessment start: July 2022
  • Accelerator start: to be determined based on needs assessment

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are organizations from outside of Austin eligible to register and receive this grant?

Organizations from outside Austin are eligible to receive a grant if the services they provide are located in Austin, and if they are able to complete the in-person capacity building program components.

Will organizations who offer preventative and/or supportive services be considered for this opportunity?

This initiative will prioritize capacity building for organizations with a mission to serve populations currently experiencing homelessness and/or serving populations enrolled in programs that support housing stability, but will consider organizations who offer preventative and supportive who demonstrate work with the aforementioned populations.

Can an individual division of a larger nonprofit apply, or does the application have to be for the whole organization?

Applications can focus on an individual division or program within a larger entity, however only one application will be accepted per organization.

If an organization is applying with a fiscal sponsor, can the sponsor also submit a separate application for their own project?

An organization who is acting as a fiscal sponsor for another organization's application may submit an application of its own if the proposed work and/or services are different.

What are some examples of barriers that organizations may have to pursuing government funding?

Some examples of barriers that organizations may have are (but are not limited to): not meeting insurance requirements, not having board governance/policies in place, lack of grant writing expertise, and inadequate financial management practices.

What if our organization does not have issues receiving government funding, but still needs help with capacity building?

Removing barriers to government funding is only one issue that this initiative aims to address. Organizations who have other/additional capacity building needs are encouraged to apply.

If our organization is adequately staffed, will this initiative be able to identify and address additional needs to increase our impact?

Yes, the Needs Assessment will determine if staffing or human capital is needed based on the desired outcomes of the organization. If such a need is determined, it could be addressed through the Accelerator and/or technical assistance.

What type of organizational representative would be best for the Needs Assessment?

The person best to represent the organization in the Needs Assessment has insight into all aspects of the organization and decision-making authority within the organization, along with the time and capacity to do the work involved. Said representative should have power to make decisions or direct access to decision-makers.

Does the organization need to know what they want their outcome to be in order to be considered for this initiative?

This application aims to collect hypotheses of capacity building needs and desired outcomes. The Needs Assessment will help narrow focus and determine needs and desired outcomes best addressed through this initiative.

Given the expressed goals of this Initiative, how are smaller organizations being prioritized through this application evaluation process to be competitive with larger, more established organizations?

The expressed priority and explicit goal of this initiative is to support and better integrate smaller, minority-led organizations into the Homeless Response System. Applications will be scored based on their overall proposals and content, not on the quality of writing, supporting materials, etc. The program is open to all organizations doing impact work in the homelessness space. Additionally, this program is designed to better equip smaller organizations to solicit funds through the HSD's second, larger capacity-building grant program later this year.

What is the maximum award per organization for this grant process?

The maximum award that an organization will receive though this program is $45,000.

How many awards will be made in this phase? Will this type of funding be offered again within the next 12-18 months?

The City is deploying $3M of ARPA funds to capacity building through two phases. The first is this small grants program, and to follow is a second, larger grant program which will be activated via solicitation process through a City department later this summer. This current small grants program will be implementing up to $1M to 10-20 organizations. The number of awardees and award amount will be determined by the number of applicants and the strength of the applications in aligning to the expressed goals of this initiative, with potential for a second call for applications. 

What is the difference between this small grant versus the pending large grant cycle?

This program has a maximum award of $45,000, with amount and purpose determined through needs assessment. It includes potential capacity-building components that include technical assistance, and accelerator program, and smaller cash grants. The larger capacity-building grant program, which will occur later this year, will entail larger cash grants awarded through a solicitation process.

Could an organization be awarded in this program, and the larger capacity building solicitation later this year?

Yes, an organization may be awarded in both programs. Participation and award in one phase is not a condition to apply or be awarded in the other.

When will the funding be released/awarded?

The completion of the Needs Assessment is mandatory before the disbursement of any funding. The timeline of payment(s) is conditional on collaboration and completion of the tasks between Awardees, Blue Sky Partners support, and the City. All funding disbursements and uses of funds are subject to City approval.

How and to whom will the results of the Need Assessment be made available?

The information from each Needs Assessment will be available to the assessed organization and Blue Sky Partners, and the City of Austin Homelessness Strategy Division, Office of Innovation, and Purchasing Office. The City may use anonymized data and themes/findings from Needs Assessment in other initiatives and work products. All information collected and produced by the City of Austin is subject to Public Information Request laws.

Is it possible that Blue Sky Partners will find different needs that we were not expecting during their assessment? If so, will we be able to address those needs with this funding? 

Yes, it is possible that the needs identified during the assessment will differ from those expressed in the application. Funding and support provided to address capacity needs will not be constrained to needs expressed in the application, but instead will be determined by the needs assessment.

Who is Blue Sky Partners and why has the City chosen to work with them?

Blue Sky Partners is an Austin-based organizational capacity building and consulting firm that has done incubators and accelerators for City of Austin in the past. Their capacity building programs are tailored for social impact and not-for-profit organizations. They do not have a membership model/requirements to access their services.

What is the specific definition of Persons with Experience of Homelessness (PEH)? In this context, does this include persons on the periphery or at risk of homelessness?

Generally, this initiative is targeting organizations that serve individuals who are experiencing literal homeless and/or enrolled in programming aimed helping individuals attain housing and life stability. The program will prioritize organizations that serve this population; however, this program is open to organizations serving the at-risk population. We will ask applicants to elaborate on how/why the populations they serve are at-risk of homelessness.  

Please refer to the definition of homelessness in regard to this initiative outlined below:
 

Definition of Homelessness:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has interpreted the definition of homelessness as established in The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act As amended by S. 896 The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 in the Emergency Solutions Grant (24 CFR 576) and Continuum of Care Program (24 CFR 578) as follows:

Homeless means:

  1. An individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning:
    1. An individual or family with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground;
    2. An individual or family living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals); or
    3. An individual who is exiting an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution;
  2. An individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence, provided that:
    1. The primary nighttime residence will be lost within 14 days of the date of application for homeless assistance;
    2. No subsequent residence has been identified; and
    3. The individual or family lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain other permanent housing;
  3. Unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, but who:
    1. Are defined as homeless under section 387 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5732a), section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832), section 41403 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14043e-2), section 330(h) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(h)), section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012), section 17(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(b)), or section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a);
    2. Have not had a lease, ownership interest, or occupancy agreement in permanent housing at any time during the 60 days immediately preceding the date of application for homeless assistance;
    3. Have experienced persistent instability as measured by two moves or more during the 60-day period immediately preceding the date of applying for homeless assistance; and
    4. Can be expected to continue in such status for an extended period of time because of chronic disabilities; chronic physical health or mental health conditions; substance addiction; histories of domestic violence or childhood abuse (including neglect); the presence of a child or youth with a disability; or two or more barriers to employment, which include the lack of a high school degree or General Education Development (GED), illiteracy, low English proficiency, a history of incarceration or detention for criminal activity, and a history of unstable employment; or
  4. Any individual or family who:
    1. Is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence;
    2. Has no other residence; and
    3. Lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, and faith-based or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing.

 

At Risk of Homelessness means

  1. An individual or family who:
    1. Has an annual income below 30 percent of median family income for the area, as determined by HUD;
    2. Does not have sufficient resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, immediately available to prevent them from moving to an emergency shelter or another place described in paragraph (1) of the “Homeless” definition in this section; and
    3. Meets one of the following conditions:
      1. Has moved because of economic reasons two or more times during the 60 days immediately preceding the application for homelessness prevention assistance;
      2. Is living in the home of another because of economic hardship;
      3. Has been notified in writing that their right to occupy their current housing or living situation will be terminated within 21 days of the date of application for assistance;
      4. Lives in a hotel or motel and the cost of the hotel or motel stay is not paid by charitable organizations or by federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals;
      5. Lives in a single-room occupancy or efficiency apartment unit in which there reside more than two persons, or lives in a larger housing unit in which there reside more than 1.5 people per room, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau;
      6. Is exiting a publicly funded institution, or system of care (such as a health-care facility, a mental health facility, foster care or other youth facility, or correction program or institution); or
      7. Otherwise lives in housing that has characteristics associated with instability and an increased risk of homelessness, as identified in the recipient's approved consolidated plan
On the application, there is specific data that our organization does not collect, such as the number/percent of employees with lived experience. Can you speak to this?

Organizations are able to input short responses such as "unsure," "unknown," or "not collected" in such instances where the information is not collected or known.

If you have additional questions about the program that are not answered above, email Nirav Shah (program contact).

Awarded organizations

  • A New Entry Inc.
  • African American Youth Harvest Foundation
  • Austin Area Urban League
  • Austin Mutual Aid
  • Austin Voices for Education and Youth
  • Building Promise USA
  • Change 1 Mind Change 1 Life
  • LINC Austin Outreach
  • Mission Accomplished
  • No More, No Más, Inc.
  • Purposed By God Outreach Ministries
  • Queertopia
  • Roslyn’s Novel
  • Saffron Trust Womens Foundation
  • Springdale Park Neighbors
  • Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center
  • The Charlie Center
  • The Other Ones Foundation
  • Thrift-ish
  • Walking by Faith Prison Ministry
  • We Can Now

September 9, 2022: City of Austin to Help 21 Non-Profits Tool Up to Address Homelessness