The Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless

The Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH) is a non-profit organization located in Omaha, Nebraska. This program is funded by the federal government and is responsible for distributing those funds to the direct service providers in the community.

MACCH started as a rental assistance program that funded basically anyone who needed it, but later developed a more data-based system that focuses on specific communities that are more at risk of homelessness. By collecting data from all the individuals applying for their program, they were able to equally separate funds while taking into account things like race, ethnicity, and gender.

The original program had flaws in its ability to reach certain groups, including: individuals and families that do not speak English, undocumented individuals, and homeless youths (specifically LGBTQ).

Karina El-Refai is the program manager and assistant director of housing stability services at MACCH, she helps run the operations within the program and keeps relationships and communications consistent with other organizations and the government.

El-Refai helped find loopholes in the system that allowed for certain marginalized groups to better access their program. When individuals apply for funds or programs they often have to answer questions about their gender identity and ethnicity, however many programs limit these options or leave them out completely. When the same groups of people are experiencing homelessness, it is important to document which groups they are part of so that changes can be made to better help those specific communities.

“The treasury may not have identified or acknowledged specific races or specific genders in its data but it was important to us as we developed this program to make sure that those categories existed,” El-Refai said.

There are many restrictions in who can be given government funds through non-profit organizations, which can exclude many groups that need housing assistance. “Every single funding source that your working with has different restrictions, with us specifically, we have to serve adults, who are active lease holders, who fall within our specific target zip codes, and are named on a lease, so unfortunately, that automatically excludes youth who may have utilized this resource,” El-Refai said. El-Refai put emphasis on the lack of organizations that can financially help homeless youth because of funding restrictions made by the government.

El-Refai also touched on the lack of experience that many case-workers have. “Historically, a lot of nonprofits have white men that lead them, without lived experience, and without an experience of what it’s like to have any kind of marginalized identity,” she said.

El-Refai said that this cycle is starting to break in Omaha, there are more case-workers and people with experience getting involved in homeless organizations. “Folks with experience and who have marginalized identities are coming to the table and helping to shape these programs that ultimately better support folks in need of services,” she said.

MACCH works closely with direct service providers to help individuals who need assistance in finding housing. As an organization that controls large government funds, they have to be precise with where their money is going and how it is being used.

“Every state has a continuum of care that acts as an overarching organization that provides support and structure to direct service providers, and MACCH, for Omaha, is that continuum of care,” El-Refai said.

MACCH continues to expand and provide funding to individuals and families that need it as well as work closely with direct service providers to reach a wider variety of people. MACCH has several upcoming collaborations with homeless organizations in Omaha that will allow them to continue collecting data to analyze to better understand how they can help specific groups that are at risk of homelessness.

To learn more about the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH), visit http://www.endhomelessnesstoday.org/

Subscribe