The areas shaded in red are covered under the Continua of Care that were awarded the SOAR TA Grant.

Late last year, the National SOAR TA Center issued an RFP for technical assistance grants. The awards are targeted specifically to Continuua of Care – the local coalitions of providers serving persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This RFP was open to CoCs in all fifty states. We are very excited to announce that five CoCs in Illinois were awarded this grant:

• IL 500 (McHenry)
• IL 501 (Rockford)
• IL 502 (Waukegan, North Chicago, and Lake County)
• IL 510 (City of Chicago)
• IL 515 (South Central Illinois)

While there is no direct funding, this grant provides the following opportunity to CoCs:

• A one-day local planning forum facilitated by the National SOAR TA Center in conjunction with a designated local lead and the State leads. At this forum – critical components of SOAR are described and participants will develop their action plan for establishing the community infrastructure and collaborations needed to effect systems change and implement the SOAR process.
• The grant also provides the opportunity for the local lead from the CoC to attend (at no cost) an upcoming Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academies are designed to help the local leads learn how to facilitate and support SOAR processes in their region.

The State Leads look forward to working with the awarded CoCs. Congratulations!