SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Soon someone new will lead the helm of guiding the collective of tri-county’s homelessness services.
READ MORE: Tri-county homeless count 60% higher than last year, numbers of unsheltered children on the rise
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The Cape Fear Homeless Continuum of Care is a partnership of community partners in New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties working to help end homelessness. Former director of the CoC Judy Herring has accepted a position elsewhere in the state and her last day was Aug. 25. The agency announced this week Andrea Stough will be taking her place starting Sept. 25.
Stough will be stepping in at a crucial time when the CoC is developing its next three- to five-year strategic plan.
The CoC began preparation for the plan in March, which includes assessing the agency’s current data, completing a gap analysis report with feedback from CoC members, holding listening sessions with the public and ultimately presenting a strategic outlook.
Stough, current residential services director of Open Gate Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, has more than 20 years working in nonprofits, specifically with the unsheltered population. She’s been with DVVS since April 2009, first as its outreach coordinator, working with community partnerships, programs and support groups, and taking over management of the shelter in January 2020.
The pandemic came just two months later and led to an uptick in domestic violence survivors seeking services.
Since Florence hit, which also destroyed DVVS’ shelter at the time, the nonprofit has assisted more than 4,000 clients. Since the pandemic began, DVVS executive director Lauren Bryant told PCD last October, shelter services increased 300% and overall calls for service jumped 157% from the prior year.
Having served on the CoC board of directors the last two years, Stough said she’s been heavily involved with the CoC and touts the collaborative spirit as the biggest draw.
“I was able to work alongside people doing similar things I was doing,” she said of the CoC board. “Eventually, what I noticed was we got far better outcomes for our residents because we were able to connect them to services or folks better than we were able to do [alone.]”
Stough is also currently the CoC’s coordinated entry committee chair, an initiative that is the first line of open services for someone in need of assistance. The committee collects necessary information on an individual seeking help and ensures the person is guided to the most appropriate place.
“We are excited about the knowledge and experience she already has in CFHCoC policies and procedures, as well as her passion for the CFHCoC mission,” CoC vice chair Kyle Abrams said in a press release.
Stough plans to bring her two decades of social services experience to the table to continue homing in on community partnerships, expanding the reach to “nontraditional” partners, such as developers and business owners.
“[They’re] starting to be more vocal about the issue,” she said. “How do we come into a partnership together to work through that and it be mutually beneficial?”
In her role at DVVS, Stough noticed the number one issue in the community is stable affordable housing, something she said was compounded by the “perfect storm” of Hurricane Florence and the pandemic. It left more people experiencing homelessness.
Data collected by the CoC’s point in time count for 2023 shows 558 individuals currently identify as homeless, up from 347 in 2022’s count. Good Shepherd’s community engagement coordinator Liz Carbone pointed out during a March homelessness forum the numbers fluctuate in “peaks and valleys.”
For instance, spikes have coincided with damage to the housing stock caused by Hurricane Florence in 2018 by about 50% and almost 90% by 2022, following the pandemic.
It’s been a collective effort, from nonprofits, City of Wilmington and New Hanover County to assist.
Stough praised the work already underway, including the Getting Home program, a joint effort between county social services workers and Wilmington Police Department to interact with those experiencing homelessness and connect them with needed resources..
“They have just interesting, creative things, like the bin den, to look at solutions,” Stough said.
The Getting Home team launched bin dens in December, as a way to safely store people’s belongings and also leave the streets clutter-free. Since its inception, 60 people have utilized the bin den and 27 are currently storing their belongings.
The CoC has also recently been working toward a way to reroute donations to being dropped off to homeless encampments and make sure they instead go to the proper nonprofits for distribution.
“A lot of folks in the best intentions drop off items, but then folks have trash or have to carry stuff around, and I watched the group come together to, how do we creatively problem-solve this?” she explained. “Alone in our silos it’s not working. I look forward to clear communication and getting more folks on board.”
Bringing more people with lived experience to the table is another of Stough’s missions.
“They know better than anyone what you may need or what services might be most useful,” she said. “I’ve learned in the last 15 years what I think would be helpful could be the last thing on a survivor’s mind.”
While Stough’s past work and skills will aid in position, she knows she has a lot to learn — such as the complex funding system — and plans on leaning on Herring and fellow board members for knowledge and support.
Herring is staying on part-time through Sept. 28 to assist with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development CoC grant applications completed.
The federal government through HUD is the main source of appropriations dedicated to the homeless population. Additional money cycles through the state, the city and county and nonprofits.
Aside from administering grants, Stough will be responsible for staffing the CoC, supporting its mission and values, coordinating the local system of assessment and prioritization services for the homeless population. She also will ensure the tri-county’s participating organizations follow federal guidelines.
“It’s a critical time,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to getting my hands dirty.”
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