About Us

Homelessness can happen to anyone.

Just last year, nearly 4,000 people experienced homelessness in the City of Flint and Genesee County community. 11% of this population were unsheltered, living on the streets or in other places not suitable for dwelling.

Continuum of Care (CoC) is a community working together to achieve access to safe and affordable housing for all residents of Genesee County. Metro Community Development serves as the CoC’s Lead Agency.

Our Contribution

Each year the Genesee County Homeless Awareness Task Force coordinates volunteers to count homeless citizens in Genesee County. This count, called the Genesee County Homeless People Count, normally takes place during the last 10 days of January. This is an actual count of homeless people throughout the county. Volunteers take to the streets in an attempt to locate homeless citizens in public places, parks, and any other place that has been identified as a place where homeless people congregate or are living. The purpose of this count is to get a good baseline number of the homeless people in the county who may or may not be receiving services and to take resources and information directly to the people who need them.

Each year the Genesee County Continuum of Care coordinates volunteers to count homeless citizens in Genesee County through the Point-in-Time Count.

What is the Point-In-time Count?

The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of people who are experiencing homelessness on one night in January. This count helps provide a snapshot of who is homeless in our community. It is also an opportunity to help us better understand the needs in our community so that we can advocate for resources to meet those needs and measure our progress towards ending homelessness. The PIT count counts persons who are homeless and staying in unsheltered locations and persons who are staying in shelters on the night of the PIT. The sheltered PIT count is conducted using our community’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The unsheltered count is conducted by finding and interviewing people who are not in a shelter on the night of the PIT.

When is the Unsheltered PIT Count?

The Unsheltered PIT Count is mandated by HUD. The last unsheltered PIT Count was conducted on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Outreach teams will continue to work with the unsheltered populations throughout the year. 

Past PIT Count Data

Full reports of the number of persons counted in past PIT counts may be found here.

Continuum of Care Lead Agency Members

Tracey Hurd, CoC Lead Agency VP – thurd@metroflint.org

Erika Humphrey, CoC Coordinator – ehumphrey@metroflint.org

Aaron Rowell, CoC Administrative Assistant – arowell@metroflint.org

Continuum of Care Governance

Essence Wilson, CoC Governance Chair – ewilson@communitiesfirstinc.org

Debra Hayes, CoC Governance Co Chair – Programs – debrahayes1.mbk@gmail.com

Sharese Stapleton, CoC Governance Co Chair – Fiscal – shearesestapleton@mothersinstituteparentingwell.com

Jean Troop, CoC Governance Secretary –  jtroop@genhs.org

SOAR Stakeholders

SOAR (SSI.SSDI Outreach Access and Recovery) program increases access to Social Security disability benefits for people with behavioral health issues experiencing or at risk of homelessness

Quality By-Name List

Monthly inter-agency gathering that works on aiding homeless people with housing and resource solutions 

Continuous Quality Improvement

Works to focus on improving and stabilizing the critical components of care so the outcomes can improve for clients

CoC Executive Governance Board

Steering committee for the Continuum of Care 

Homeless Awareness Week

Designed to educate the public, draw attention to the problem of poverty, and build up the base of volunteers and supporters for local anti-poverty agencies. Groups spend this week generating publicity about hunger and homelessness and holding a series of events to engage the community

HMIS Agency Administrators

Meeting of all agencies utilizing the Homeless Management Information System 

Homeless Court

The Flint Genesee Homeless Court is a collaborative court addressing homelessness in the 67th District Court of Genesee County, MI. Learn about FGHC and the relief it can and cannot offer.

Fiscal Workgroup Subcommittee

Provides oversight strategy over projects and programs in present and future funding.

Our Mission

A community working together to achieve access to safe and affordable housing for all residents of Genesee County.

The Flint/Genesee County Continuum of Care (CoC) is a federally mandated body of homeless service providers. The CoC works in partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) towards the common goal to end homelessness in the United States within 10 years. Each year the Flint/Genesee County CoC applies for funding to support local efforts to prevent and end homelessness. Metro Community Development serves as the CoC’s Lead Agency.

Our Partners & Collaborating Organizations

  • Here in the Flint/Genesee County Continuum of Care (CoC) there are 31 projects participating in HMIS. HMIS is designed to assist with the following goals:
    • Produce an unduplicated count of persons experiencing homelessness for each CoC
    • Describe the extent and nature of homelessness locally, regionally, and nationally
    • Identify patterns of service use
    • Measure program effectiveness

The service providers offering these projects include