I am Jeffrey Max Chambers, and I am the project director for a diversified conglomerate of efforts at CCFL, loosely fitting under the “division” name of Community Services. We used to also be known as the “Small but Meaningful Projects Assemblage” but things got out of hand in terms of scale. These projects include basic research efforts and program evaluations in a wide range of areas involving children and families in the community; to providing management information system work for basic and emergency needs programs including the Nebraska Homeless Management Information System; to homeless system planning and homeless services program development and implementation; and developing, implementing, and managing Nebraska’s Homeless Coordinated Entry System.
Team members are Tamara Cartwright (for the past 14 years and about a week more), Angel Shafer, Mary Bothwell, Denise Packard, Abby Burianek, and Alex Labenz. Members of other projects I direct are Allison Jones, Maggie Thompson, Toby Burnham, and Mark Cooper.
There are some nifty activities we are working on currently in addition to day to day requirements of our system. A few of these include finalizing the Homeless Point in Time count, Housing Inventory, and System Performance Measures for Nebraska Balance of State and Lincoln. We are currently writing a proposal for a $1 million + Youth Homeless Demonstration Project Grant for the rural areas of Nebraska. We are continuing refinement of the homeless coordinated entry system. We are working to write up a publication for some work with the Iowa Parent Partner Mentoring program, and finalizing reports for the Lincoln and Lancaster County’s Truancy Diversion Program and Juvenile Justice Diversion effort. We are also working on the addition of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska to our Management Information System and generating reporting for the Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals and Nebraska’s Community Response efforts in primary CAN prevention.
You can find out more about some of our work at the Ensuring Everyone Counts website: http://ccfl.unl.edu/community-services-management
Our goal for the upcoming year, as it is every year is, continuing and building upon our award winning, non pareil services and support to those in our state and community helping those most in need. Keeping. If we keep ahead of the HUD monitor, end chronic and youth homelessness, and recruit the last remaining emergency shelters in the state to join the HMIS we’ll also consider it a good year.
Come on down and visit us on #9 we’re here early and often.
Jeff M. Chambers (aka Walt)