Members of the City and County Commissions:

A recent news story quoted the Executive Director of another agency claiming “GRACE doesn’t report it’s [sic] true numbers to anyone.” That same individual also sent the City Commission an email stating that GRACE receives “over 100k in non-grant funds from the City for Cold Night Shelter.” I am writing to respond briefly to these inaccurate statements. 

As you know, we report an extensive amount of data to your staff monthly, including key performance metrics, outputs, and outcomes. All of this data is supported by reports pulled directly from the community’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). To the second point: GRACE provides Cold Night Shelter services at no additional cost to the City. 

We understand the difficult situation St. Francis House finds itself in, and we remain committed to working with that agency, and all other partners, to further the important work of ending homelessness. We have reached out to St. Francis House asking for more details on the situation. However, after asking twice for data to support their allegations, we have received none. Instead, we have learned only that St. Francis House feels frustrated that GRACE got “credit” for housing individuals who were living unsheltered in the vicinity of their downtown shelter. In a handful of cases, unsheltered individuals were placed into housing units owned by St. Francis House, the Sunrise Residence Inn, where SFH acts as a landlord. No homeless service agencies credit the landlord for a successful housing placement, whether that landlord is a private business or a social service agency. Rather, the housing placement is correctly attributed to the agency that facilitates the person’s transition out of homelessness by coordinating services, securing needed documents, eliminating barriers that would prevent housing placement, building relationships, and ultimately helping the individual sign the lease that ends their homelessness.

Ending homelessness is collaborative work, and while GRACE is a large piece of a community-wide effort, we are only as effective as our partnerships, our approach, and our willingness to approach this work with integrity and transparency. Our full response to this issue, including direct links to examples of our data reporting and our audited financial statements, is available for review on our website. I have also attached samples of the most recent monthly data we have reported to City and County staff.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or if there is additional information we can provide to you. 

Sincerely, 

Jon DeCarmine, Executive Director

GRACE