Today is my last day as the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (LA BOSCOC)’s Continuum of Care Manager. I hope you will indulge me in a few words before I step off this stage.
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First, however: I am overjoyed to announce that the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) has detailed Carrie Patterson into the position of Continuum of Care Manager, effective immediately. Before her promotion, Carrie served as the LA BOSCOC’s Continuum of Care Coordinator. You can reach her at cpatterson@lhc.la.gov.
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When I came to Louisiana in 2017, the LA BOSCOC existed in name only. It had been founded in 2015 with four parishes (Natchitoches, Sabine, Plaquemines, St. Bernard) and had merged with the Lake Charles Region in 2016, but I was its first full-time staff person and almost none of our core documents or structures existed. Who belonged to the LA BOSCOC? What did ‘belonging’ mean? What did it do? What was it for?
We have spent the last five years answering those questions together. In that time, we:
Grew our annual CoC Program funding by more than $10 million, from $11.8 million in FY 2016 to a projected $22 million in FY 2021;
Successfully secured 100% of all competitive CoC Program funding offered from FY 2017 to FY 2020, including highly competitive DV Bonus funding;
Merged with the Baton Rouge Region and Houma Region, more than doubling the LA BOSCOC’s geographic area, coalition size, and service population;
Reformed our Governance Charter, creating a Board with equal parts statewide and local representation and empowering open-door committees to meaningfully impact our daily operations;
Developed Written Standards (and revised them several times) to explain — to ourselves and others — what people could expect from us and our housing projects; and
Created a nationally recognized Coordinated Entry System that began as a complicated waiting list and has evolved into a sophisticated housing solution for the overwhelming majority of people it serves.
…and most importantly, we have built an LA BOSCOC that will continue to grow and thrive regardless of whether any one person or group of people are involved. The LA BOSCOC is recognized both statewide and nationally as a force for positive change in the lives of people experiencing homelessness, for organizations serving people experiencing homelessness, and for housing policy in all of our spheres of influence.
This is the moment when the LA BOSCOC evolves from the “founder” model to the “institution” model — from being an idea that one person or a small group of people created and sustained to a tangible reality that is continually renewed by all of its members, stakeholders, and partners. You are more than ready. The stars are bright for the LA BOSCOC; I can hardly wait to see what y’all do next.
It’s never fun to leave a job you’ve loved, but my next gig as a senior-level homeless services specialist with a national technical assistance provider will be an incredible opportunity to share the lessons we’ve learned together with communities across the country. And since this gig is fully remote, I’ll be staying right here — so you you can expect to continue seeing me in our ongoing work to prevent and end homelessness in Louisiana.
I welcome you all to stay in touch. You can reach me at gordon.l.levine@gmail.com.
Please join me in that traditional send-off:
Not fare well,
But fare forward, voyagers.
Yours,
Gordon Levine
Continuum of Care Manager
gordon.l.levine@gmail.com
