2-1-1: A free and confidential hotline available 24/7, 365 days a year that helps callers connect with local resources, such as food pantries, emergency shelters, rent assistance, utility bill assistance, childcare, and senior services.

 

By-Name List (BNL): A housing priority list that identifies neighbors “by name”, serving and housing the most vulnerable first. Using information collected and shared with their consent, each person on the list has a file that includes their name, history, health, and housing needs. The By-Name List is divided into sub-populations to assist with achieving Functional Zero for each population. The sub-populations are: Chronic, Veteran, Families, Youth, and Singles.

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Continuum of Care (CoC): A comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness by providing a continuum of housing programs and services. These services include outreach, intake, and assessment; prevention and diversion; emergency shelter; permanent housing; and system-wide planning initiatives to end homelessness.

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Coordinated Entry (CE): An official process recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and used by WTHN to help serve persons experiencing homelessness. CE creates a housing priority list (By-Name List) based on each individual’s vulnerability score, so those with the highest need can be served first. Entities in our community that perform CE Assessments are referred to as Coordinated Entry Points (CEPs). CEPs meet regularly and work collaboratively to house individuals as quickly as possible.  For more information, call WTHN’s Coordinated Entry Line at 325-260-1417.

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Crisis: An overwhelming situation that increases a person’s risk of homelessness. Job loss and eviction are two common examples of crises that can lead to the risk of homelessness. When a person is in crisis, they may lose the ability to meet their own needs without assistance.

 

Diversion From Homelessness: An intervention designed to immediately address the needs of someone who has just lost their housing and become homeless or is at risk of being homeless (also see “Person-Centered Approach” below). Read more about diversion, here.

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HMIS (Housing Management Information System): The data system required of all HUD-funded (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) housing programs, Coordinated Entry Points (CEPs), and CEP users. HMIS tracks the nature and scope of human service needs at individual agencies and across the state.  Each Continuum of Care (CoC) is responsible for selecting an HMIS software solution that complies with HUD's data collection, management, and reporting standards. 

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Functional Zero: A milestone indicating homelessness has been measurably ended for a population. Functional Zero is not permanent — it must be sustained. While sustaining Functional Zero, individuals may still experience homelessness, but those experiences are rare and brief. In Abilene, we have achieved and sustained Functional Zero for our Veteran, Chronic, and Family populations and are working toward the milestone for Youth and Singles. 

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Homelessness: The state of being without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes living in a shelter, outside, or in a place not meant for human habitation.

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Housing First: A recovery-oriented, evidence-based philosophy and approach that recognizes that housing is a basic human right and provides a stable foundation from which individuals can address other challenges in their lives. Housing First prioritizes providing individuals with stable, permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry. Support services are available but not mandatory for tenancy, emphasizing empowerment and individual choice. This model has been proven effective in reducing homelessness, improving the well-being of individuals, and measurable cost savings for communities.

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Neighbors Experiencing Homelessness: We use this (or just “neighbors”) instead of “homeless people” because homelessness is not an identity, but rather a situation.  Labels that reduce a person's identity to any single experience can have a dehumanizing, disparaging, and harmful impact on the people they aim to describe. Our neighbors experiencing homelessness are — first and foremost — human beings, living in our community, regardless of their living arrangements.

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Person-Centered Approach: Tailoring services and other assistance to the specific needs of an individual rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Often, assistance in solving one specific problem (first month’s rent, application and deposit fees, landlord mediation, etc.) can help with Diversion from homelessness.

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Resiliency: The ability to bounce back. People tend to be resilient! Even when a person has experienced chronic homelessness, they can still bounce back to a state of maintaining their own living situation, given assistance.

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Sheltered vs. Unsheltered: Sheltered homelessness refers to individuals who are staying in temporary accommodations like emergency shelters, transitional housing, or safe havens. Unsheltered homelessness, on the other hand, involves people living in places not meant for human habitation, such as streets, parks, or abandoned buildings.

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Stability vs. Instability (of Housing): Without having reliable access to safe and stable housing, a person is considered to have Housing Instability. Stability is indicated by having safe and stable housing with little or no vulnerability to homelessness.

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VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool): A survey administered both to individuals and families to determine risk and prioritization when providing assistance to persons experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.