Effective Partnerships
Partnerships, contractual relationships, coalitions, associations and task forces are all “force multipliers” that can help you achieve your goals without your organization having to do it all alone. Particularly in the field of housing and homelessness, there are some things that cities and counties normally don’t do, don’t have the skills to do, and aren’t necessarily organized to do. That’s why we often contract with nonprofit organizations and housing authorities, enter into contracts for services to be performed or partner with others — including neighboring municipalities — to get things done. If we worry less about who’s doing things, and more about getting them done, we’ll be able to do more.
Not all partnerships need to be the same, but there has to be a defined set of goals that everyone participating is trying to achieve. And, when we join with another partner, we have to make sure that they are adding value to what we’re trying accomplish. That value may come in many forms — expertise, experience, capability, access to resources, relationships with others or even just being qualified for certain funding that another locality isn’t qualified for. We also want partners who are accountable and reliable. What we don’t want are partners who depend on us for everything, including all their funding, and don’t add any value or “bring something to the table.”
Sometimes we have to create new partnerships when new challenges arise. In Virginia, multiple cities, nonprofits and state and federal agencies joined together very effectively in 2014 and 2015 to reduce homelessness among veterans, and we were successful enough that we were able to declare that homelessness among veterans was “effectively ended.”
