On Friday, February 26, the United Way recognized members of the Emergency Shelter for Families (ESF) Steering Team with a “Spirit of Caring” award at their 92nd Annual Meeting & Celebration at the I-Hotel and Conference Center. The United Way honored the group for the work on the Emergency Shelter for Families Steering Team over the past several years. Members of the team include: Kerri Spear (City of Champaign), Jenell Hardy (former City of Urbana representative), Kelly Mierkowski (City of Urbana), Regina Parnell (Regional Office of Education), Jason Greenly (Courage Connection) and Katie Sissors (former Courage Connection, now UIUC-School of Social Work).
The completed work of the local steering team included development a program plan and a Request for Proposal (RFP). The team will also continue to provide ongoing oversight for the initial three years. By end of year three, a local agency/service provider will be identified as the permanent maintainer of ESF. At this time, the ESF Steering Team will assist in the transition of oversight to the contracted agency, support the continued collaboration with the Housing Authority of Champaign County and guide program sustainability to a permanent provider. By the end of year three, the ESF Steering Team will extract themselves and the permanent program will reside with the contracted agency or another identified community partner.