Homeward Alliance, formerly called Homeless Gear, operates a family of nine programs and the Murphy Center, the hub of services for people who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in Larimer County. These programs empower thousands of people each year to survive, move forward and thrive.

At the end of November, the United Way of Larimer County Board of Directors approved an $18,000 Innovation Grant to assist Homeward Alliance in launching a new, comprehensive data system that will allow for the organization to integrate data across its various programs, measure impact and streamline access to services for clients.

“When we have a comprehensive data system, we will have the ability to keep track of everyone who comes in our doors and particularly the people who are most vulnerable and most likely to slip through the cracks,” said David Rout, Executive Director of Homeward Alliance.

In addition to informing Homeward Alliance’s internal programs, the data collected through this new system will also help create an infrastructure that other nonprofits can adopt and inform other community-wide initiatives such as the Homeless Action Team (HAT) and the Housing First Initiative (HFI)

“For years we have struggled as a community to collect actionable data on the issue of homelessness,” said Rout. “We feel like we are in a unique position to produce data that tells us how we're doing on this issue as a community, and then we can report that data to fund interventions that we know work best.”