The Office oversees policy and funding toward ending homelessness and serving persons experiencing homelessness and recognizes and designates local Continuum of Care (CoC) entities to serve as lead agencies for the homeless assistance system throughout Florida.
Services offered through CoCs and their providers include operation and maintenance of emergency shelters, outreach to individuals who are homeless, rental assistance to prevent individuals from becoming homeless, and rapid rehousing of individuals from shelters or homelessness.
The CoC model creates a framework for a comprehensive array of emergency, transitional, and permanent housing, and supportive services to address the varying needs of the persons who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. The purpose of the CoC is to help communities envision, plan, and implement coordinated, long-term solutions to address homelessness.
Continuums of Care and Local Providers of Service
Continuums of Care (CoC) are organizations composed of representatives of nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, etc.
A model of CoC should include the following components:
1. Outreach, intake, and assessment to link housing and services to the needs of those who are homeless.
2. Services and resources to prevent housed persons from becoming homeless or returning to homelessness.
3. Emergency sheltering as a safe alternative to living on the streets.
4. Transitional housing to move persons toward permanent housing solutions.
5. Permanent housing to end episodes of homelessness.
6. Supportive services designed to assist the person with necessary skills to secure and retain permanent housing.
CoC lead agency service areas are shown below. Select your county to connect with the CoC lead agency in your area.
| CoC Lead Agency | County | Phone | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Doors of Northwest Florida | Escambia and Santa Rosa | (850) 439-3009 | Opening Doors of Northwest Florida |
| Homelessness & Housing Alliance | Okaloosa and Walton | (850) 362-7429 | Homelessness & Housing Alliance |
| Doorways of Northwest Florida | Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Washington | (850) 481-5446 | Doorways of Northwest Florida |
| Big Bend Continuum of Care | Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla | (850) 792-5015 | Big Bend Continuum of Care |
| United Way of Suwannee Valley | Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee | (386) 752-5604 | United Way of Suwannee Valley |
| TaskForce Fore Ending Homelessness | Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Putnam | (954) 563-4357 | https://www.taskforceoutreach.org/ |
| Changing Homelessness | Clay, Duval, and Nassau | (904) 354-1100 | Changing Homelessness |
| Volusia/Flagler County Coalition for the Homeless | Flagler and Volusia | (386) 279-0029 | Volusia/Flagler County Coalition for the Homeless |
| Flagler Hospital – St Augustine | St. Johns | (352) 331-2800 | Flagler Hospital – St Augustine |
| Mid Florida Homeless Coalition | Citrus, Hernando, Lake, and Sumter | (352) 860-2308 | Mid Florida Homeless Coalition |
| Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County | Pasco | (727) 842-8605 | Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County |
| Homeless Services Network of Central Florida | Orange, Osceola, and Seminole | 211 or (407) 893-0133 | Homeless Services Network of Central Florida |
| Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas | Pinellas | (727) 582-7916 | Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas |
| Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative | Hillsborough | (813) 223-6115 | Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative |
| Homeless Coalition of Polk County | Polk | (863) 687-8386 | Homeless Coalition of Polk County |
| Brevard Homeless Coalition | Brevard | (321) 631-9290 | Brevard Homeless Coalition |
| Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council | Indian River, Martin, and St Lucie | (772) 778-4234 | Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council |
| Heartland Coalition for the Homeless | DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee | (863) 453-8901 | Heartland Coalition for the Homeless |
| Marion County Board of County Commissioners | Marion | (352) 671-8770 | Ocala/Marion Joint Office on Homelessness |
| Gulf Coast Partnership | Charlotte | (941) 626-0220 | Gulf Coast Partnership |
| Lee County Human & Veteran Services | Lee | (239) 533-7952 | Lee County Human & Veteran Services |
| SW FL Regional Coalition to End Homelessness | Collier | (239) 263-9363 | Hunger & Homeless Coalition of Collier County |
| Palm Beach County Human & Veteran Services | Palm Beach | (561) 355-4778 or (561) 904-7900 | Palm Beach County Human & Veteran Services |
| Broward Homeless Initiative Partnership | Broward | (954) 563-4357 | Broward Homeless Initiative Partnership |
| Monroe County Homeless Services Continuum of Care | Monroe | (800) 528-6595 | Monroe County Homeless Services Continuum of Care |
| Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust | Miami-Dade | (877) 994-4357 | Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust |
| Manatee-Sarasota Suncoast Partnership | Manatee and Sarasota | (941) 955-8987 | Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness |