ABOUT US

Housing Innovations was founded in 2009 with a single mission: to help communities develop and implement solutions to homelessness. Our community-driven approach is the result of our team's foundation in direct service, client-centered practice and evidence-based solutions.

Housing Innovations' principals Suzanne Wagner, Andrea White, and Howard Burchman have been leaders in homeless assistance planning and service delivery since the original McKinney-Vento Act passed in 1987, and were at the forefront of establishing the New York City Continuum of Care (NYCCoC) - the largest such planning entity in the country. With more than two decades of involvement in local and national efforts to end homelessness, the Housing Innovations team has contributed towards the development and implementation of federal homeless policy and innovative tools to help communities achieve results.

Housing Innovations has a proven track record of designing and leading planning processes that build a shared understanding of effective strategies to prevent and end homelessness, and that result in plans that are concrete and practical. Their work relies on a high degree of transparency and respectful communication that fosters productive and trusting relationships with diverse stakeholders, including homeless and formerly homeless people and direct care, supervisory, and executive staff of non-profit and public agencies.

The team has extensive experience collaborating with multiple public and private sector parties on a broad range of initiatives, including:

Designing systems that strategically target resources to achieve improved outcomes.
Developing and implementing plans to end homelessness.
Conducting community needs assessments to inform plans for systems change.
Assisting communities to compile, analyze and report HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) and other data to inform systems and program evaluation and planning.
Projecting need for housing supports and other services.
Designing and implementing Coordinated Entry Systems.
Guiding Continuum of Care (CoC) governance, operations and HEARTH compliance.
Helping human service programs to improve outcomes through Continuous Quality Improvement strategies, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practices (EBPs), and stronger collaborations among organizations.
Developing and managing high quality housing and supportive service programs that use Evidence Based Practices.
Identifying training needs and delivering effective training on topics ranging from Housing First and Critical Time Intervention to Improving System Performance.