Homeless Leadership Alliance<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve had something like this,\u201d said\u00a0Imani Smith, manager of HMIS and system administration for HLA. \u201cStreet outreach teams can use a phone or tablet to check shelter availability and make faster referrals on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The app connects directly to the\u00a0Pinellas Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), ensuring outreach staff always have the most up-to-date information on shelter capacity and services.<\/p>\n
Smith said the need for accurate, real-time data is urgent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more than 800 beds across Pinellas County, but compared to the number of people experiencing homelessness, it\u2019s still not enough,\u201d she said. \u201cThis mobile app helps us communicate better with providers and make sure that every available bed is used.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Homeless Leadership Alliance said the launch reflects a larger, data-driven approach to reducing homelessness and improving coordination among service providers.<\/p>\n
Last winter, the organization opened\u00a0cold-weather shelters a record 10 times, underscoring the importance of quick, coordinated responses when temperatures drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re investing in local solutions to reduce street homelessness and help people in crisis,\u201d said\u00a0Cheri Holzbacher, CEO of the Homeless Leadership Alliance. \u201cThis app is one more step toward making sure no bed stays empty when someone needs a place to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A year after Florida\u2019s \u201cUnauthorized Public Camping and Sleeping\u201d law took effect, a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[274,770,2375,1192,115,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278],"class_list":["post-8100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-top-stories","tag-community-news","tag-fadia-patterson","tag-homelessness","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}