NACH - Helping North Alabama

The North Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (NACH) focuses on helping individuals experiencing homelessness living in the northern cities of Alabama. Its mission is "to reduce and prevent homelessness in the Greater Huntsville Area through education and assistance provided to the at-risk population."

NACH coordinates the efforts of agencies, organizations, and those living in North Alabama to bring adequate resources to our unhoused neighbors as well as to educate the community about homelessness. It strives to have a "seamless continuum of care for positive solutions to homelessness."

NACH's funding goes to many different resources for individuals experiencing homelessness, such as:

• Emergency hotel vouchers for families where shelters are not available

• Emergency medication assistance & co-pays for doctor's appointments

• Payments for rental & utility deposits for those transitioning into permanent housing

Along with NACH's resources, its website highlights many other public and professional resources for those experiencing homelessness in Alabama. These resources include food pantries, housing facilities, youth resources, etc. Additionally, NACH has "point-in-time" counts for the number of individuals experiencing homelessness since 2008. Below are two comprehensive graphs from 2009-2022.

Lastly, NACH has many different volunteer positions open for anyone interested in aiding in its mission. Here is the list of positions & their purpose:

• Document Coordinator: Help NACH meet its paperless documentation goal by digitizing and organizing legacy documents.

• Donated Items Coordinator: Receive, process, document, and distribute tangible goods that are donated by the public and local organizations. These items include hygiene products, snacks, clothing, and inclement weather gear.

• Errand Runner: Pick up and drop off items in and around Huntsville using NACH’s vehicle.

• Grant Research & Writing Assistant: Research grant opportunities and help with the grant-writing process including filling out standard agency information, narrative writing, document collection, and organization.

• Greeter: Help provide a welcoming environment for homeless clients. Greeters let clients into the building, help them sign in, and help with the general flow of traffic at the Client Services Center.

• Housing List Coordinator: Review the housing list monthly, sort and parse the list based on client’s vulnerability score and date of placement on the list, call clients to find out if they are still seeking housing and update their records in a shared database, exit clients from the housing list as outlined in NACH’s written procedure.

• Marketing Assistant: Assist with marketing endeavors.

To reach NACH's website directly, click here.

To apply as a volunteer, click here.