Stage Two: Making Initial Connections

Once you have developed a strong case for a partnership with your Area Agency on Aging (AAA) or Continuum of Care (CoC) counterpart (see Stage One for steps), it is time to reach out and start making connections! The steps below provide ideas to initiate relationships and jumping-on points for partnership discussion.

• Introduce yourself/your organization.
  • Send a friendly email referencing an unmet need in your community and ask to meet.
  • Participate in each other's community forums and strategic planning processes, when open to the public, to initiate a connection.
    • If no community-level opportunities exist, organize your own meeting on older adults’ homelessness to bring stakeholders together.
  • Ask a joint colleague to introduce you.
     
• Arrange a meeting between your organizations, in person, if possible.
  • Tip: Even a casual meeting like getting a cup of coffee can serve as a good starting point.
  • Highlight benefits for both organizations.
    • Identify what each brings to the table, like resources, expertise, networks, etc.
    • Use data and stories to grab attention.
    • Tip: Stage One of this Action Guide has steps you can take to prepare your ask from your partner.
  • Focus on shared population needs rather than organizational boundaries.
  • Schedule the next meeting and recap the discussion before closing.

• Spend time learning about each other's capabilities, funding restrictions and operational workflows.
  • Visit each other's facilities, including shelters and aging service sites, to understand service environments firsthand. 
     
• Explore short-term, relatively easy and/or no-cost steps you can take as partners.
  • Tip: Reference the training and education section of the Key Concepts and Resource List, Doors to Housing for Older Adults for ideas!
  • Generate initial ideas for some medium-term goals that can be built from your short-term ones.
     
• Consider funding needs and options for partnership work.
  • Determine what funding model makes most sense for the type of partnership you are looking to form.
    • Bringing existing funding to the table can keep each partner more independent while still showing commitment.
    • Seeking new joint funding sources can open more pathways than individually restricted funds.
    • Some work will not have direct costs at all—for example, presenting to each other’s boards.
       
• Send an email after each meeting that recaps decisions made and next steps.

Putting It Into Action: Community Connections!


Pinellas County, FL
The cost of housing has been rising for some time across the nation, and Pinellas County, FL, is no exception. The AAA of Pasco-Pinellas, Inc., noticed the lack of affordable housing in their area and checked their service area’s Point-in-Time counts, which showed an increase in older adults experiencing homelessness. The AAA’s executive director decided to organize a regional housing roundtable and invited the Pinellas CoC to sit on it. The roundtable confirmed the need for closer collaboration between the CoC and AAA. Subsequently, the CoC identified older adults as a priority group for services and funding, and the AAA became a member of the CoC. In January 2024, the AAA director joined the CoC Board of Directors, further solidifying the relationship!

Two training webinars—Aging 101 and 201—produced through this partnership are available here. While all resources on the page are valuable, you’ll find these specific webinars in the “Training” section near the bottom.

Tucson, AZ
In 2019, the Pima Council on Aging (PCOA)—the AAA for Pima County—experienced a 50 percent increase in help line contacts related to: 

• Dire need of financial assistance for shelter, utilities and food.
• Eviction threats or proceedings.
• Homelessness. 

PCOA’s Vice President of Programs and Services had worked at the AAA for seven years but had spent 26 years working for a different organization that was a member of the City of Tucson CoC. She reached out to the CoC team manager, and the two organizations together hosted a community meeting about older adults’ homelessness at the end of 2019. This meeting identified useful steps the community could take to address the issue, but the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to eviction and utility shutoff moratoria resulting from it, shifted organizational priorities. 

In 2024, after the moratoria ended and homelessness began to rise, the AAA and CoC—now led by a new manager but guided by the same mission—renewed their partnership and met. Together they have collaborated to plan a full-day community forum for staff that work with older adults as well as staff who work on homelessness issues. The primary purpose is to cross-train staff in each sector to better understand the services, processes, language and goals of the other sector.