Phoenix (STN) – Solving homelessness requires data and discipline, according to UMOM CEO Monique Lopez.
During the March episode of ‘It Happens at STN,’ the UMOM CEO used the ‘Leading in the Moment’ segment to explain how the organization built a data-driven model to support single women experiencing homelessness at the Halle Women’s Center. This 80-bed shelter provides semi-private living spaces, case management, employment support, and housing services.
Lopez described the center as an evolution of earlier efforts that once required women to leave the shelter during the day.
“Early on, we operated services for single women in a diaper factory downtown,” Lopez said. “We moved into a different model at the Halle Women’s Center with semi-private spaces and wraparound case management centered around jobs and housing.”
The program’s structure reflects a broader strategy at UMOM to identify the populations the organization can serve best and then build repeatable models that produce measurable outcomes.
“I really went through a theory-of-change process,” Lopez said. “You identify who your target population is, what level of face-to-face contact is needed, and how you’re measuring both short-term and long-term outcomes.”
But Lopez emphasized that the most important ingredient in that process is consistency.
WATCH: Data and discipline shape UMOM’s approach to homelessness
“The big takeaway for me is discipline,” she said. “It can feel good to make changes quickly after a good week or a bad week, but if you do that, you never really know what actually moved the needle.”
To accomplish that, UMOM focuses on establishing a baseline level of service for every client while working with each individual to remove barriers and develop a housing plan.
“There’s a base level of service that every single person that comes to see us will receive,” Lopez said. “Then we co-create a housing plan and make sure that when you leave us, you’re better than when you came.”
That approach is producing measurable results. Lopez noted that more than 80 percent of women leaving the Halle Women’s Center last year exited into permanent housing.
For Lopez, the lesson extends beyond homelessness services.
“If you’re trying to solve a big problem, you have to put a stake in the ground,” she said. “Build a model that is repeatable and testable so you know what actually works.”
