Request for Proposals

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New Westminster Homelessness Coalition Society:
Development of Strategic Plan

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit proposals from interested organizations and/or individuals and select the most appropriate candidate who is best able to facilitate an effective strategic planning process resulting in a new strategic plan for the society.

Organization Overview: 

NWHCS (www.nwhomeless.ca) was formed in 2005 to bring together the variety of people and organizations working to address the challenges of poverty and homelessness in the community of New Westminster, British Columbia. In May 2012, the organization was officially incorporated and became a registered charitable non-profit organization (809795081 RR0001). As part of NWHCS there are approximately 30 organizations and individuals involved representing a variety of disciplines including Administration, Policy and Research; Child, Family and School; Poverty and Homelessness; Government; Police Services; Housing and Shelter, Medical and Health Social Workers; Women’s Issues; Mental Health and Substance Abuse; and Seniors Issues, among others.

NWHCS believes that no person should be without a safe, secure place to call their home. It not only functions as a collective voice on poverty and homelessness issues, but also as an active working organization providing support and reintegration programs in the community for those in need. NWHCS seeks to help each person (client) based on their own situation & issues and to re-connect them back into society to lead a self-supporting and productive life. The mandate of the society is:

  1. to assist people who are affected by, or at risk of, becoming homeless by connecting them to support services,
  2. to promote client well-being through collaborative member agency outreach and support services,
  3. to engage and empower clients to become self-supporting and productive,
  4. to function as a collective voice on poverty and homelessness issues.

The Coalition has recently completed a three year strategic plan. The current programs of NWHCS are: I’s on the Street, Connect Days, and Homelessness Action Week events.

Proposal Guidelines

NWHCS is seeking an external organization or individual to facilitate an effective strategic planning process resulting in a new strategic plan for the organization to move forward in accomplishing its stated objectives. The NWHCS Coordinator will work with the organization/individual to arrange for the logistics of the process.

The External Organization/Individual would be responsible for:

  1. Implementing a detailed process for the development of a new strategic plan for NWHCS. This process will potentially include:

  • Recruitment of participants
  • Review of historical events of the society
  • Stakeholder questionnaires
  • Board and member agency interviews
  • Setting up and facilitating 1 – 2 focus groups
  • Organizing and facilitating a one-day planning and discussion session
  • Review and analysis of feedback
  1. Preparing and presenting the results formulated into a new strategic plan

Project Timeline

Mar 2016 Request for Proposals opens to all interested agencies
April 22 2016 Request for Proposals must be received at info@nwhomeless.ca by 5:00 pm PST. Any proposals received after this date and time will not be considered.
May 1 2016 Both unsuccessful applicants and the successful applicant notified.
May 15-Jun 30 2016 Implementation of the project.

Applicant Eligibility

To be eligible, the applicant organization/individual must:

  1. have professional facilitation skills with experience in similar planning sessions

  2. have a demonstrated experience with strategic planning

  3. have a demonstrated history of successfully delivering completed projects

  4. be knowledgeable about the issues of homelessness and the activities of services provided to this client population.

Proposal Instructions

Each Applicant MUST include all of the following in the PROPOSAL:

  1. Name of Organization/Individual:
  2. Contact person name, position title, email/phone number, and mailing address.
  3. Overview of organization/individual.
  4. Detailed description of the ability of the organization or individual (resources, staffing, past experience, expertise, etc.) to deliver the described outcomes.
  5. Outline of work plan to accomplish described outcomes including reference to viability of proposed timeline.
  6. Detailed budget for each phase of the project and an overall budget total.
  7. One letter of reference.
  8. All proposals must be signed by a representative of the organization or the individual submitting the proposal.

***Proposals submitted must include written answers to all the above questions in order to be considered complete.

 

Send all proposals in a single document (pdf or doc) attached or in the body of the email to: admin@nwhomeless.ca.

DEADLINE: April 22, 2016 at 5:00 pm PST
(Any proposals received after this date and time will NOT be considered.)
Any questions or for more information, please contact:
Martha Kerr, Coordinator
New Westminster Homelessness Coalition Society

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