Planning and Program Development

Brian Yates
Grants & Government Relations Director

Peggy Shepard
Data Management & Program Development Director

CTI's Office of Planning and Program Development is responsible for preparing long-term work plans, proposal writing and keeping the agency in compliance with Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) regulations. The Planning and Program Development Office prepares the agency's Annual Work Plan under CSBG, the twice-annual CSBG Program Progress Review Reports, the annual Information Systems Survey, and the Community Action Plan prepared every three years. The Planning staff coordinates agency efforts to prepare the responses to RFRs, attends Bidders Conferences, and helps prepare proposals to renew and expand existing programs or develop new ones.

The Planning staff monitor the Federal and State funding sources for new funding opportunities and for notices for the renewal or expansion of existing agency programs. The Planning Office played major roles in development of the Section 202 Elderly Housing Project in Methuen, the winning of Federal funds for the YouthBuild program for an almost unprecedented three years in a row, the development of the Lowell Farmers' Market, the establishment of CTI's two shelters for homeless families, the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Program, the Individual Self-Sufficiency Initiative, Housing Services and other Homeless Prevention Programs, and the development of the agency's Energy Program and its expansion into the Waltham area.

The Planning Office coordinates agency contacts with members of the General Court and collects needs assessment data from a variety of sources including but not limited to the United States Census Bureau. The staff also participates in coalitions like the SHIFT Coalition that are relevant to the development of new programs and the continuation of older ones such as the Lowell Continuum of Care and the Middlesex County Emergency Food and Shelter Board.

The Grants & Government Relations Director serves on the Legislative Committee of the Massachusetts Non-Profit Housing Association (MNPHA). When appropriate, he attends meetings of the Massachusetts Community Action Program Director's Association (MASSCAP) and its Employment & Training and Information Technology Committees. He helped in the development of the Mass. Community Network Family Self-Sufficiency Scales and Ladders Matrix.

New Entry Farmers Project:
Early in the new Century and late in the old one, former CTI Community Food and Nutrition Coordinator Hugh Joseph, now a Nutrition Professor at Tufts, developed a partnership between CTI, Tufts and more than a dozen other agencies to enable Southeast Asian, African and other immigrants with farming backgrounds to grow foods from their native lands on sites in Dracut and elsewhere. The New Entry Farmer Project was about to have a press conference at the Oganowski Farm in Dracut on Sept. 11, 2001 when the terrible news came that John Oganowski, a farmer who strongly supported the New Entry Farmers on his land, was also the pilot of the first plane from Boston hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. But even John’s murder did not stop the project. John’s wife and brother continued the program on their land and encouraged efforts to secure other land in the town for New Entry Farmers. CTI honored John for his support of the project posthumously by naming him a Local Hero.

Housing Consumer Education Center:
With the Section 8 program securely in the hands of the regional housing agencies after a lengthy and difficult competition, the Mass. Nonprofit Housing Association held a retreat, attended by the Grants & Government Relations Director, to plan new endeavors for the new century. The product of the Retreat was the Housing Consumer Education Center Program. Which was actually approved and funded by the General Court within two years. CTI and MNPHA also worked with statewide coalitions to develop and win funding for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program and the Individual Self-Sufficiency Initiative. Though a great success with homeless individuals referred to us by local substance abuse treatment agencies, individual shelters, etc., the program was only a fond memory by 2005. RAFT however was a new major component of the safety net in the Commonwealth.

SHIFT Coalition:
CTI's Planning staff not only helped in the establishment of the Stabilized Housing for Individuals and Families in Transition (SHIFT) Coalition early in the century, they also helped the Coalition secure funding for a Coordinator and developed the Shelter to Housing Program that helped 46 homeless families from CTI’s service area to find permanent housing in its pilot phase and became a statewide success by 2004.

Web Site:
The Data Management & Program Development Director developed the agency's original web site in 1998 and launched its redesign in 2006.

Octopi:
The Data Management & Program Development Director has led the agency's efforts to collect unduplicated data on enrollees in agency programs and has consistently filed the agency's Information Systems Survey among the earliest in the state.