Urspera Advisory provides expert support to partners across the nonprofit, public, and mission-driven sectors. Our work focuses on helping leaders gain clarity about where their organization is today and what needs to happen next. We support clients through strategic planning, project and program management, DEIB training and implementation, technical writing, systems improvement, and more. Our approach is practical, grounded, and focused on work that can realistically be sustained.
Much of our experience comes from working with organizations and companies navigating complex systems as they build internal capacity and adapt to changing priorities. In these settings, coordination and clear communication are essential. Strong ideas only succeed when there are processes in place to support them. Urspera Advisory helps organizations build that structure, strengthen internal capacity, and move long term goals into active progress that can be tracked and measured.
Learn more about our experience below or contact us with your needs today.
Homelessness
Youth Homelessness
Our experience with YHDP encompasses data gathering and analysis, youth engagement, and assistance with writing the grant application. For communities awarded YHDP funding, we have supported them in writing their Coordinated Community Plan and providing guidance on determination of system needs to identify where funding would help the most.
Related to YHDP, but standing on its own is our work with System Coordination to address Youth Homelessness. At Urspera, we have coordinated care between school districts, youth providers, foster care, and other community partners in order to leverage existing resources and implement frameworks that focus on communication between agencies. Our work in Kansas City successfully brought together people and organizations that rarely if ever worked together – resulting in a coordinated system that let fewer Transitional-Aged Youth fall through the cracks.
Point-in-Time (PIT) Count
Our experience in providing guidance and expertise with PIT Counts ranges from educating communities on the necessity of the Count to leading PIT committees as they plan for all aspects of the Count. We’ve supported Continua of Care across the country – from Santa Clara, CA to West Virginia. Some of what we provide includes:
- Survey construction & methodology planning
- Creating buy-in from the community at large
- Soliciting, coordinating, and distributing incentives for the Count
- Recruiting volunteers & paid staff
- Identification of hot zones and areas that need considerable resources
- Post-Count planning, including targeted outreach, outreach events, and encampment resolution.
No two CoCs are the same, though many share similar struggles. At Urspera Advisory we’re prepared to create custom plans that incorporate your specific community needs to conduct a successful Count.
While some CoCs are able to conduct PIT Counts solely with their outreach resources, many rely on volunteers in order to truly count everyone. Often there are volunteers who have previous count experience. However, we often find that each year there is a new crop of volunteers who have great intentions but need training on how to conduct a safe and successful count. Our training includes:
- An overview of, and purpose behind the PIT
- Safety training for the people counting
- Examples of how to interview people experiencing homelessness (PEH) using a trauma-informed approach
- Specific community needs during the count
If you are interested in collaborating on training for this year’s Count, don’t hesitate to contact us now.
Here at Urspera, we know the PIT Count can be problematic in terms of reflecting the true state of homelessness in your community. However, it does offer an accessible means of comparing year-to-year data longitudinally that can provide insights into community needs in a way that many other data collection methods cannot. Once you have your numbers submitted to HUD, we can take that data and make it into actionable insights through data analysis and the authoring of formal PIT reports. You can see an example of our reports here.
Technical Writing
Most companies run on undocumented knowledge. How your internal systems operate, what the processes are for onboarding clients, or the specific folders that files go into is generally shared by word-of-mouth. When key staff leave, or your business scales to a point where more than one person needs to know how to follow those procedures, you can be left in a lurch. Here at Urspera we help businesses document how work actually gets done so that you can rely on clear, consistent documentation. We offer:
- Interviews with key staff to capture existing workflows
- Clear, concise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Step-by-step process documentation
- Optional process maps and workflow visuals
- Final documents tailored for internal use and easy updates
Tired of reinventing the wheel every time someone moves on? Contact us now to begin simplifying your life.
We develop user-friendly documentation that helps employees or customers understand and use your tools correctly from day one. The goal is to reduce confusion, increase adoption, and minimize support requests. This includes:
- User manuals for software, systems, or internal tools
- Step-by-step how-to guides and quick reference materials
- Knowledge base articles or FAQs
- Plain-language writing designed for non-technical users
- Documentation aligned with your branding and tone
You can view an example of our work on user manuals here.
Does your industry require specific documentation to meet regulatory, contractual, or funding requirements? If so, there are often obstacles to ensure that you have everything on hand, in the right order, and up-to-date. Here at Urspera we can review your existing documentation and provide guidance on improving consistency, clarity, and ensuring you’re ready for audits. Included in this service is:
- Policy and procedures manuals
- Compliance documentation and templates
- Grant- or contract-required narratives and attachments
- Reporting templates and documentation frameworks
- Alignment with applicable regulations or standards