Leaders at local agencies that combat homelessness, such as Rosie’s Place in Boston, are praising the city’s plan to establish a one-stop shop that helps low-income residents who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Boston residents who are in danger of losing their housing could have one more tool to help them. City leaders are planning to establish a one-stop shop that helps low-income residents who are at risk of becoming homeless by linking them to all of the resources and services available to them.

Individuals or families would be able to dial one phone number and, after a quick assessment, be connected with the appropriate agencies and resources.

“It’s intended to help people who currently have housing to stay housed,” said Jim Greene, acting director of the city’s Emergency Shelter Commission.

More than 30 agencies in Boston currently provide some type of homelessness prevention services, but their efforts are not necessarily coordinated.

Greene said the primary purpose of the new initiative, which he described as a “prevention clearinghouse,” is to “increase the coordination and the proactive approach to preventing homelessness.”

In addition to providing intake and referral services to residents, the clearinghouse will offer access to landlord-tenant mediation services and emergency financial assistance to those who don’t qualify for other types of public assistance. The city is providing $1 million for the initiative, which will be matched by the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation over three years.

“The city will issue a request for proposals on Nov. 14 and sometime in early 2006 we will name a nonprofit agency that will be the lead agency in this effort,” Greene said.

Melinda Marble, director of the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, said the recently announced effort is really about “weaving together” all the various resources that already exist.

“We hope any family that’s in danger of losing their housing will be able to make a phone call and Â… be linked to all the resources and services that can help them stay in housing,” she said.

The foundation, which launched a campaign to end family homelessness six years ago, looked at best practices around the country and quickly discovered that it is much less expensive to keep people from spiraling into homelessness than to provide emergency shelter to homeless families or individuals, said Marble.

‘Desperate Need’
There are roughly 5,800 homeless men, women and children in Boston, according to the last census taken by the city in December 2004. Marble said the annual cost of providing an emergency shelter bed is anywhere from $39,000 to $53,000.

In contrast, a state program designed to help low-income families maintain or obtain housing by helping them pay back rent, utilities and security deposits costs much less – between $600 to $2,000 per family, according to Marble.

“If you can prevent homelessness, there are huge cost savings associated with it,” Marble said.

The Boston initiative is modeled after similar strategies that have been implemented on Cape Cod and in Lowell, New York City, Minnesota and Norfolk, Va.

The effort is drawing praise from advocates for the homeless.

“There’s an absolute desperate need for one place for people in need to call,” said Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

Frost said residents who are on the brink of becoming homeless have to spend a lot of time navigating through a maze of services, and often have to call a variety of agencies for assistance.

“The fact that the mayor [Thomas M. Menino] has offered a one-stop place is going to make it immensely better for the residents of Boston,” she said.

Sue Marsh, executive director of Rosie’s Place, a Boston shelter for women, said “anything that local government can do to coordinate services and make services more accessible to consumers is a great thing.” But Marsh said the key will be whether resources will continue to be available to prevent people from becoming homeless.

Cities across the country have been forced to focus more on homelessness prevention as the federal government has slashed funding for housing assistance programs in recent years.

“We recognized Â…the most humane and cost effective way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place,” said Greene.