CASE STUDY:
Lantern Community Services
Enterprise-Wide HMIS Implementation in Less Than Three Months
Organization Overview
Lantern Community Services provides supportive housing, shelter, and comprehensive support services to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Through its housing and community-based programs, Lantern helps residents build housing stability, develop independence, and access resources that support their long-term well-being.
Their programs span permanent housing and temporary shelter, alongside wraparound services focused on health and wellness, food and nutrition, education, employment, financial literacy, arts and culture, and community engagement.
The Challenge
Lantern was transitioning from Bonterra ETO and needed an HMIS platform that could support its programs across the organization. The transition required migrating existing data, training staff across multiple programs, and establishing a reliable reporting workflow for required submissions to the New York City Continuum of Care (NYC CoC).
Beyond housing records, Lantern needed a platform that could support its broader range of supportive services, including programs focused on housing stability, health and wellness, income, and community engagement. The organization needed a solution that could bring these programs together while maintaining its HMIS reporting requirements.
The Solution
PlanStreet implemented its HMIS platform across Lantern's enterprise-wide programs, replacing Bonterra ETO with a centralized system for housing and supportive services.
The implementation included data migration, end-user training, and automated availability of HMIS export files for required NYC CoC submissions.
PlanStreet is listed as an accepted HMIS-compliant vendor by NYC CoC. Because New York City's HMIS operates as a Data Warehouse, participating organizations use an accepted source system to collect and manage data, generate HMIS CSV export files, and submit those files to the centralized Warehouse.
Implementation
PlanStreet completed Lantern's enterprise-wide implementation in less than three months, covering four key areas:
Enterprise-Wide Programs & Case Management
PlanStreet was implemented across Lantern's housing and supportive service programs, bringing resident information, program participation, and service documentation into one centralized platform. This allows staff to manage resident information across programs while maintaining visibility into the broader services each individual receives.
Data Migration from Bonterra ETO
As part of the transition, Lantern's existing data was migrated from Bonterra ETO into PlanStreet. This allowed the organization to move to its new platform while bringing its existing records into the implementation.
End-User Training
PlanStreet provided end-user training to prepare Lantern's staff to use the platform across their programs. Training was included as part of the implementation, helping staff transition to the new system alongside the data migration and HMIS reporting setup.
HMIS Reporting for NYC CoC
PlanStreet generates HMIS export files that are automatically made available to Lantern for required NYC CoC submissions. Staff can access the exported files and submit them directly to the NYC HMIS Data Warehouse, supporting the organization's ongoing reporting requirements.
Results & Impact
In less than three months, Lantern transitioned from Bonterra ETO to PlanStreet across its enterprise-wide programs and established its HMIS reporting workflow for NYC CoC submissions.
With PlanStreet, Lantern now has:
- Enterprise-Wide Implementation: A centralized platform supporting housing and supportive service programs across the organization.
- Successful Data Migration: Existing records transitioned from Bonterra ETO into PlanStreet.
- Staff Training: End-user training completed as part of the implementation.
- Streamlined HMIS Reporting: Automatically generated HMIS export files available for required NYC CoC submissions.
- Continued HMIS Compliance: An established workflow for submitting data to the NYC HMIS Data Warehouse.