What started as an idea has slowly evolved into an organization, providing support and communication possibilities for various homeless service providers.

Cities and service providers in Wyoming are beginning to work together as partners in an organization called the Continuum of Care. This is one of the keys to solving - or beginning to solve - the homeless problem in Wyoming and Casper, Connie Baker-Wolfe, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation rural housing manager, said Tuesday.

"A Continuum of Care looks at more than just how to solve the problem of a person being homeless," Herrera said. "It also looks at what caused their situation and what the homeless person has to do to get full circle again and back on their feet."

In metropolitan areas there may be one or more Continuums of Care, along with staff to support them. The state of Wyoming has one Continuum of Care and is limited by the state's small population and rural landscape, which creates a problem each time the organization needs to meet.

"This conference is the kick-off for the Wyoming Continuum of Care," Baker-Wolfe said, explaining that Wyoming's organization requires a boost. "Because of the distance between towns Wyoming is the neediest state."

Baker-Wolfe said there are resources and information about the homeless problem but people need to be more aware before anything can be solved.

"In a state with a surplus so large there aren't a lot of services that address homelessness," Baker-Wolfe said. "The state has not come together yet."

Self Help Center Director Liz Baron said the Continuum of Care is similar to a medical model, where someone can go to one of the various service providers and be able to receive the care and information they need.

"In the state of Wyoming now we can call and make a case plan for an individual," Baron said. "Then everyone can pool together what they know and what they can do and help people with their long-term problems. We don't want to simply put a Band-Aid on the problem, otherwise we see the same families over and over again."

Despite the continuum's lack of staff and grant writers, Denny Royal, executive director of the Community Action Partnership, said he thinks the Casper community has "done a pretty good job."

"The only problem is that we lack capacity," he said. "The funding has not kept up with the growth or the need."

Herrera said she has been planning the conference for over a year and a half and the state and region need to come together, work with each other and share ideas and experiences.

"Share your mistakes," Herrera said in her opening address to the conference, at the Holiday Inn on the River. "Don't be shy, we learn from our mistakes and if you have done it once, you won't do it again."

Royal said he was looking forward to the conference especially because states similar to Wyoming in population such as North and South Dakota and Montana are attending and have had more success in their programs.

"We want to learn from their models," Royal said.