PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the development of the Northlake Homeless Coalition, a collaborative network among homeless serving agencies in southeastern Louisiana. These collaboratives are required for obtaining government funds for housing programs in the USA.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved a literature review and the application of findings to analyse a case study of the Homeless Coalition.FindingsAmongst the reasons for the success of the programme seem to be the longevity of involvement of many participants, which encourages social bonds and commitment to grow; financial interests and individual attributes of agency representatives, including personalities, relationships, and belief systems. Many of the most active members are from agencies with legitimacy due to their governmental or larger organizational bases, but this is to the exclusion of small, faith‐based organizations and shelters that frequently provide services not able to be funded by the grant. The inflexible requirements that are established at the national level introduce a concern for meeting the needs of front‐line service providers. The infusion of funds has increased services to the homeless in this area. However, location in the most impoverished populations in the USA translates into very poorly funded agencies, with high demands.Originality/valueThe close analysis of the case has thrown light upon the key issues raised by the wider literature on collaborative networks.

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