(Joplin, MO) – The Regional Commission on Homelessness, City of Joplin, and The Joplin Homeless Coalition (The Partners) have announced Eric Arganbright as the newly hired Director of Homelessness Response. Arganbright comes from the Wichita, Kansas area, bringing nearly ten years of experience working with/for organizations and agencies serving needs for homeless populations.
He recently served as the Director of Planning and Community Engagement with the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, managing the state’s large Continuum of Care network of 101 counties to address the range of needs for individuals experiencing homelessness. In this position he also designed and implemented data tracking systems to evaluate program effectiveness and identify new opportunities.
He has served at all levels of homelessness programs from direct case management to program operation within a Continuum of Care. In his position at Catholic Charities Inc. Diocese of Wichita he worked closely with other agencies to reduce Veteran homelessness.
Following a comprehensive study completed in 2024 and commissioned by the City of Joplin, The Community Plan to Address Homelessness, several key recommendations were made to strengthen local response efforts to mitigate the effects of homelessness in the Joplin region. One of the top recommendations was to create a Regional Commission on Homelessness to identify opportunities to enhance coordination and collaboration among existing service providers.
Another major recommendation developed through the joint efforts was to hire a Homelessness Director to help align community-wide efforts, identify available resources, and focus them on shared priorities and agreed identified needs.
“Eric brings many skills to Joplin that will benefit our work with assisting the homelessness population as well as the collaborative efforts of our agencies and the community,” said Duane Dreiling, Chair of the Joplin Regional Commission on Homelessness. “We look forward working with him to enhance the existing efforts to address homelessness.”
Arganbright started his position on July 14, 2025. He is moving his family to Joplin and will transition into the community in the coming months.
Reference:
Lynn Iliff Onstot, Public Information Officer
City of Joplin
417.624.0820, ext. 204
LOnstot@joplinmo.org
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