• The National Housing Trust Fund: Have YOU Shown Your Support?

  April 29, 2010

  It’s been a long, ongoing struggle to create and fund a National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). After years of campaigning, advocates won a huge victory in July 2008 when Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, which established the NHTF. The legislation that created the NHTF also included a funding mechanism but unfortunately, that mechanism involved using resources from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and only if they are in sound condition. That's not the case now, and it may not be for a very long time. So now, nearly 2 years later, Congress still hasn’t put any money into the Trust Fund. In December, the House passed a “jobs bill” that includes $1 billion for the NHTF, along with an additional $65 million for project-based vouchers to be coupled with the Trust Fund grants. However, the Senate has yet to follow suit. To encourage Congress to finally provide some initial funds for the NHTF, the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign is collecting organizational signatures on a sign-on letter calling on Congress to provide $1 billion for the NHTF. So far, an astounding 1,684 organizations from across the country have signed on! Their goal is to get organizations from every single congressional district in the country to sign on. So far, we're at 379 out of 435 congressional districts. If your organization hasn’t signed on yet, click here to sign on~! Below is a list of the congressional districts not yet represented on the letter:Why is the NHTF so important? The NHTF would provide funds to help communities build, rehabilitate, and preserve housing units for the lowest-income households, which is critical for preventing and ending homelessness. At least 90 percent of the Trust Fund resources have to be used for rental housing, and at least 75 percent of those funds must serve extremely low income households – those households earning 30 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) – or households living below the federal poverty line. All funds must serve households below 50 percent of AMI, or very low income households.... Read More »
• Advocacy Update: Let's keep the pressure on!

  April 28, 2010

  Our Senate sign-on letter asking for $2.4 billion for McKinney-Vento programs has been signed, sealed and delivered with 28 Senator signatures - and you made it happen! Those federal funds will be used to keep homeless assistance programs up and running in your community and across the country. But it's not over yet. As appropriations season begins, let's keep up the pressure on Senators and Representatives to provide $2.4 billion for McKinney programs!Here's how: More Letters. If your Senator didn’t sign onto the group Dear Colleague letter, you can ask him/her to send an individual letter to the Senate HUD appropriations subcommittee. You can find a list of which Senators signed onto the letter here. Site Visits. Urge your Senator or Representative to visit a local program while they’re home over the Memorial Day Recess (May 30 – June 6). Click here for sample invitations and tools for inviting Members of Congress to visit a program. Email akrusemark@naeh.org if you want help planning a site visit – we’d love to work with you! Media. Members of Congress pay close attention to their local papers, so another way to reiterate the importance of making ending homelessness a federal priority and funding McKinney programs is to write an op-ed for your local paper, particularly over congressional recesses. Let us know if we can help you work to earn media.Your hard work hasn't gone unrecognized: several of our Senate signatories were reluctant initially... Read More »
• Norm Suchar: "It's a Great Time to be Working on Federal Policy"

  April 27, 2010

  In the homelessness world, we have a keen awareness of the need to link services with housing for homeless people with a lot of barriers to maintaining their housing. But at the federal level, getting the agencies that operate housing and services programs to coordinate their efforts has been a real challenge.We also know that trying to end homelessness using only the resources provided by homeless specific programs won't work. We need to find better ways to tap into "mainstream programs:" those programs that serve low-income people generally, and have much higher levels of funding. The Housing and Services for Homeless Persons Demonstration Program was proposed by the Obama Administration, and it combines Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers funded by HUD with services provided by a combination of HHS programs, including a special grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and Medicaid. Last week, the Alliance helped pull together a roundtable discussion between officials from HUD, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House, some key Congressional staff, and a Leadership Council, which consists of officials from several cities across the country who are working to end homelessness. The topic of conversation was a new proposal to combine housing subsidies with services to help end homelessness for 10,000 families and individuals. The great thing about this demonstration program is that it tackles both the need to... Read More »
• Awards Ceremony: Pictures from the Big Night!

  April 26, 2010

  On Thursday, March 22, the Alliance hosted our annual Awards Ceremony - a celebration of the leaders and innovators in the housing and homelessness fields.All the luminaries in the field were in attendance, including all our awardees, our partners from like-minded and like-missioned organizations, and federal officials.More information about the Awards Ceremony can be found on the event website and pictures from the event can be found our our Facebook fan page. A sampling of pictures are below. As you can see, Nan Roman, president and CEO of the Alliance, was certainly speaking from earnest experience when she wrote for the Huffington Post: "this is what ending homelessness looks like."... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: News from New York. Press Around Awards Ceremony

  April 23, 2010

  From the resignation of NYC Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Rob Hess's to HUD's proposal for a new definition of homelessness, from the deadline for Senators to support a $2.4 allocation for McKinney Vento programs in the FY2011 federal budget to our Annual Awards Ceremony last night, it's been quite a week here at the Alliance. While we recover from last night's festivities, check out some of the coverage of our Awards Ceremony from across the country:Folks in New Orleans joined us in recognizing the re-housing and prevention efforts of UNITY GNO. In particular, this piece notes that the organization got 500 homeless people in their own apartments over eight months after Hurricance Katrina.The Seattle Post-Intelligencer heralded the success of congressional ally Senator Patty Murray, as well as baseball-player-turned-affordable housing champion Mo Vaughn.The Boston Globe shouted out to hometown hero Mo Vaughn.In the Huffington Post, Alliance President Nan Roman wrote about our awardees:These leaders have proven that through innovation, creativity, and unyielding allegiance to the cause, we can make progress on the greatest social challenges. Their examples show that we can aim towards a time when everyone has a place to call home.This is what we aspire to tonight, as we gather to recognize the achievement towards our collective goal. This is what we honor, the persistent hope of a country without homelessness. This is what ending homelessness looks like.And finally, the New York Times... Read More »
• Awards Ceremony: A sneak peek from Alliance event planner D'Arcy Klingle

  April 22, 2010

  The Alliance’s 2010 Awards Ceremony will be held today – Thursday, April 22 – at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.As Meeting and Events Coordinator here at the Alliance, it has been my privilege and responsibility to see another Awards Ceremony come together. The event is a great opportunity to reflect on the significance of our work and recognize the accomplishments of our friends and colleagues. As a community, this moment marks a time when we’re able to pause, appreciate, and celebrate. It’s a wonderful event every year, and I can’t wait to see you all there! And - as a special sneak preview- I thought I’d share a few things I’m looking forward to at tonight’s Awards Ceremony: Mistress of Ceremonies, Ms. Judy Woodruff:For the second year in a row Judy Woodruff, PBS Senior Correspondent, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies. The broadcast journalist has covered politics and national news for CNN, NBC and PBS and now regularly co-anchors the PBS NewsHour. We’re delighted to have the lovely and charming Judy back!  Musical guest Mighty Sam McClain:During his journey towards music, Mighty Sam McClain personally faced episodes of homelessness and can attest to the significance the experience has had in his life. Mighty The Grammy Award Nominee, will serve as a very special guest performer in tonight’s event.T-Shirts:Alliance “End Homelessness” t-shirts are making their debut at the Awards Cerem... Read More »
• Affordable Housing: For many Americans, it's Out of Reach

  April 21, 2010

  Today, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released Out of Reach, an annual analysis of the cost of rental housing in the United States. In order to understand the report, it’s important to establish two things: “Fair Market Rent” refers to the national average cost of a rental unit; it usually refers to a two-bedroom unit. ”Housing Wage” refers to the hourly wage a person must earn – working full-time – in order to afford Fair Market Rent. The report found that a family needs to earn $18.44 per hour in order to afford a modest rental, two-bedroom home in the United States. This amounts to $38,360 per year - $16,310 more than the federal poverty level for a family of four. Key findings of the report include: In 2010, the estimated average wage for renters in the United States is $14.44 – a decline from $14.69 in 2009;At the federal minimum wage of $7.25, a household would have top work 102 hours a week to afford the national average FMR;There is no county in the United States in which a full-time minimum wage worker can afford even a one-bedroom apartment at FMR.The report also found that the two-bedroom Housing Wage topped $20 in 10 states, including the District of Columbia, California, New York, Florida, and Hawaii. The five most expensive metro areas included San Francisco (CA), Honolulu (HI), Stamford-Norwalk (CT), San Cruz-Watsonville (CA), and Westchester County (NY) – the housing wage for each of those areas topped $30 per hour. In their report, the... Read More »
• Action Alert: Call your Senator today!

  April 21, 2010

  We need you to call your Senator today to ensure assistance providers have the funding they need to prevent and end homelessness. Tomorrow is the last day Senators can sign on to the "Dear Colleague" letter asking the Senate T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee to include $2.4 billion for the McKinney-Vento programs in the FY 2011 budget. In order for homelessness assistance programs across the country to continue their work and implement changes required by the HEARTH Act, $2.4 billion is critical. Joined by the winners of the McKinney-Vento Letter-Writing Campaign (thanks for your support!), our advocacy team has been working hard to make sure McKinney-Vento programs are fully funded. Check out their lunchtime strategy session with our Director of Field Mobilization Sarah Kahn in the photo at right.Anthony Stasi, a new addition to our staff, has also been talking to members of Congress about the importance of McKinney-Vento programs. He guest blogs about his Congressional visits below.In the effort to influence the legislature to consider an increase in the HUD budget for fiscal year 2011, the Alliance has been actively informing members of both houses of the importance of the minimum funding necessary to keep new rapid re-housing programs running. The current appropriation from the administration is $2.055 billion. While this is quite generous, the minimum needed to keep these programs solvent is $2.4 billion. This is an interesting time on the Hill, as many ‘housing friendly’ members are eager to help and sign-on to let... Read More »
• Modifying the Definition of Homelessness

  April 20, 2010

  Today's guest post is from our Senior Policy Analyst Norm Suchar.The definition has been a controversial issue for many years, but Congress managed to achieve enough of a compromise to pass a homelessness bill last year, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act, a.k.a. the HEARTH Act. The HEARTH Act made several changes to the definition, but, as is usually the case, it left some of the operational details to HUD, and HUD published its draft of those implementing regulations for comment this week. We're still analyzing the regulations, but on first read, they're about what we expected. Currently, HUD considers people homeless if they are in one of the following situations:1. Their nighttime residence is an emergency shelter, transitional housing program, or a place not meant for human habitation (e.g. car, sidewalk, park).2. They are exiting an institutional setting where they resided for up to 30 days and immediately prior to entering the institution, they were living in a place not meant for human habitation or an emergency shelter. 3. They are in housing but are being evicted within the next 7 days and have no other place to go and no resources or support networks to obtain housing. 4. They are fleeing domestic violence and have no other place to go and no resources or support networks to obtain housing. The new definition makes a few changes. • It extends the time a person could be l... Read More »
• NYC Homelessness Commissioner Rob Hess Steps Down

  April 19, 2010

  Today, we at the Alliance learned that Rob Hess, commissioner of the NYC Department of Homeless Services, will be stepping down from his post on Friday, April 23. During his tenure, Rob has been a valuable contributor to the efforts of the Alliance and an important ally in our fight to end homelessness in America. Most recently, Rob had served as co-chairman of the Alliance’s Leadership Council - a group of eleven leaders in the homeless assistance field from across the country. The Leadership Council has been instrumental in pulling together information about effective work around the country, most notably in the implementation of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), the $1.5 billion stimulus-funded effort to prevent and curb homelessness resulting from the recession. Rob also served as frequent speaker at Alliance Conferences, sharing his experience as a leader in our homeless assistance community and offering lessons from the field. He has been an important source of information, for people working at the local level and for policymakers. He also made important strides in his work at the city-level. As DHS Commissioner, Rob was committed to innovation – he expanded the HomeBase program in NYC, which was the inspiration for the existing federal HPRP program. He worked to reduce street homelessness and focused his efforts on homelessness prevention for families. He also brought thoughtful, empirical data to the problem – integrating data into prevention efforts and emphasizing outcomes for street outreach. His l... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: homelessness headlines from New York, Ventura County, Denver and the blogospher

  April 16, 2010

  ... Read More »
• McKinney-Vento: Now, Time for the Senate

  April 15, 2010

  It's been awhile since we've talked about the McKinney-Vento Appropriations campaign on this blog, but our advocacy team has been hard at work behind the scenes to make sure homelessness assistance providers have the funding they need.The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs is the largest portion of the federal government’s investment in ending homelessness. McKinney-Vento (for short) funds critical federal and state programs, and – maybe most importantly - provides financial assistance to the local programs in your own neighborhoods. This funding couldn’t be more important to our community’s most vulnerable citizens – especially now.What we need is $2.4 billion: $2.4 billion will help keep all those funding streams alive and kicking, while making the changes outlined in the HEARTH Act.So we’re asking you to reach out again! PLEASE call your senator today and urge them to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter asking the Senate T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee to include $2.4 billion for the McKinney-Vento programs in FY 2011.The deadline is April 22!Here's what you can do:Call the congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121.Ask for your senator.If you don't know who that is, you can find out here. Did your senator sign-on last year? Find out here.Ask for the staffer who works on housing issues.It’s helpful to start something like, “Hi, I’m Jane. I live in STATE and I’d like to speak with the staff member who works on housing issues.” Here's what you can say:I am call... Read More »
• 2010 Awards Ceremony: Honoring Virgin Mobile USA for their work in the fight against youth homelessn

  April 13, 2010

  ... Read More »
• Lessons from the NTEN conference

  April 12, 2010

  The 2010 NTEN Conference is officially done and over - we all said our goodbyes to lovely, friendly Atlanta, the gorgeous Omni Hotel, and all our new friends and colleagues. And after six sessions, two keynotes, three receptions, and endless networking - followed by a plane ride and a night to sleep on it - I've finally come up with some official lessons from the NTEN conference.We are not alone!Nearly 1500 people descended on Atlanta, GA to take part in the conference - communications officers and IT professionals and fundraisers and executives and a host of other non-profit stakeholders. It was incredible to see the role that technology played in the professional lives of such a diversity of people and positions.Technology = tools.A lot of times, I think we get deluded and think that these new gadgets and gizmos are the answers to our problems. What resonated loudly to me, at least, are that all these innovations in technology are tools - they're instruments presenting new ways an strategies to make us more effective at what we're ultimately trying to do - and not the answer in and of themselves.Technology can be small and intimate...Andrew Sullivan's take on the intimacy of blogging and the social media platform was a new idea for me. Of course I was familiar with the idea that social media is all about relationships, but the idea that blogging, in particular, is... Read More »
• NTEN: Day Two

  April 09, 2010

  Day two of the conference and my first day of workshops! Ever the eager beaver, I was ready; I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. After a day of mixers and games and socials (complete with slideshows and singing and a science fair!), I was ready to get what I came for: the tools, skills, and knowledge to make my organization more effective at doing what we're aiming to do - end homelessness. And I wasn't disappointed. Three workshops into the afternoon, I learned how to optimize my website to help people find content faster, I learned how other organizations were using social media; I learned that we could test our landing pages to see what elements make them the most effective, and I learned how important it was for all organizational departments to contribute to making the website more user- and search-friendly. And I learned a lot about the people here too. Over lunch, I was lucky enough to meet Ed Doolittle of AID Atlanta and Pam Gaston of Health Mothers, Health Babies Coalition of Georgia - both here with the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, a collaborative partner for this year's NTEN Conference. Ed and I swapped stories about how difficult it can be to find housing for people with chronic, high-maintenance illnesses like HIV and AIDS - and how difficult it can be for people to successfully manage chronic illnesses like HIV and AIDS without stable housing. Similarly, it's difficult... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: Good News for People Who Want Progress

  April 09, 2010

  I like good news. As I read our daily media clips and search the blogosphere for news about homelessness, what I find is mostly infuriating, depressing, or somehow deeply upsetting. While that's the nature of the beast, I also think we're making progress, and I want to highlight it. Here's a few bright spots in homelessness headlines from the week.Boston's WBUR reported on how funds from the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program helped a mother fleeing from an abusive boyfriend find housing. (I interned for Heading Home, the organization profiled, in summer of 2006, helping out in their drop-in shelter and helping pave the way for their transition to providing permanent housing. I think they're amazing - and that's where I first learned about the Alliance!)Folks broke ground on a new housing development for veterans experiencing homelessness outside Seattle As part of their ongoing series on youth homelessness in FL, the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida posted some adorable pictures of the children at their Early Child Development Center. This is a pretty incredible story: despite struggling with homelessness, this LA teen has totally conquered his high school and is moving on to West Point with the help of their alumni association. A new permanent supportive housing development called Florence House opens this week in Portland. For more on progress toward ending homelessness there, check out this post from HUD's blog. Speaking of frustrating news, the... Read More »
• NTEN: Day One

  April 08, 2010

  Greetings from Atlanta!The National Alliance to End Homelessness is attending the Nonprofit Technology Network Conference (NTEN) for the very first time - on the year if the conference's own 10th birthday!NTEN is a community of nonprofit organizations committed to using technology to help fulfill our missions. In their own words:"We believe that technology allows nonprofits to work with greater social impact. We enable our members to strategically use technology to make the world a better, just, and equitable place."What that means in practice is a lot of sharing: online workshops to learn about the latest gadgets and tools, local gatherings in cities across the country to swap skills, online and off-line forums for people with similar interests and jobs to trade challenges and solutions, and - drumroll - the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference.This year, there are about 1350 people in attendance, all buzzing around to learn what's new and effective. And while there are plenty of people here who do what I do (communications!) there are plenty of other jobs represented here too - IT folk, webmasters, fundraisers, executives, organizers. And there are lots of different kinds of organizations here too - I met Melissa from Free Range Studios, ran into Michaela from Forum One Communications, saw old friend Stacy from See3 and caught a glimpse of the Google kiosk. It's been quite whirl - and we haven't even started workshops yet! But sitting here -... Read More »
• Annual Awards Ceremony in Two Weeks!

  April 08, 2010

  I am happy to share that the Alliance’s Annual Awards Ceremony is two weeks from today! This exciting event, taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, will celebrate solutions to ending homelessness and the people that make those solutions a reality. We are happy to honor the following individuals and organizations for their great work:Virgin Mobile USA and Virgin Unite for their focus on youth homelessness, introducing ground-breaking initiatives to raise awareness, increase volunteerism, and provide critical resources to local agencies throughout the United States. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) who has been instrumental in securing much-needed funding for homeless programs at the federal level. She has also spearheaded countless efforts to help homeless veterans as well as provide rapid re-housing for families experiencing homelessness. UNITY of Greater New Orleans for being a leader in the battle to end homelessness in New Orleans. Since Hurricane Katrina, the organization has reached into the streets and hurricane-ravaged buildings of the city to find and house thousands of the community’s most vulnerable residents. Maurice “Mo” Vaughn who is building affordable housing and strengthening communities in New York. The former MLB star is the co-founder of OMNI New York LLC, a development company that has built over 3,000 units of affordable housing. Other highlights: Senior PBS Correspondent Judy Woodruff will serve as the night’s emcee and Grammy-nominated musician Mighty Sam McClain will provide entertainment. And aside from the highlights – this is an impor... Read More »
• "Housing can save lives," says Martha Kegel, 2010 Nonprofit Achievement Award Winner

  April 08, 2010

  At our Annual Awards Ceremony on April 22, we'll honor Unity of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit organization leading a collaborative of 63 agencies providing housing and services to the homeless in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. In 2009, UNITY provided housing or services to 19,468 homeless children and adults - nearly twice the number of people served annually before Hurricane Katrina.Executive Director Martha Kegel will accept our Nonprofit Achievement Award on behalf of UNITY. Read on to learn more about Martha's story and UNITY's work.1. What is the newest issue emerging in homelessness policy?As climate change leads to more disasters of great severity here and around the globe, a sustained commitment is needed to ensuring permanent housing solutions for the poorest and most vulnerable victims of disasters.  Here in New Orleans, nearly five years after poorly designed levees broke, several thousand of the most vulnerable victims of Hurricane Katrina – most of whom have serious disabilities but were stably housed before the disaster -- are living in Third World conditions, squatting in New Orleans’ 61,000 abandoned buildings filled with mold, rotting debris and gaping holes in the ceilings as though Katrina just happened.   The Mississippi Gulf Coast too is seeing widespread homelessness as a result of massive loss of housing stock and dramatic increases in rents since Katrina.  The lion’s share of attention is given to emergency relief when disasters happen, but a strong and sustained partnership is needed between nonprofits, government and phila... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: Elderly homelessness, the Census, and even some good news

  April 02, 2010

  Policymakers can consider themselves warned: in 10 years, homelessness among the elderly population will have increased dramatically unless they take action. Along with our own report, The Rising Elderly Population, the AARP's Public Policy Institute and the Center for Housing Policy also released a study this week on Strategies to Meet the Housing Needs of Older Adults. It even comes with an online toolkit to help make these strategies into reality.Although predictions about elderly homelessness are a cause for serious concern, there has been some good news in headlines about homelessness this week:In San Francisco, a new 56-unit development for formerly homeless individuals opened its doors this week. 149 Mason Street also offers a host of services, including an on-site medical clinic. Two officials in Ventura County, CA are working to invest extra revenue in homeless assistance, including start-up money for a housing trust fund. The Cleveland Homeless blog reported on a study by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless that shows despite increasing unemployment and an increasing difficult housing market, homelessness has only risen slightly due to a solid network of prevention and emergency services.   The Huffington Post featured a story about a mother with two children who recently moved into permanent supportive housing after escaping domestic violence.And it's census week! We shared some neat trivia on our blog as census workers visited emergency shelters, free meal sites, and outdoor areas like parking lots in an attempt to g... Read More »

‹ First  < 35 36 37 38 39 >  Last ›