• A Take Five Excerpt: SF Mayor Gavin Newsom on HPRP

  March 09, 2010

  Have you seen the latest in our Take Five Q&A series? It's featuring Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, where they've created 1, 679 units of permanent supportive housing in the last 6 years. What's below is excerpt of our Take Five piece, and you can read more about SF's work to end homelessness on his blog and here. What is the newest issue emerging in homelessness policy? Homelessness among families and children is increasing. We have seen greater demand for our homeless services by families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our ability to address this spike in demand has been strengthened as a result of the Obama Administration's $1.5 billion for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP). Using local and HPRP funds we have prevented 1,612 households from becoming homeless and/or entering the emergency shelter system. Our programs are focused on keeping families in housing by both addressing the financial burden they are experiencing, coupled with short term supportive services so they can maintain that housing for the long term. In addition, we allocated local funds to provide short-term rental subsidies so families could circumvent the shelter system and move directly into housing with supportive services so they can secure employment and take over the rent payment of their new home. We will also continue to build both affordable housing and permanent supportive housing so that families with disabilities, and those that just need a stable home, can avoid entering the emergency shelter system as they move from crisis to stability. Want to know more? Check out the rest of Mayor Newsom's commentary on our website.... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: TANF, poverty measurement, and blogs all around!

  March 05, 2010

  Before you read on, stop and sign this Change.org petition asking Congress to extend the TANF Emergency Fund. As the recession hits more and more families and states slash budgets, the need for federal funding for Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) becomes more and dire. This assistance is crucial for families at-risk of homelessness. For more background, read this stellar piece from Change.org's Poverty in America blog about why Congress must extend the TANF Emergency Fund.We might remember this as the week the federal government finally announced that they're revising the poverty measure. It's about time. We're definitely keeping track of developments, so stay tuned to our blog for more.From the Huffington Post to the Merrimack Valley Regional Network to End Homelessness blog, seems like the blogopshere is just getting better and better.And bigger and bigger: National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty launched a new blog, where they've been talking about the right to housing and covering the Universial Periodic Review of the U.S.'s accountability to human rights standards this past week at the UN. The New York Times blog also reported on the process. Speaking of bigger and better, the North American Street Newspaper Association has redesigned their blog and it looks awesome! Check it out here.Over at the Funders Together blog, Bill Pitkin reports back on a meeting last month in LA, where experts like our own Nan... Read More »
• Feds announce plans to revise poverty measure

  March 04, 2010

  The federal poverty measurement hasn't changed much in the 45 years since Mollie Orshansky first created it - until now. Yesterday, the government announced that they are experimenting with a new Supplemental Poverty Measure, with a final version to be announced in the fall.During Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty in the 1960s, Orshansky developed the current criteria, which are based on household size, income and food expenses. The new measure would take into account costs like housing, medical care, child care and utilities. It has long been accepted that the poverty measure needs updating. While in Orshansky's day, food may have been the largest cost to a family, it's now dwarfed by other expenses.Moreover, a reassessment of the poverty measure is a step toward better data - one of the Alliance's key principles. In order to move towards effective solutions, we must first have a comprehensive understanding of the problem. Why is the federal poverty measurement important for services to the homeless? For one, the current measurement determines eligibility for programs - Medicaid, TANF, and food stamps, to name a few - that both help prevent homelessness and help stabilize people who experience homelessness. According to yesterday's announcement, the new criteria won't impact eligibility for these programs; instead, it will only be used by the Census Bureau to more accurately determine the rate of poverty in the U.S. Still, kudos to the Administration for their brave examination of... Read More »
• Stay Involved! Next Steps for the McKinney Appropriations campaign!

  March 03, 2010

  So – after all that McKinney madness, you thinking you want to stay involved? Keep fighting the good fight to eliminate homelessness in our country? Do the right thing?? (I know you do!) Perfect timing: Yesterday, Representatives Moore (D-WI) and Davis (R-KY) began circulating a McKinney Appropriations Congressional Sign-on Letter in the House.So next, we’re going to start targeting House offices (the Senate side will come later). Below are some things YOU can do to keep up the great progress we’ve been making! Action Needed:Contact the housing staff person in the offices of your House members. DO IT THIS WEEK. We’ve drafted some TALKING POINTS that you can use when talking to that staffer. Goal: Get that housing staffer to ask his/her boss to:Ask when you can follow up with him/her. Report back on your progress! Contact Amanda (akrusemark@naeh.org) or Sarah (skahn@naeh.org) to share your results. We’ll keep track of the calls – just like we did the McKinney letters – and report back to YOU on our collective effortsWe can't say it enough - your work makes the difference! Nothing moves offices more than real, actual constituents calling in to voice an opinion - and your voice matters. If should you encounter questions or concerns or any other stumbling blocks, don't hesitate to give us a shout (Amanda or Sarah or me @ can@naeh.org). And keep up the good work!... Read More »
• McKinney-Vento Appropriations campaign results!

  March 02, 2010

  To all our McKinney Appropriations Campaign participants!Wow, you are IMPRESSIVE! The letter writing campaign, which ended yesterday, was an enormous success - better than we even imagined! Almost 1,200 letters from all over the country have been sent to Congressional offices. We’ve already gotten positive responses from multiple Congressional offices that said they will take action to support $2.4 billion for McKinney. What does that mean? It means you have already had a direct impact on increasing funding for preventing and ending homelessness.Though everyone has worked really hard on this Campaign, we want to highlight some individuals for their exceptional commitment. The people who forwarded us copies of the MOST letters were:• Rayme Nuckles, President, Florida Coalition for the Homeless – 274 letters• Stephen Piasecki, Supportive Housing Network of New York – 137 letters• Alison Eisinger, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (WA) – 110 letters• Leah Bradley, Home Again Project, Worcester, MA – 71 lettersIn addition to these folks, the individuals below sent the most letters to their Members of Congress. They deserve extra recognition for all of the hard work they put into the Campaign.• Flo Beauman, Catholic Community Services (WA) – 222 letters• Lindsey Bishop, Corporation for Supportive Housing (MI) – 68 letters• Kate Kelly, Partnership for Strong Communities (CT) – 67 letters• Maine advocates from several communities working together (ME) – 35 letters• BriAnne McKee, Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness (MI) – 28 letters• Charlie Corrigan, Building Changes (WA) – 24 lettersEveryone should be so proud of themselves! We really can’t say it enough: this effort DOES make the differ... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: Leadership in SF, jobs for vets in TX, and stories from the blogosphere

  February 26, 2010

  In the homelessness headlines this week, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom reported on his city's progress toward the goals set in their 10-year plan to end homelessness. Since 2004 - when the plan was initiated - the city has created 1,649 units of permanent housing. Although advocates have pointed out that the city still needs more services for the homeless and a stronger emphasis on helping homeless families, San Francisco shows why it pays to have local political support for your ten year plan. Mayor Newsom - a reputedly charismatic and persuasive political leader - and his support of the Ten Year Plan has created momentum in addressing homelessness in his community.In Waco, the VA office has started hiring homeless veterans to help them get back on their feet. Combined with housing, this sounds like a recipe for stability. Three cheers for the Texas city for NOT just talking the talk, but walking the walk to end homelessness!Also in the news this week was this piece from northeastern Minnesota, which has some useful analysis of how to better serve people experiencing homelessness in rural areas.There's all kinds of exciting things happening in the blogosphere this week. For one, our McKinney-Vento Appropriations got picked up by the Change.org End Homelessness blog! (If you haven't already, it's time to write Congress! Now!)I've also been really inspired by some of the amazing stuff coming from service providers, including Calvary Women's... Read More »
• We Need YOUR Help! Save our McKinney-Vento Letter Campaign!!

  February 24, 2010

  People of the blogosphere, we need your help!Our McKinney-Vento Appropriates Letter-Writing campaign is rapidly drawing to a close and we need you to be part of our final push!Our goal: to convince Congress to raise funding for the McKinney Vento programs to $2.4 billion dollars. So we need YOU to write letters to your legislators. And if your state is on the list below, you’re even MORE important. Your legislator is on a key committee discussing this very issue: homeless assistance funding. $2.4 billion is a steep price – we know that – but we’ve done the math. And $2.4 billion is what’s necessary to continue to the existing homeless assistance programs in your local communities AND implement the HEARTH Act (the reauthorization of McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs that modernize and streamline the system). So have a heart. Check out the list and the sample letter below, and if you’re so inclined, email the letter to us. We’ll collect the letters, disseminate them to the right offices, and make sure that our government knows we care. Check out the sample letter below, feel free to edit as you see fit, and click “send.” And don’t hesitate to shoot us an email if you have any questions. (You can also find us on Twitter - @naehomelessness – or our Facebook page.) Sample LetterDear Senator:I would like to thank you for your commitment to ending homelessness and for enacting the HEARTH Act last y... Read More »
• Senate passes latest version of the Jobs Bill, but HPRP funding is nowhere to be found

  February 24, 2010

  Okay – so we’re going to take some time to talk about something a tad bit boring…and pretty important. That’s right: Congress.This just in: the Senate just passed the first piece of the Jobs bill (recap: once upon a time, there was one giant Senate Jobs bill. But some people thought it’d be better to break it up into a bunch of little bills). This $15 billion bill is focused primarily on providing tax credits for employers who are hiring – and especially hiring the unemployed. More, similar legislation will be coming down the pike, but no where in the distance is one key element that we – the Alliance and homeless asisistance providers and advocates – are looking for. Additional funding for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). As a part of the Jobs Bill, we at the Alliance are hoping for $1 billion. Here's why:The unemployment outlook has worsened significantly since HPRP was created last year, which puts more people in danger of becoming homeless. It was designed to help 600,000 people, but communities are finding there are more people who need assistance than we'd planned for. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), communities from states - including California, Michigan, Nebraska, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, and South Carolina - have reported that there are far more families who are homeless or at-risk than there is money to help them get back on their feet. An ... Read More »
• HUD report shows increase in newly homeless, especially families

  February 24, 2010

  I just finished watching this audio slideshow about a homeless family living in a hotel in Wentzville, Missouri. The specificity of the images struck me: the picnic in the parking lot of the Budget Inn, the can of food pantry carrots, the parents' hands holding. But it's a story that's more and more common: a lost job, a downward spiral, desperate phone calls to service providers, kids learning to cope. In fact, according to HUD's third quarterly Homelessness Pulse Report, the number of people accessing services for the first time increased by 26% from July to September 2009. Says one homeless outreach worker from Lincoln, NE:They are the new poor, only homeless because of the economy. These are the people who at the beginning of the 2000s might have been on the edge or middle class. These are people who never thought they'd be in the position they're in today.The report is intended to assess the impact of the current economic crisis and determine how unemployment and foreclosures affect homelessness. The seven Continuums of Care that participated - including New York City, Richmond, the state of Kentucky and Lakeland, FL - represent about 12 percent of the country’s overall shelter and transitional housing capacity. In particular, HUD's data shows that like the Tranthams in Wentzville, the newly homeless tend to be families: while the total number of newly homeless people accessing services increased by 26%, the rise for newly sheltered families w... Read More »
• We're extending the McKinney-Vento Approps Campaign!

  February 22, 2010

  In case you missed it – the Alliance is extending our McKinney-Vento Appropriations Campaign! So for all of you out there who are looking for ways to get involved and do something about homelessness – this is your chance.Recap: This month we’ve talked a lot about the President Obama’s budget proposal, and specifically about the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs. The McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance programs represent the largest federal investment and homeless assistance funding, and President Obama requested a ten percent – or $190 million – increase in his budget proposal.The ten percent bump? Great step.But here at the Alliance, we know that much more money is going to be needed to sustain McKinney-Vento programs all the while implementing the new HEARTH Act, the reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento programs that are making the first significant changes/updates to the program in nearly 20 years. The HEARTH Act does a LOT of great things: allocates millions more to homelessness prevention, rapidly re-housing homeless families, and providing permanent supportive housing for homeless people with disabilities. It also modernizes and streamlines housing and services to more efficiently meet the needs of people seeking assistance.But it’s all gonna cost more money.So we launched a our McKinney Vento Appropriations Campaign. We’re asking local, engaged activists (like you!) to write letters to your member of Congress, urging them to raise McKinney-Vento funding to $2.4 billion. We know it sounds like a lot – but according to our calculations,... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: the end of the snow, the end of the conference, Detroit, and Prince WIlliam

  February 19, 2010

  It’s that time again – Friday! And this Friday, we’re not snowed in by the great snowpocalypse of the east. In fact, it’s pretty nice here in Washington, D.C. Which is good news for our beleaguered Alliance staff, who made it back this week from beautiful southern California and the 2010 Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. Amanda Krusemark, program and policy associate at the Alliance offered dispatches from the conference, covering her own workshops, keynote speeches, and the transportation trials due to snow. We’ve also posted the keynote addresses from Nan Roman, president of the alliance and Barb Poppe, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Also in the news this week was an article from the AP, penned by Frank Eltman, that discussed the posited rise in homelessness among suburbanites, specifically a rise in the number of homeless women and families. Eltman cited last year’s HUD survey, which suggested that suburban homelessness rose from 23 to 32 percent over the course of the year. This question – about the geography of homelessness – seems to be gaining more traction. Luckily, we’re prepared for the speculation! Check out the Alliance’s own Geography of Homelessness – a four part series examining where homelessness exists. What you’ll find in that study is that Detroit – oh, Detroit – tops the lists of both communities that have the highest number of homeless residents and the highest rate of homelessness per 10,000 people. There was a quick p... Read More »
• Barb Poppe's remarks to the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness

  February 19, 2010

  Good afternoon. It is an honor to return to this conference and present my first official speech in my new capacity as Executive Director of United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. I cannot imagine speaking anywhere else since there are so many wonderful people in the audience who have inspired me and have poured their souls into ending homelessness. I would like to thank the National Alliance to End Homelessness for putting on another exceptional conference. I want to especially thank my dear friend, Nan Roman for her friendship and her tremendous leadership over the years on an issue we all so dearly care about. I would also like to recognize Mark Johnston the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Assistance Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and a member of the USICH Policy Group, as well as Ann Oliva, Director at the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs at HUD. For those of you who do not know me, I look forward to meeting you and engaging with you over the months and years ahead. I have more than two decades worth of non-profit experience working on homelessness with housing-related organizations. As a former board member and advisory group member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, I’m very proud of the work they have achieved over the years and have been impressed by Nan and her team’s commitment to seeing our... Read More »
• Nan Roman's remarks to the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness

  February 18, 2010

  The Alliance is back from sunny LA and back at work since the 2010 Ending Family Homelessness Conference ended. We’re working on getting you those presentations – and feel free to let us know if you need anything else! – but in the meantime, check out Nan’s keynote remarks from Thursday, Friday 11, 2010. Nan RomanThursday, Friday 11, 2010National Conference on Ending Family HomelessnessLos Angeles, CAWelcome everyone to our conference on ending family homelessness. It is a pleasure being with you today and my colleagues and I appreciate so much your continued efforts to end homelessness. I know that this has been a challenging year for all of us and the effects of the recession have really kicked in. Unemployment is currently hovering around 10% nationally, in some places even higher. A year ago, the Alliance estimated based on projected 9% unemployment, that homelessness would increase 34% by the end of 2010. Two things have affected this prediction in the past year. First the bad news: unemployment has reached considerably higher levels than the previously predicted 9%. It is not hard to glean that this high rate will result in more poverty, more deep poverty, and more homelessness. Governors around the country are in the process of proposing their 2011 budgets, and the news is grim. As predicted, state and local governments are cutting their budgets as the country enters its third consecutive year in a recession. States face budget shortfalls of $300 billion per year; most will look to cut this am... Read More »
• Dispatches from the LA Families Conference

  February 12, 2010

  Greetings, folks. Thanks to my trusty, awesome colleague Liz Whitehurst, I haven’t been around but it’s nice to be back!We have a few dispatches from LA and the Families Conference, which is currently in it’s last day in sunny California. After 3+ days of speakers, workshops, keynotes, and plenty of weather/travel trouble, Alliance staff will be returning from the land of beachy sunshine to the snowy aftermath of our east coast blizzards. Which isn’t to say that they haven’t had their share of troubles. Turns out, weather troubles on the east had a noted impact on the west! Stranded speakers led to some creative thinking for the staff! Amanda Krusemark, our newly-promoted Programs & Policy Associate – shares her dispatch from the conference after a long couple first days… Waiting for…airplanes…I’m lucky I didn’t have any trouble with the airport. I spent frantic hours on Monday trying to change my flight on Tuesday so that I wouldn't get stuck in the snowstorm. I ended up leaving Dulles at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and made it out with no problems whatsoever. I'm lucky I was able to get out so early, ahead of the storm. Our colleagues, though, - Sharon, Sarah, and Steve - ended up getting in a car and DRIVING to Richmond chasing a flight! It turns out they were able to get on the plane, make a connection, and got to Los Angeles by 1 a... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: Conference, research, recovery

  February 12, 2010

  "Never has there been a more salient time to discuss the pressing issue of family homelessness," said Nan Roman. "We're faced with economic instability, rising unemployment, and an anticipated rise in homelessness. At the same time, we see increased attention to the crisis, both from the mainstream media and from the federal government. Now is the time for a serious conversation about systematic change; now is the time to face our challenges head-on."There's a tidbit from the Alliance's National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness, going on now in LA. PATH Partners' Joel John Roberts reports on the event here.As we gathered in LA, some leaders in the field of permanent supportive housing got some much-deserved press this week. Jennifer Ho, who recently joined the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, discussed the transformation of services in Minnesota. In an interview with Good Magazine, Roseanne Haggerty says: "Communities willing to work on getting people housed instead of letting the homeless drift between shelters, hospitals and jails can solve homelessness." Couldn't have said it better ourselves.And while we've been focusing on the federal this week, folks at the local level have been making some major progress: with youth in Worcester, for veterans in Utah, for chronically homeless people in Alaska (great analysis in this piece), with housing in South Dakota.There's also been some significant research findings out this week. One finds that despite an increase in public aid programs... Read More »
• A Federal Plan to End Homelessness: The Alliance recommends

  February 09, 2010

  While yet another snowpocalypse hits DC, most of the Alliance staff has escaped to LA for our Annual Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. It starts unofficially today with an opportunity to give input into the federal government's plan to end homelessness. (As we've mentioned before, it's a pretty awesome opportunity.)Representatives from the U.S. Intergency Council on Homelessness and HUD are soliciting recommendations, and as required in the HEARTH Act, the plan should be finalized by May of this year.Here are some of the key points from our official recommendations. Do you have anything to add? For veterans:Deploy 60,000 units of permanent supportive housing, targeted to veterans experiencing chronic homelessness (30,000 already in the pipeline);Provide prevention and rapid rehousing services to 250,000 veterans per year;For families Equip publicly funded programs that serve families who are vulnerable to homelessness (e.g. TANF and child welfare) so they have the capacity (and responsibility) to respond, and resolve, their clients’ housing crises;Increase the supply of affordable housing to families with very low incomes through expanding permanent, short- and medium-term rental assistance; and For youth: Expand federal investment in youth housing services and infrastructure to serve an additional 50,000 homeless and street-dependent youth annually; Offer Congress and the Administration clear data on the incidence of youth homelessness, research on the extent of long-term homelessness among homeless youth populations, and identification of interventions targeted to specific typologies of homeless youth; and And this i... Read More »
• Spotlight on budget: Permanent Supportive Housing!

  February 09, 2010

  Last week's budget recommendations included a pleasant surprise for permanent supportive housing advocates: 10,000 new homeless and special needs vouchers specifically focused on building collaboration between federal agencies. It's a welcome sign that the Obama administration is willing to invest in real, practical solutions to homelessness.Permanent supportive housing is a proven solution to chronic homelessness; it's a paradigm shift we've been working on here at the Alliance for years, so it's really exciting to hear the federal government speaking our language:Stable housing is the foundation upon which all else in a family’s or individual’s life is built--absent a safe, affordable place to live, it is next to impossible to achieve good health, positive educational outcomes, or reach one’s full economic potential.Here's what's special about this initiative:Targeting mainstream supports to homeless people: The program could be a catalyst for learning how to target programs like Medicaid and substance abuse treatment to homeless individuals. Since these systems are frequently used by chronically homeless individuals and permanent supportive housing cuts down on use of services, it just makes sense for these agencies to figure out how best to work together.A "silo-busting" alignment of resources: The program represents a move toward interagency collaboration. Take a child whose family is in shelter: not only would the program provide her family with a housing voucher, but it would also connect them with income support such as the Temporary Assistance for N... Read More »
• Friday News Roundup: Everybody's talking budget

  February 05, 2010

  This week, it's all about the budget. The president's recommendations for fiscal year 2011 came out on Monday, and bloggers and organizations have spent this week responding.On the HUD blog, Secretary Shaun Donovan summarizes what's in the president's proposed budget for housing. We're particularly excited about a new initiative that will provide 10,000 vouchers for supportive housing and encourage collaboration between departments. (Stay tuned for more on this program.) Plus, Secretary Donovan is talking about using "housing as a platform for improving quality of life"! That sounds like progress.Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the 13th juror points out that the budget includes some painful cuts in housing for the disabled and the elderly and Open House stresses the innovative affordable housing programs that are included.The National Low Income Housing Coalition's response to the proposed budget highlighted the $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, but there's more to it says President Sheila Crowley: "We are grateful that the HUD budget was spared the cuts to domestic discretionary programs that are included in the overall budget. Nonetheless, essentially flat funding for HUD this year is insufficient given the high demand for housing assistance as a result of the recession."Around here, we're also talking about how we can impact the budget process. Check out yesterday's post about how you can get involved in our McKinney-Vento Appropriations campaign, which will increase federal funding for homelessness services. And then do it!Life goes... Read More »
• McKinney Vento Campaign Update: 5 ways you can help increase federal funding for services to the hom

  February 04, 2010

  ... Read More »
• Ending Family Homelessness Conference: What are you looking forward to?

  February 03, 2010

  As the Alliance's Annual Conference on Ending Family Homelessness approaches, the office is abuzz with travel plans and last-minute arrangements. We've got a full slate of workshops, two awesome keynote speakers, and an ambitious, but reachable goal: ensuring every family in the U.S. has a home.Here's what Alliance staff members are looking forward to:LaKesha Pope, Youth Program and Policy Analyst:"I'm excited about my workshops: the Cultural Competency workshop, the Outcomes workshop, and the Young Moms workshop. I think some practical tools will be delivered that people can bring back to their communities."Amanda Krusemark, Program and Policy Associate: "I'm excited to hear from Barb Poppe, the new Director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness. I want to know what she has to say." Capacity Building Associate Aisha Williams agrees: "I'm looking forward to hearing from the new ICH leadership. I'm interested in hearing what their plans are." Bill Sermons, Director of the Homelessness Research Institute: I'm probably most excited about our Data and Performance Simplified workshop. We're looking at a pretty huge turnout, so it's a great opportunity to make materials about performance accessible to a wider range of people..Meghan Henry, Research Associate: "I'm most excited about the Affordable Housing Development workshop by NeighborWorks. It's just so useful. I'm also excited about hearing from people across the country about their experiences this year."... Read More »

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