• Weigh in on the Federal Plan to End Homelessness at our Annual Conference

  January 28, 2010

  The federal government has never before had a plan to end homelessness but for the first time, one is in the works. What's more, attendees at the Alliance 2010 Conference on Ending Family Homelessness will be able to give input on the plan. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness will host a forum for audience members to offer comments and suggestions about what should be included in the Federal plan on Friday, February 12 from 7:30am-8:45am."It's a great chance for people to stand up and say something," says Norm Suchar, Alliance Senior Policy Analyst.The HEARTH Act, passed in May of 2009, requires that the Interagency Council develop a plan to end homelessness, which is scheduled to be submitted to Congress in May of this year. The conference forum is one of many listening sessions that the Council is conducting with service providers and advocates. The plan will be comprehensive, covering all federal agencies, particularly HUD, and the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Education. It will pay particular attention to solving homelessness among four populations: the chronically homeless, veterans, families and youth.According to Suchar, in order to be successful, the federal plan must include measurable outcomes and goals, as well as accountability, so that people and departments know whether they are meeting those goals. What would you like to see in the federal plan to end homelessness?... Read More »
• The Domino Effect: Conference scholarship recipient describes her homeless experience

  January 20, 2010

  The agenda for the Alliance's upcoming National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness is packed: speakers will cover performance measurements, prevention strategies, program implementation and more, but some of our conference attendees will speak from personal experience. Valda Brown, a formerly homeless single mother of four, is one of our 2010 conference scholarship recipients. Here, she describes the lived experience of homelessness and the lessons she's learned.My car broke down and from that point on it was like a domino effect: I lost my jobs, my rent was behind and before I knew it, we were evicted. My four boys and I became homeless, with nowhere to go. We had no family here, so we were pretty much on our own. I went into a state of depression, but I couldn’t act upon it as I had to be strong for my children. It was eating me up inside. I couldn’t tell the children as they thought mommy could do everything. I had to deal with what I thought was my failure to them. I was constantly telling them to go to school and get good grades. They looked at me like "You have a college degree with no job and on top of all of that, we are homeless." It was a rough road. I knew I had to stay strong for my children and keep encouraging them to do well in school. My children and I both had... Read More »
• Secretary Donovan video - Annual Conference remarks

  September 08, 2009

  At long last, the video of Secretary Donovan at the Alliance's Annual Conference on Ending Homelessness. Below, please find the text of the remarks below. More videos from the conference are forthcoming! Thank you, Nan - for that introduction, for your remarkable leadership with the Alliance, and, above all, for the bedrock commitment to end homelessness you have impressed upon five different HUD Secretaries. I look forward to continuing our work together. I want to also thank your board, particularly Co-Chairs Susan Baker and Mike Lowry. And I want to note the HUD team here helping us address homelessness - Mark Johnston, our Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, and Ann Oliva, who heads up our Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs. And of course, many of you know Fred Karnas - Fred is a senior adviser and has been critical in our Recovery Act efforts, including working with Mark and Ann quickly distributing the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing funds that so many of you made possible. Will all of you stand up? I want to also acknowledge the work of the Pete Dougherty, the interim executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the USICH staff, many of whom are here today. But most of all, I want to thank everyone in this room who labor day in and day out to help the millions of men, women, and children in our nation who experience homelessness. In... Read More »
• Remembering Ted Kennedy

  August 26, 2009

  Like so many others today, the Alliance mourns the loss of the esteemed public servant, Senator Ted Kennedy. His leadership, courage, and conviction will undoubtedly ensure his place in our collective memory. It's fitting that the Alliance first had the opportunity to host Senator Ted Kennedy ten years ago - the same year that the Alliance introduced the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. At our 1999 annual conference - The End of Homelessness: Blueprint for New Millennium - the senator joined Mrs. Tipper Gore in addressing the conference of 500 homeless advocates, providers, and community leaders. The senator had not always been in the plan. In fact, the Alliance had initially invited a staff member (presumably because we figured that the senator had prior engagements) from the senator's office to discuss mental illness among the homeless. And then luck intervened. Another staff member, who noticed the Alliance invitation and conference materials, thought that the conference would be a fitting venue to debut the senator's new language on mental health. And so, in July 1999, the senator joined the Alliance staff and conference attendees at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Senator Kennedy - the 'lion of the Senate' - spent his entire adult life in service to his country. The Alliance joins the nation in honoring the legacy of the great public servant.... Read More »
• Guest Blog: Poverty in Chicago

  August 11, 2009

  Afternoon, everyone! Apologies for the break in info - had some family in town and they required by strict attention (and tourist-guiding techniques). No worries, though, we're back on the horse now! A few pieces of business to wrap up: Pictures from the Conference (172 of them!) are up on our Flickr account. Check it out and see if we snapped you up! We didn't have a Friday news roundup, but I did notice this morning that there are a LOT of stories about the recession, a decline in services just as there's increased demand, and - as always - trickling stories about HPRP funds. Keep an eye on those daily clips to stay on top of the news. We'd love to hear from you! Tell us what you want more information about - shoot us a comment, follow us on Twitter (@naehomelessness) or shoot me an email with an idea, request, whatever. This is all about you - really! (For me, it's just an exercise in writing concisely.) Last week, I got an email from a woman at The Documentary Channel. They've created a piece on homelessness in Chicago, specifically looking at the role of addiction in homelessness. A spokesperson wrote to us, "Chicago filmmaker Brian Schodorf takes a raw and real look at the men behind the statistics with poignant testimonies from the streets and expert interviews inside elite university offices." It's a long one - trust me, you'll... Read More »
• Grant Opportunities from our Development Team

  August 05, 2009

  It's pretty crazy. Just now, I'm typing up some of the usability results from the Alliance's Annual Conference on Ending Homelessness, and I'm remembering that a handful of users suggested that we share fundraising ideas on our website. And then, I get this email from our Development Director, Beth Roche: Here are some new grant opportunities that do not seem to be a good fit for the Alliance, but that I thought some folks might be interested in knowing more about to pass along to other nonprofits and colleagues. Well, Beth! I'm sure there are some people who might be interested! Here you go, folks: The 14th Annual MetLife Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing is open for entries. Enterprise Community Partners and the MetLife Foundation have focused this year's competition on best practices in the area of affordable independent senior living and environmentally responsive housing. A program of Civic Ventures, the Purpose Prize annually provides five awards of $100,000 each to people over 60 who are working to address society's biggest challenges. The SEVEN (Social Equity Venture) Fund, a nonprofit organization that works to promote enterprise-based solutions to poverty, has published its second annual open Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty Request for Proposals. The fund's Request for Proposals is limited to research in economics, government policy, and business strategy, insofar as the research bears directly on questions in enterprise-based solutions to poverty. Best of luck if you choose to pursue these funding... Read More »
• Five Things I Learned at the Annual Conference

  August 03, 2009

  It's August 3, 2009 - the Monday after the National Conference on Ending Homelessness in Washington, D.C. The staff is back, almost recharged (Mondays are hard), and going over the last few days. Here's how it broke down: 1200+ participants from across the country; Almost 250 speakers sharing about housing strategies, best practices, and the newest data; 62 workshops about matters ranging from housing, federal policy, best practices, and communications; Six remarkable keynote speakers, including HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, White House Director of Urban Affairs Policy Adolfo Carrion, Jr., Senator Jack Reed, and a very boisterous account from Congressman Al Green. This was my first conference - and I was overwhelmed with the response of the attendees. I learned a lot, but highlights included: 1. There are a LOT of us! The fervor and passion and drive of service providers, policymakers, and advocates from far and wide was a moving testament to the goodwill that still exists in all of us - even in these trying economic times. More than once I heard of organizations "breaking the bank" so that their partners could benefit from our conference. We're very touched - and much obliged. 2. We're making some noise. This was my first opportunity to see the new HUD Secretary live and in-person, and his carefully thought-out address may not have alleviated all my worries - but it did let me know that the federal government hasn't turned a deaf ear to those most in need.... Read More »
• Annual Conference - Sen. Jack Reed!

  July 31, 2009

  I'm sitting here, listening to what is NO DOUBT a standing ovation given to Sen. Jack Reed who just gave an address to at the final plenary session at the Conference. The senator - a longtime homeless advocate and champion of highly successful legislation to prevent and end homelessness - touched upon a number of different topics, including the ramifications of the HEARTH Act and the inexcusable tragedy of veteran homelessness. "We have a lot of work to do," said the senator. He's already started, it seems. Yesterday, the senator announced, he introduced the Zero Tolerance for Homeless Veterans - in an effort to do just that: end veteran homelessness. Whew! Guess you never know what'll happen!... Read More »
• Annual Conferece - End of Day 2

  July 30, 2009

  Whew! It's been a LOOOONG day! Adolfo Carrion, the new Director of the White House Office on Urban Affairs Policy gave the lunchtime keynote, followed by acclaimed scholar Dennis Culhane - whose work informs so many of the most effective and promising strategies in ending homelessness. Adolfo, a self-described "urbanist," reiterated the notes that Secretary Donovan had left us with: together, as a community, we can approach homelessness is a collective, effective, and successful way. Then, the time came: the communications & advocacy workshop! My big workshop! I know I'm biased, but I tend to think that communications and advocacy not only go hand-in-hand, but are critical components to our mutual mission to address, prevent, and end homelessness. Our issue is such a delicate, complicated, and expansive one - and effectively relaying those nuances in an intelligent and digestible way requires careful thought and skill. And - as Leslie Kerns of M+R Strategic Services and Ehren Reed of Innovation Networks taught us this afternoon - a strategic campaign to get that message across to those who can sympathize, affect, and make a different. The two taught us that a great advocacy and communications strategy requires a careful examination of goals, the audience, the message, and a launch - and that examining these factos and making sure that all of them line up are instrumental for a successful campaign. I'll post the materials and ideas generated from the workshop in... Read More »
• Annual Conference - Secretary Donovan's remarks

  July 30, 2009

  Prepared Remarks for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Annual Conference Renaissance Hotel Washington, D.C. Thursday, July 30th, 2009 Thank you, Nan - for that introduction, for your remarkable leadership with the Alliance, and, above all, for the bedrock commitment to end homelessness you have impressed upon five different HUD Secretaries. I look forward to continuing our work together. I want to also thank your board, particularly Co-Chairs Susan Baker and Mike Lowry. And I want to note the HUD team here helping us address homelessness - Mark Johnston, our Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, and Ann Oliva, who heads up our Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs. And of course, many of you know Fred Karnas - Fred is a senior adviser and has been critical in our Recovery Act efforts, including working with Mark and Ann quickly distributing the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing funds that so many of you made possible. Will all of you stand up? I want to also acknowledge the work of the Pete Dougherty, the interim executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the USICH staff, many of whom are here today. But most of all, I want to thank everyone in this room who labor day in and day out to help the millions of men, women, and children in our nation who experience homelessness. In the best of times,... Read More »
• Annual Conference - Day Two

  July 30, 2009

  The Secretary's entourage and his security detail came by at 7 a.m. today. Herds of the 1200+ attendees of the conference mingled around the doors of the ballroom for a half hour to get a peek of the Secretary. The day began in a VERY exciting way! And just after 8 a.m. - Secretary Shaun Donovan himself. His remarks were inspiring and thoughtful: an emphasis on creating more affordable housing, the relationship between health care reform and the homeless, a persistent theme of the moral responsibility of our country to care for the least among us. The necessity of cooperation between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's Department of Health and Human Services in providing services + housing for the homeless. It was everything that the audience needed to hear: a federal promise to keep investing in preventing and ending homelessness. It's no wonder he got a standing ovation. We'll be posting the Secretary's remarks shortly, keep an eye out on our blog and website. But for the time being, a few pics. Next up - in under an hour! - new White House Director of Urban Affairs Policy: Adolfo Carrion. ... Read More »
• Annual Conference - End of Day One

  July 29, 2009

  Whew! That was an incredible day - opening session with Nan Roman, followed by roughly 25 different workshops until about 5 p.m. We're just about to start the fun part - reception! - after a very productive day of presentations, panels, and exchanging ideas. I personally attended a workshop about data (with Dennis Culhane!) and one about prevention techniques (with VERY engaging speakers Matt White of Ohio and Mellisa Mowery of New York). HPRP must've been the word of the day, cuz that second workshop had about 150 people in with seats filled and people standing around the edges! Tomorrow features Secretary Donovan, new White House Director on Urban Affairs Policy Adolfo Carrion, 75 more workshops, and a ton of other information. I'll post reception pictures later! Until then, some workshop pics. ... Read More »
• Annual Conference - Day One

  July 29, 2009

  It's a rushed, wonderful blur! Usability testing was a pretty good success - almost met our goal of 12 tests. Gave away starbucks and free t-shirts - gotta keep people motivated! Met Ms. Florida - rachael todd - at the conference! She wants to be the public face of ending homelessness. Was TOTALLY sweet and very very beautiful. Just got off the phone with c-span, who might come to carry Secretary Donovan's remarks and also remarks by Adolfo Carrion. Cross your fingers - that would be awesome! Took a few initial pics - will share shortly!... Read More »
• One more day…until the Annual Conference!

  July 27, 2009

  T-1 day!! The annual National Conference on Ending Homelessness officially starts on Wednesday, July 29 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The annual events hosts luminaries from the homeless advocacy fields, and presents workshops, plenary sessions, and keynotes speakers sharing a wide variety of perspectives, best practices, and new ideas. This year, the Alliance is expecting 1200 participants, 250 speakers, presenting 76 workshops, six pre-conference meetings, four keynote speakers, as well as a couple focus groups, expert roundtables, and terrific networking opportunities. Keynote speakers include Sen. Jack Reed (D – RI), Director of White House Office of Urban Affairs Adolfo Carrion Jr., homelessness scholar Dennis Culhane, and Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs Shaun Donovan. As usual, the gathering will be a rare opportunity for policymakers to mingle with direct service providers to mingle with elected officials to mingle with members of the general public and press. Each of these stakeholder groups will be able to offer their perspectives and concerns while attending workshops about the stimulus funds, housing strategies, chronic homelessness assessment, youth homelessness, and a breadth of other homelessness issues. For three days, these 1200 people will trade their personal experiences and expertise on ending homelessness in the United States and hopefully – with luck and determination – everyone will leave the annual conference better equipped to address homelessness in their geographic, political, policy areas. And behind this wonder of a conference is a small staff of very dedicated individuals (if we do... Read More »

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