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Spotlight On... Rural Homeless Initiative of Southeast and Central OhioFor the past two years, the National Alliance to End Homelessness has worked collaboratively with the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and seventeen rural counties in Ohio on the Rural Homeless Initiative of Southeast and Central Ohio, or the RHISCO Project. These efforts resulted in sixteen communities adopting and beginning to implement plans to end homelessness. The process of creating those plans is detailed in a report, Rural Homeless Initiative of Southeast and Central Ohio: A National Model for Planning to End Rural Homelessness, that provides an extensive discussion of the RHISCO Project, the issue of rural homelessness, and the nature of the participating counties. The report also highlights the cross cutting findings, promising practices, and challenges and opportunities that emerged from the RHISCO Project. This report will be a useful tool for all rural communities looking to develop ten year plans to end homelessness and working to advance better approaches to address the issue. Rural Homeless Initiative of Southeast and Central Ohio: A National Model for Planning to End Rural Homelessness
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HUD Publishes FY 2008 NOFA and General Section
On March 19, 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the NOFA Policy Requirements and General Section to HUD's FY2008 NOFA for Discretionary Programs. This notice provides prospective applicants for HUD competitive funding with the opportunity to become familiar with the General Section of HUD's FY2008 NOFAs, in advance of publication of any FY2008 NOFAs. The expected publication data of the NOFA will be no earlier than July 1, 2008. Although the application timeline will be delayed in 2008, HUD expects to make an on-time announcement of awards.
HUD Secretary Jackson Resigns
On March 31, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced his resignation. Jackson will be stepping down on April 18, 2008. Jackson cited a need to focus on personal and family members as the reason for his resignation.
His resignation follows a letter from Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), to President Bush calling for Secretary Jackson's resignation. The letter was in response to hearings before their respective Committees during which Secretary Jackson continually refused to respond to questions, including ones in regards to allegations of impropriety in awarding contracts that he is currently under investigation for.
Secretary Jackson first joined the Bush Administration in June of 2001 as HUD's Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer. The Senate unanimously confirmed Jackson as Secretary of HUD on March 31, 2004. He is the only HUD Secretary to run a public housing agency and serve as chairman of a redevelopment authority.
Second Annual Homeless Report Released by HUD
During a six month period from January to June 2006, 1,150,000 persons used emergency shelter and/or transitional housing, according to The Second Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR 2), published in March 2008 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The total includes 838,000 persons in households without children (73 percent) and 313,000 persons in households with children (27 percent). The six-month estimate (January to June 2006) is 2.5 times the one night sheltered count (January 2005) and 1.6 times the total number of sheltered homeless persons over a three-month period (February to April 2005) reported in the first AHAR. According to the report, "These estimates suggest that... a three month count cannot be doubled to produce a six-month count." The data reveals an important pattern of homelessness, where the length of time people spend homeless dramatically affects annual estimates. For instance, persons in families, who tend to stay in shelter or transitional housing for longer periods than single adults, will make up a smaller proportion of the homeless population over the course of the year.
While AHAR 2 cannot yet look at HMIS data to measure trends in homelessness, the report includes estimates from local point-in-time counts, including a state by state look at the numbers. Additionally, AHAR 2 provides information on the characteristics of people who experience homelessness, our nation's capacity for sheltering people, and how homeless persons use emergency shelter and transitional housing.
Medill News Services asked the question, "Will more women vets become homeless?" The article highlighted The Prince Home, which opened February 25 and is the first state-run treatment program for homeless veterans with disabilities in Illinois. Deanna Mackey, director of the homeless and disabled program at The Prince Home, said they accepted their first female veteran into the program two weeks earlier, but that she regularly gets calls from female veterans seeking assistance. The article also reviewed several studies that focused on female homeless veterans. In July 2003, the American Journal of Public Health reported that although female veterans make up approximately 4 percent of the homeless population, they are four times more likely than female civilians to become homeless. According to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD, this may be because women tend to have more access to resources early on, like closer social networks and food stamps for their family, but by the time they become homeless, their mental health issues are more severe than those of homeless men. Overall, the Department of Veterans' Affairs estimates that 39 percent of the women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will have some sort of mental health disorder, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Katherine Dong, a women's veterans program director at the North Chicago VA, stated that, for women, PTSD can come not just from combat trauma, but also from sexual violence experienced in the military. The story concludes by stating that although progress has been made, there are currently only 11 homeless programs nationwide that deal specifically with female veterans.
Ann Compton to Host Alliance's 2008 Annual Awards Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 9, Ann Compton, White House Correspondent for ABC News, will host the Alliance's 2008 Annual Awards Ceremony. The event will be held at the Terrace Theater of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The Alliance will honor four awardees:
- Public Sector Achievement Award: Commissioner Gail Dorfman, Hennepin County , Minnesota;
- Nonprofit Sector Achievement Award: Central City Concern, Portland, Oregon, accepted by Richard Harris, Executive Director;
- Private Sector Achievement Award: Martin Dunn, President of Dunn Development Corp., Brooklyn, New York; and
- John W. Macy Award: Horace Sibley, Atlanta, Georgia. (The John W. Macy Award is given for outstanding individual achievement.)
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Legislative Updates 
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This audio conference covered the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.
This video highlights how communities across the country are decreasing homelessness among families. Thanks to the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, it’s yours to use for free. 