Yesterday, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) announced that Barbara Poppe would serve as the new Executive Director. Ms. Poppe has served as the Executive Director of the Community Shelter Board (CSB) in Columbus, OH since 1995. She has been a key driver of Columbus' efforts to achieve its community-wide prevention and homeless services goals. She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of housing and homelessness. Ms. Poppe has been a leader in both the Columbus area and across the nation on efforts to prevent and end homelessness. Under her leadership, CSB received the 2002 Nonprofit Sector Achievement Award at the Alliance's annual Awards Ceremony, as well as the 2004 Buddy Gray Award for homeless activism from the National Coalition for the Homeless. She currently serves on the Alliance's Board of Directors.

USICH is tasked with coordinating the federal response to homelessness and forging partnerships with every level of government, as well as with the private sector, to end homelessness in the United States. The Council is currently chaired by Secretary Shaun Donovan of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) . Ms. Poppe will take over daily management from Acting Executive Director, Pete Dougherty. In that role, she will spearhead the Council's efforts to improve coordination across the federal government; assist state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and consumers; and provide technical assistance for preventing and ending homelessness. The Alliance congratulates Ms. Poppe on her appointment and looks forward to working with USICH under her leadership.

Alliance Press Release

REDUCE Act Summary

HUD Releases HPRP Documentation Guidance

In a message to the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) listserv last week, HUD announced the availability of guides and templates to help communities document housing status and income eligibility for HPRP. One guide establishes documentation requirements for determining if someone is homeless or at risk of homelessness. Another guide describes the standards and methods for documenting income. The resources can be found at HUD's

Mixed-Population Housing Resource Recently Available

A study of mixed-population housing shows that it can be an effective solution to homelessness. Shelter Partnership, a Los Angeles organization devoted to developing housing and services to prevent and end homelessness, analyzed five housing developments in California and New York. The resulting report found many benefits for homeless and non-homeless residents, including:

• Mixed population housing was welcomed and viewed as necessary by the surrounding community, whereas housing meant exclusively for homeless people is often resisted by communities.
• The availability of on-site services was beneficial to both homeless and non-homeless populations.
• Special needs populations are more integrated with the community.

Mixed-population housing is permanent housing that includes a mix of tenant populations, including elderly people, homeless people, people with disabilities, low-income individuals and families, and others. The percentage of formerly homeless people residing in the developments ranged from 24 percent to 67 percent.

Challenges with HPRP Implementation in Rural Areas

Rural areas face unique challenges in ending homelessness, including lack of transportation, emergency shelter, and employment options. Currently, rural communities across the country are beginning to implement the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). The Center for Capacity Building at the Alliance will be hosting a webinar that examines some of the challenges that rural communities are facing during this implementation process. The Center is looking for programs and communities that highlight or exemplify the challenges specific to rural areas while implementing HPRP. These challenges may include ones that a community is continuing to struggle with and for which it is seeking possible solutions, or a challenge that has already been solved. If you are interesting in highlighting your community, please contact Samantha Batko at

DOJ Announces Second Chance Act Grant Allocations

The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced more than $28 million in Second Chance Act grants. Funding was awarded through five separate grant programs and will be used to support re-entry efforts to ease the transition for ex-offenders coming back into the community.. Awards announced include grantees for the Mentoring Grants to Nonprofit Organizations grant; the Prison Reentry Initiative Demonstration Grants; the National Adult and Juvenile Offender Re-Entry Resource Center; the Youth Offender Re-Entry Initiative; and the Juvenile Mentoring Initiative.