Last night, congressional leaders appeared to reach a provisionary deal regarding fiscal year (FY) 2011 funding. They have tentatively agreed to cut about $33 billion total from the federal budget in FY 2011 compared to FY 2010.

As a result, House and Senate appropriators are now negotiating with each other to draft a final FY 2011 funding bill. It is still possible that negotiations between the House and Senate might break down in the next several days, but this may be our LAST chance to affect FY 2011 funding for key programs like the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

We need your help contacting Members of Congress to make sure they remember how CRITICAL homelessness assistance programs are!

What You Can Do:

1. Contact the DC offices of your Senators and Representatives TODAY and TOMORROW. Ask to speak to the person who handles housing issues. Office phone numbers can be found by dialing the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.
2. Explain the importance of providing an INCREASE in McKinney-Vento funding in the final FY 2011 funding bill. Use these sample talking points as a guide.
3. Let us know who you contacted by emailing Kate Seif at cseif@naeh.org.  

It's CRITICAL that as many Members of Congress as possible hear from as many constituents as possible in the next two days about the importance of federal resources for ending homelessness.  

This may well be our last chance to make sure that Congress provides sufficient funding for key homelessness assistance programs. Please remind your Members of Congress how important it is to provide an increase in funding to McKinney-Vento programs this year.

FY 2011 McKinney-Vento Appropriations: Talking Points