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Conference Early Registration Rate Extended
The Alliance is hosting the 2009 National Conference
on Ending Family Homelessness on February 12-13,
2009 in San Diego, CA. We are extending the
early registration rate of $350 to anyone that
registers before January 27. Take advantage
of this opportunity today and register online now!
The special hotel room rate of $189/night at
the conference hotel, Sheraton San Diego Hotel &
Marina, has been extended, based upon
availability, until February 8. If you haven't
made your hotel accommodations yet, make sure to
take advantage of this special deal. Make your
reservations today online on the Alliance's
Starwood webpage or via telephone at
1.877.734.2726 by requesting the National Alliance to
End Homelessness conference rate.
Among the featured speakers will be Lynn Rosenthal,
the Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition
against Domestic Violence. Prior to this position, Ms.
Rosenthal served as the Executive Director of the
National Network to End Domestic Violence. She has
over 25 years experience working in women's
services as an advocate, administrator, and
organizer. Ms. Rosenthal will be the keynote speaker
at the plenary during lunch on Friday, February 13.
Hill Update
Congress To Begin Work on Economic
Recovery Bill
Next week, Congress is likely to begin marking up an
economic recovery bill. Tax cuts would comprise 40
percent of the proposed package, and infrastructure
projects, renewable energy, and funding for Medicare
and other projects would make up the rest. The
Alliance has been working with Congressional staff to
include in the package $2 billion for the Emergency
Solutions Grant program for homelessness
prevention and housing assistance, $10 billion in
funding for the National Housing Trust fund over two
years, and 400,000 new vouchers over two years.
Democratic leaders have set a goal of passing the
economic recovery bill by February 13, when
Congress recesses for the President's Day holiday.
House May Consider Reauthorization of SCHIP
Program
As early as tomorrow, January 14, the full House of
Representatives may take up a measure to
reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP). The program is designed to help
states provide health insurance for uninsured children
in lower-income families. The House Rules
Committee will consider the bill today, January 13.
The new legislation will be modeled closely after
SCHIP bills previously passed by Congress and
vetoed by President Bush. The previous proposals
would have expanded the program by $35 billion over
five years. However, House Democrats are likely to
scale back this expansion somewhat because the
program's costs have grown. Instead, the
reauthorization is likely to last for somewhere between
two and four-and-a-half years.
Senate Committee Holds Hearing for HUD
Nominee
Today, January 13, the Senate Commitee on Banking,
Housing, and
Urban Affairs held a confirmation hearing
on the nomination of Shaun Donovan. Mr. Donovan is
President-elect Obama's nominee for Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD). Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Donovan
will have to be confirmed by the full Senate.
D.C. Releases Homeless Plan for Inauguration
Last Friday, January 9, the District of Columbia's
Interagency Council on Homelessness released
information on shelters, transportation, and programs
for the weekend of President-elect Obama's
Inauguration. All low-barrier shelters in D.C. will
remain open continuously from 7 pm on Sunday,
January 18 until 7 am on Wednesday, January 21.
The shelters will provide additional meals and will
have televisions set up for individuals to watch
inaugural activities. In addition to these shelters, a
number of day programs, churches, and centers will
be open on Tuesday, January 20 and will provide food
and a quiet place to view the inaugural events. For
more information, contact the D.C. headquarters of
Catholic Charities at 202.772.4300.
SOAR Train-the-Trainer Program
On May 18-21, Policy Research Associates will host a
Train-the-Trainer program in Baltimore, MD to help
individuals increase access to SSI/SSDI for people
who are homeless. The program will feature the
Stepping Stones to Recovery curriculum, which is
used by all SSI/SSDI Outreach and Recovery (SOAR)
states, and will highlight strategies for assisting
people who are homeless. The program is designed
to assist those interested in training others or in
starting local or state SSI outreach initiatives.
Featured speakers will include Yvonne Perrett,
Executive Director of the Advocacy and Training
Center; Deborah Dennis, SOAR Project Director and
Vice President of Policy Research Associates; and
Margaret Lassiter, SOAR Project Coordinator and
Senior Project Associate at Policy Research
Associates. If you register by January 29, the cost or
participating is only $1,695, which represents a
savings of $200 on the regular registration fee. For
more information, contact Margaret Lassiter at
mlassiter@prainc.com.
Miami's CPH Hosts First Annual Conference
On February 19-20, the Community Partnership for the
Homeless (CPH), the private sector partner of the
Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, will hold its first
National Program in Miami, FL. The
conference will include speakers from the civic,
business, and philanthropic communities. Topics to
be addressed include the public-private partnership,
health and psychiatric care, and budgeting and
fundraising. Featured speakers include Philip
Mangano, the Executive Director of the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness for the Bush
Administration, Mayor Manuel A. Diaz of
Miami, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez.
Registration costs $300 per person and includes
breakfast and lunch. For more information or to
register, contact Alfredo Brown, Director of National
Program Development, at 305.329.3020 or abrown@cphi.org.
NIMH-Funded Program Reduces Risky Behaviors in Homeless HIV-Positive Adults
A recent study found that intervention can help reduce
the incidence of risky sexual and substance use
behaviors among homeless HIV-positive adults. The
study examined the effectiveness of the NIMH-funded
Healthy Living Program, which had previously been
shown to be effective at reducing risky behaviors
among HIV-infected adults generally, among 270
participants who were homeless or had been
homeless in the previous three years. The authors
found that homeless subjects who participated in the
intervention program engaged in up to 34 percent
fewer risky sexual acts. The study was published in
the November 2008 issue of the American Journal
of Public Health.
Support the Alliance in Your Workplace Campaign
The United Way and the Combined Federal
Campaign (CFC) are wonderful and easy
opportunities to contribute to the National Alliance to
End Homelessness. All gifts to the Alliance go directly
toward our work of ending homelessness through
building capacity, improving policy, and educating
opinion leaders. The Alliance's national code for the
CFC is 10022. For United Way campaigns, the
Alliance's IRS
identification number is 52-1299641.
For more information on how to contribute,
please contact Elizabeth Roche, Director of
Development, at eroche@naeh.org
or 202.942.8284.
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