Today, we find ourselves facing immense challenges and new possibilities.

In this time of transformative changes, we have an opportunity to make a fresh start – to revisit the principles of the American Dream and the promises we made to ourselves and to each other: a nation built on safety, prosperity, and security.

For too many, this is a broken promise. For too many, the American Dream has given way to poverty and homelessness.

On any given night, nearly 700,000 people are homeless. Veterans represent one-fifth of the homeless population; chronically homeless individuals represent 18 percent. Hundreds of thousands are families with children and unaccompanied youth.

In 2000, the National Alliance to End Homelessness made a bold proposal: to end homelessness in ten years. One by one, communities across the country answered the call, drafted plans, and began implementing innovative solutions to prevent and end homelessness. In the years that followed, many neighborhoods saw measurable decreases in the number of people experiencing homelessness. In fact, homelessness declined by 10 percent between 2005 and 2007 nationally, with some communities seeing even steeper drops.

But the world is precarious – we all know that now. After beginning to see modest but significant declines in homelessness over the past few years, new 2009 data suggests that the numbers are creeping back up. With rising unemployment and the continued economic crisis, more and more low-income people find themselves slipping closer and closer to homelessness. The Alliance projects that as many as one million additional people may become homeless before the recession ends.

As the country forges toward recovery, we must remember not to leave our most vulnerable citizens behind. Now is the time to recommit ourselves to ending homelessness.

We have the solutions. We know the answers. Our challenge is to muster the public and political will to take what we know to scale, and bring an end to homelessness in our nation once and for all.