Alliance Online News: Early Conference Registration Closes this Week

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Tuesday, May 12, 2015 spotlight on... Early Registration for National Homelessness Conference to Close this Week Early registration for the 2015 National Conference on Ending Homelessness will close this Friday, May 15, at 3 p.m. If you have not yet registered for the conference, we encourage you to register today to ensure your spot and take advantage of the early registration rate of $525 per person. After that date, the regular registration rate of $575 will take effect and is scheduled to run until Friday June 26. However, due to high demand, we anticipate closing registration early, perhaps before that date. Conference Agenda Updated We have updated the agenda page on the conference website with new information about workshop tracks, pre-conference meetings, workshop descriptions, and the dates and times for workshops and other conference events. We will continue to update the page as information becomes available. Access the conference agenda » Scholarships Available The Alliance is currently accepting applications for our conference scholarship program. The deadline to submit an application for the scholarship program is Wednesday, May 20. Only individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness in the past are eligible to apply. Apply for a scholarship » Conference Cancellations Should you need to cancel your conference registration, please note that the Alliance will charge a $25 cancellation fee for cancellations received in writing by Tuesday, June 16, and will charge a $100 processing fee in addition to the $25 cancellation fee for cancellations received after that date. After Monday, July 6, no refunds for cancellations will be granted. More information » Register for the conference » hill update House Appropriations Committee to Mark Up Spending Bill This Wednesday, May 13, the full House Appropriations Committee will mark up its fiscal year (FY) 2016 spending bill for programs under its jurisdiction, including the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program and many other low-income housing programs. The House T-HUD Subcommittee marked up their version of the spending bill on Wednesday, April 29. This version included $42 billion for HUD, a $1 billion increase over the FY 2015 enacted level and $3 billion below the amount requested in the President’s Budget Proposal. The House T-HUD Subcommittee’s marked up spending bill included $2.185 billion for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants Program, which is $50 million more than the enacted FY 2015 level and $295 million below the amount proposed in the President’s Budget Proposal. The Senate will likely determine its 302(b) allocations soon, at which point Senate appropriations subcommittees will begin to mark up spending bills. Read the bill » alliance events UPCOMING WEBINAR: RAMPING UP RAPID RE-HOUSING IN HOUSTON/HARRIS COUNTY AND SAN FRANCISCO Tuesday, May 19, 2 to 330 p.m. EDT On Tuesday, May 19, at 2 p.m. EDT the Alliance will host the third webinar in a series examining how communities are ramping up their rapid re-housing capacity to help more people experiencing homelessness. Speakers will describe citywide efforts in Houston/Harris County, TX to expand and redesign the rapid re-housing system and the efforts of Hamilton Family Center in San Francisco, CA to improve the functioning of the city's homeless service system and eradicate waiting lists by increasing rapid re-housing capacity for families. Register » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness Want to End Veteran Homelessness in Your Community? Get all Your Partners on the Same Page. by Kate Seif Communities that have achieved significant reductions in veteran homelessness generally have something in common: the key stakeholders responsible for addressing the issue meet on a very regular basis. You may have noticed in a lot of the Alliance materials around veteran homelessness we talk a lot about getting together on a weekly basis with your partners to address the issue. In turn, we have heard a lot of feedback about whether or not such frequent meetings are necessary. Our response is pretty simple: yes, they are. Regular, frequent meetings serve numerous purposes, including keeping everyone on task and allowing for regular assessments of the problem in your community. Read more » comments » | Rapid Re-Housing Tips for High Cost, Low Vacancy Communities by Anna Blasco It is possible to use rapid re-housing successfully in high cost, low vacancy markets. We’ve learned from the innovative rapid re-housing programs that creativity and flexibility are the key to making this work. There are three Core Components of Rapid Re-Housing: housing identification, rent and move-in assistance (financial), and rapid re-housing case management and services. I’ve listed some tips that successful rapid re-housing programs in challenging rental markets have shared with us in conferences and webinars below. (I recommended reading through the core components first before reading this blog post, if they are new to you.) Read more » comments » | 2015 CoC Program Registration is Open! Here's What You Need to Know by Cynthia Nagendra The FY 2015 CoC Program Registration opened Tuesday, April 28, and will close on Monday, May 18. The Registration Notice from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contains crucial information to help communities prepare for this year’s competition, including requirements of the registration process for Collaborative Applicants, HUD’s policy priorities, and directions to all project applicants to continue implementing effective interventions that reduce homelessness. Read more » comments » | homelessness in the media What If the Key to Ending Homelessness Is Just That—a Key? Meet the outsider who accidentally solved chronic homelessness Mayor de Blasio’s Budget Commits $100 Million to Combat Homelessness in New York