Richard Gere, Alliance President, Experts Speak to Congress about Homelessness

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Wednesday, September 16, 2015 spotlight on... Richard Gere, Alliance President, Experts Speak to Congress about Homelessness Last week on Thursday, Sept. 9, Alliance President and CEO Nan Roman joined actor and advocate Richard Gere in a briefing on homelessness for members of Congress and their staffers. Also speaking during the event was Jennifer Ho, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Matthew Doherty, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Video of the full event is available on Youtube. “Homelessness is certainly related to personal challenges…like mental illness, poverty, and addiction,” Roman said during the briefing. “But of course the vast majority of people who have those problems are not homeless; they’re housed. The fundamental cause of homelessness is that housing is just not affordable to many people who are poor…” Watch the video » Department of Education: 1.36 Million Homeless Students Identified Over the 2013-2014 school year, 1.36 million school children experienced homelessness as defined by the Department of Education, according to statistics released this month. Unlike the homelessness definition used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Education Department’s definition includes families and children who live in doubled-up arrangements and in hotels and motels paid for by their parents. Access the data » Call for Proposals for the 2016 Housing First Partners Conference The Housing First Partners Conference is currently seeking proposals for presentations for its 2016 conference in Los Angeles. Each proposal selected for presentation will receive one discounted conference registration. The deadline for proposal submissions is Friday, Sept. 18. Organizers are looking for proposals on a variety of topics, including: Financing housing programs; Harm Reduction practices; Shelters, outreach programs, and other programs; Mainstream systems; And more. More information » Webinar Recording: Coordinated Entry and Systems Change In this recording of a webinar that originally streamed on Wednesday, Sept. 9, speakers provide an overview of coordinated entry, as well as the critical components: access, diversion, assessment and prioritization, and referral. This webinar recording is meant for communities just getting started with coordinated entry, as well as those working to improve existing strategies. Watch the recording » VA Announces $300 Million in Renewal funding for Services Under SSVF On Monday, Sept. 14, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced $300 million in renewal grants for services that assist thousands of low-income veteran families who are permanently housed or in transition to permanent housing under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. The funding will go toward outreach, case management and other flexible assistance. The SSVF program is a major source of funding for rapid re-housing programs for homeless veterans.  Read the press release » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness Department of Education Data Show 1.36 Million Homeless Students in U.S. by Liza Doran Across the country, school is back in session. Though every new school year brings unique challenges for students, few are as difficult to overcome as those facing homeless students. Each year, school personnel work to identify every homeless student in their districts while school is in session. This includes students who are living in shelters, motels or hotels, doubled up with family or friends, or on the street. (This measure is different than the one that the Department of Housing and Urban Development uses.) Read more » comments » | Here's How You Can Urge Congress to End Homelessness by Jaime Colman Now that Congress has returned from August recess, the Alliance and our partners are gearing up for a big advocacy push with National Call-In Days. This week, we’re pushing for advocates to urge their members of Congress to prioritize funding for programs that will end homelessness. On Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Wednesday, Sept. 16, participating advocates from across the country will call their members of Congress to deliver a unified message: raise federal sequester spending caps and fully fund affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs in FY 2016. The Alliance is coordinating these call-in days with Caps Hurt Communities, an advocacy campaign committed to ending the federal sequester spending caps. Read more » comments » | RRH and Childhood Services Providers Should be Working Together by Sharon McDonald A surprisingly high number of young mothers with very young children – infants and toddlers – experience homelessness each year.  In some communities, nearly half of homeless families include a mother under the age of 25. In addition to having very little financial resources to pay for housing, these young moms also often lack support to meet their children’s needs. That’s why rapid re-housing providers who serve homeless families may want to explore working more closely with organizations that are designed to provide early childhood development services. Read more » comments » |