Blog: Homelessness Ends Here

Recently, a few of us from Funders Together to End Homelessness sat down with Rick Cohen, national correspondent for the Non-Profit Quarterly. The topic: Can philanthropy help to end homelessness? The result: Rick posted the following thoughtful commentary on his NPQ blog. We think it’s worth a read. Thanks Rick!

Funders Together to End Homelessness is headed to Philadelphia this weekend, to the Council on Foundations Annual Meeting. We look forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. If you’re also heading to the conference and want to learn more about ending homelessness—and we can end it--we hope you'll come find us at one or both of these special events: "The Journey Home" site visit, and/or Monday night's film screening of the documentary Lost Angels.

Recently, an opinion piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy asked a question vital to the mission of Funders Together: As Social Needs Mount, How Can Philanthropy Best Alleviate Homelessness? Our members ask themselves a similar question every day, and the job of Funders Together is to help them share their best practices in funding homelessness—with other funders, with non-profit partners, with policymakers, with the media, and with the public.

The just released report from NAEH concerning the state of homelessness in America is a disquieting picture of a national tragedy - and yet it is a tragedy that has a solution. Using state and national data, the report shows how economic indicators including unemployment and job loss, foreclosures, the high cost of housing and the loss of ‘real income’ have resulted in an increase in the numbers of individuals and families experiencing homelessness between 2008 and 2009. Sadly, this also comes at a time of increasingly scare federal resources.

Los Angeles County has had the dubious distinction of being referred to as the “homelessness capital” of the nation, with about 50,000 persons homeless every night according to the most recent count, a seemingly intractable and fractured political environment on the issue, and highly visible and concentrated street homelessness on Skid Row and beach communities like Santa Monica and Venice. For many in and outside of Los Angeles, it has been seen as a “lost cause” that just couldn’t get its act together in aligning with efforts around the country to end homelessness. In contrast to this general perception, an unprecedented cross-section of leaders recently signed on to an action plan to end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles by 2016.

Funders from a dozen states gathered for a Funders Forum in Washington DC on July 12 prior to the annual conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness to discuss philanthropy’s role in implementing Opening Doors: the (first- ever) Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness.

Soon after entering the Oval Office, President Barack Obama said no one should go without housing because we fail to be bold and act. The federal government has followed up on those words with deeds and made the most far-reaching commitment in our history to helping the homeless.

On Tuesday, I attended the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) release of the Obama Administration's much anticipated comprehensive plan to prevent and end homelessness, titled, Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) applauds the USICH's work to create a dialogue among federal agencies with the clear goal of ending homelessness in America.

Opening Doors is a landmark in the history of fighting homelessness. For the first time the federal government has gone on the record with a long term commitment to ending homelessness. The plan reinforces this commitment by including time lines and specific ways to measure its progress on an annual basis.