Blog: Homelessness Ends Here

A summary of tweets from the Funders Together twitter feed. Follow us at @FundersTogether for real-time updates!

Since taking office, President Obama has prioritized addressing the plight of homeless veterans. Recognizing the severity of the situation, the Administration earlier this month unveiled a comprehensive plan to end homelessness among veterans in five years. The new federal strategy, which was announced by US Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, relies on maximizing resources from government, business and the nonprofit sector to combat homelessness.

Gates Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes asks the question, "How does a family get into the homelessness system in the first place? It turns out you usually can’t get the help you really need until you’re literally homeless. If you ask for assistance because you’re about to become homeless, you’re pretty much out of luck. That doesn’t make any sense. The goal is to end homelessness, not to encourage it."

Bill Pitkin, author of the Poverty and Inequality blog, delves into the 2009 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count and asks whether the progress in addressing homelessness in Los Angeles has been real or imagined... or a little of both.

A lot is being said and written about access to health care these days. But unless we get a handle on how to lower the ever-escalating costs of health services, efforts to ensure that all Americans have equal access to care may only produce headaches and a larger national debt.

In a recent speech to several hundred of the nation’s most influential community foundations, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan referenced ongoing discussions with Funders Together as a leading example of how HUD is integrating feedback from the philanthropic sector in its research and knowledge sharing strategies.

Funders Together convened a series of groundbreaking meetings with leading officials in the Obama administration on July 29th and 30th in Washington, DC. The meetings were a critical step in our evolving campaign to close the door on homelessness in America. A follow-up meeting with HUD and HHS will take place on September 22nd.

I was at the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in Washington, DC from July 28-31, listening to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan sum up what's been accomplished in recent years and what remains to be done to prevent and end homelessness.

Updates on the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Act, SEVRA, and 2010 appropriations legislation from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee passed draft fiscal year (FY) 2010 legislation. The bill included a total of $47 billion for HUD. The full House may consider the legislation this week. The legislation approved by the committee included: