Blog: Homelessness Ends Here

Preble Street of Portland Maine has launched a new public service announcement featuring prominent Maine women discussing the possibilities of ending homelessness among women.

For those of us who work to help prevent and end homelessness, The Soloist is an all-too-real reminder of the daily obstacles people who are homeless and their advocates face. Sometimes the cracks in the system become gaping holes.

President Obama recognizes that far too many veterans are homeless and has promised to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for homelessness among those who served their country.

Summaries of four important new evaluations released within the past week that demonstrate the benefits to our health network and other public systems when permanent affordable housing along with services are made available to vulnerable populations.

This is one of those urban fables that happens to be true. Steve Lopez is a newspaper columnist for the Los Angeles Times; Nathaniel Ayers is a troubled man with a brilliant past. They met by chance on the streets of downtown L.A. - an encounter that would change them both. The story of their friendship is a tale about madness, redemption, and the mysterious power of music.

For those interested in learning more about the challenges and solutions facing homeless and low-income veterans, The Urban Institute is hosting a Panel Discussion and Webcast on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

There are plenty of organizations and advocates out there that could work with state energy offices to design funding mechanisms for energy retrofits at buildings owned and/or used by homeless organizations. All we need is a little creativity and a dedication to providing homes for the homeless in the most cost efficient, sustainable, and environmentally conscious way we can. It will be worth the effort.

The Frey Family Foundation announced yesterday that it is making a new $5 million investment to expand its past support for advocacy efforts to end homelessness across the state, becoming the third member of Funders Together's national Steering Committee to announce a major gift to fight homelessness in the past two weeks.

And so we're going to be initiating a range of programs, as well, to deal with homelessness. One area in particular I want to focus on is the issue of veterans. The rate of homelessness among veterans is much, much higher than for non-veteran populations.

Solving homelessness is in everyone's interest. Not solving homelessness costs more than ending it with housing and supportive services. Homeless people are more frequently ill, but with little access to health insurance; minor illnesses become serious and expensive emergency room care becomes routine treatment. People living in public places increase managment costs for cities. And children like Joey risk becoming homeless adults, perpetuating the vicious cycle.