Blog: Homelessness Ends Here

The Los Angeles Times is developing quite a niche in reporting on homelessness. Thankfully, these columns tend to not focus on the negative, but rather uncover the personal stories of people struggling against the odds to overcome homelessness and poverty.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness shared highlights of it's first Full Council meeting of the Obama Administration, including the appointment of U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan as Chairperson, and statements from President Obama and several of the Council members on their expectations for the work of this important cross-agency partnership.

It is difficult to describe the value of actually seeing the work going on in communities first-hand. It is one thing (and quite helpful) to read reports about what is happening in a given system. But that up close and personal approach–where a visitor can get the actual flavor of what is happening on the ground–to see and experience the work as it is unfolding in a given setting–is invaluable.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, chaired by Congressman Bob Filner, held a hearing this week on “A National Commitment to End Veterans’ Homelessness.” In opening remarks at Wednesday’s hearing, Chairman Filner noted that the Committee and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who is also the current chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, have made ending Veterans homelessness a priority and encouraged the four panels of witnesses to tell the Committee “what’s working, what’s not, and what you need” to accomplish this goal.

SEVRA would enable state and local housing agencies to use available funds to make housing affordable to more needy families, a crucial measure at a time when poverty and homelessness are rising. In addition, it would sharply reduce administrative burdens for housing agencies and private owners, strengthen work supports, and provide more flexible and effective assistance to low-income families.

With the sweep of his pen, President Barack Obama has accomplished what many of us have been fighting for since the early part of this century: the re-invigoration of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and a new focus on ending homelessness.

On May 6th, the White House blog provided a brief description of the goals and objectives behind President Obama's proposed $50 million Social Innovation Fund. Reading the First Lady's description of the fund, it appears that the strategies of housing first and supportive housing are tailor made for this fund.

An article in the most recent issue of Health Affairs, a leading health policy journal, profiles the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s seventeen-year partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to increase the supply of permanent supportive housing (PSH) in the United States.

According to an analysis from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development would receive $7.4-billion in new federal spending in the 2010 budget the Obama administration released today. The department would receive nearly $48-billion next year, an increase of more than 18 percent.

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