Blog: Homelessness Ends Here

More than 50 foundation members from around the country participated in the meetings, including several members of our national Steering Committee. Our message for the Administration was simple and direct:
 

• Philanthropy is investing significant resources and effort in developing programs and initiatives to end homelessness in communities around the country.
• Over the past two decades we've learned a great deal about what works and we have the data to back it up.
• Our members are ready and willing to participate in public-private partnerships to implement that learning and end homelessness as we know it today.

Funders Together steering committee members participating in the meetings included Robert Hohler, Melville Charitable Trust; Nancy Barrand, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Deborah DeSantis, Corporation for Supportive Housing; Tom Nurmi, William S. Abell Foundation; Nan Roman, National Alliance to End Homelessness; Joseph Weisbord, Fannie Mae; and David Wertheimer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Several themes ran across the two days of meetings, including:
 

• The essential role of philanthropy to provide policymakers with model programs and information about the effectiveness of specific strategies for ending and preventing homelessness across four targeted populations.
• The need for the Federal government to better leverage its resources across agencies - particularly across HUD, HHS, and the VA.
• Philanthropy's role in building public will for expanded policies and programs needed to end homelessness.
• The need for a commitment from the Federal government to move from sporadic support for boutique programs to providing needed resources for mainstream solutions.

HUD representatives invited and encouraged Funders Together to work with the agency to:
 

• Align research and evaluation: Bring policies and data together to ensure the best evidence-based practices are being deployed in the field
• Leverage Federal resources by identifying opportunities and challenges where philanthropy can help develop solutions, fill a gap in the short term and set the stage for sustained, tax supported investment.
• Build public will by continuing to raise awareness of needs and opportunities related to homelessness, affordable housing and building "communities of promise."

A follow-up meeting has been set for Tuesday, September 22nd to continue this important conversation and to build on these objectives and goals.