Press Room

Homelessness in the city has gotten worse in the five years since the Hurricane Katrina, not better according to a new report by the homeless advocacy group Unity of Greater New Orleans.

REDF, a San Francisco-based venture philanthropy organization dedicated to transforming lives by creating economic opportunity through social enterprise, today announced it has been awarded $3 million by the Corporation for National and Community Service under its Social Innovation Fund (SIF).

New York City’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) announced the results of its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) street homeless survey. Based on information gathered from the survey, DHS estimates that 3,111 homeless individuals were living on the streets of New York City in January 2010. The 3,111 figure represents 783 more individuals over the 2009 number but 1,284 fewer than the street homeless population estimated in 2005, the first year that the HOPE survey was conducted—a 29 percent decrease. The ratio of street homeless individuals to the City’s population as a whole—1 in 2,688—remains one of the lowest of any major city in the country.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to Prison Count 2010," a new survey by the Pew Center on the States. As of January 2010, there were 1,403,091 persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities, 5,739 fewer than on December 31, 2008.

Today, Fannie Mae announced the results of its 22nd annual Help the Homeless Program, the nation's largest fund-raising effort focused on homelessness. In 2009, the D.C. metropolitan area came together to raise $5.8 million for 134 regional non-profit organizations serving people who are either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. More than 117,000 people raised funds through the Help the Homeless Walkathon on the National Mall, 657 community Mini-Walks, corporate sponsorships, and related activities.

The number of Veterans homeless on a typical night dropped 18 percent as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) entered the second year of its campaign to eliminate homelessness among Veterans within five years.