Monarch Housing’s Blog!

The Southern Poverty Law Center  published an article on their web site entitled “Hating the Homeless: Attacks on Homeless Rise Across Nation“. It was written by Brentin Mock.

This is a must read for those involved in ending homelessness. To read the full article click here.

The following is a partial abstract.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Harold Washington has two strikes against him: He’s black, and he’s homeless.

For the last seven months, Washington has slept in tents, under bridges, or on park benches. He temporarily claimed a room at a friend’s apartment until his roommate got in a fight with his girlfriend and she set the place on fire. “We were all lucky to get out of that one,” says Washington.

Last November, the day before Thanksgiving, he wasn’t so lucky.

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The Housing & Community Development Network is happy to announce that Executive Director Diane Sterner is one of the prominent New Jerseyans selected to write a blog on NJVoices.com, the new blogging site operated by the Star Ledger. Diane’s blog can be found by clicking here.

She will contribute at least two blogs each week to the site, in hopes of triggering worthwhile discussions on community development, affordable housing, urban renewal and related subjects. Please take a look at the blog and post your comments.

Monarch Housing Associates, a state wide non-profit consulting firm dedicated to assisting consumers, providers and family organizations develop, manage and operate supportive housing seeks a full time associate.

General Description:  The Associate Homeless Planning Consultant will be responsible for taking an active role in developing community plans to organize and deliver services and housing to homeless individuals in New Jersey (The Continuum of Care Plan).  The associate will also be involved in working with communities in developing long term plans to end homelessness and to coordinate statewide Project Homeless Connect events.

To read the full job description click here.

Send cover letter and resume to Richard W. Brown [Email address: rbrown #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ], Monarch Housing Associates no later than August 31, 2007.

The House of Representatives voted on the Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill on the 24th. The bill provides $1.561 billion in funding for McKinney Homeless Assistance Grants for Fiscal Year 2008. It is less than the President’s request and is significantly less than the $1.8 billion needed to make a significant investment to ending homelessness. Click here to read the related post on the importance of this funding. The Senate will vote on the legislation soon so every effort must be made to insure that they approve the full increase to $1.8 billion. More information will be posted in the next few days.

Other changes include a $119 million increase over FY 2007, as well as increases for mainstream housing programs like Section 8. The House bill also rejects many of the President’s proposed cuts to programs like Section 202 elderly housing, Section 811 disability housing, and Community Development Block Grants. The President has indicated that he will veto the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill because it exceeds the Administration’s budget request.

To see the full budget click here.

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark  had a well written and fascinating  op-ed in Sunday’s Star-Ledger entitled: “When neither crime nor punishment pays“. It focuses on “the way we have chosen to deal with crime is leading our nation away from its highest ideals and producing results that stand in stinging contradiction to who we claim to be.”

We encourage everyone to read the full article. Below are the last five paragraphs which focus primarily on reentry and the failures of current policies. Please share your comments by clicking here.

“When an adult is released and sincerely wants to stay out of prison, he faces a host of barriers to success that we do little to address. Ex-offenders are ineligible for numerous public assistance programs. They are stripped of their driving privileges, which might allow them to get to work; even if their driving privileges have not been revoked, they cannot obtain a commercial driver’s license. They are entangled in a host of legal challenges, from parking tickets that turned into warrants for their arrest while they were in jail to child-support payments that have accrued to tens of thousands of dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Booker, Ending Homelessness, prisoner-reentry, Supportive Housing

The Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness seeks an Executive Director to lead the organization and its Board of Directors in the continued development and implementation of a 10 Year Plan to end homelessness in Mercer County, New Jersey.

Founded in 2004, the Mercer Alliance is a consortium of leaders from the county’s business, government and nonprofit sectors, who are implementing innovative strategies to prevent and end homelessness in Mercer County, New Jersey. Many of our member agencies provide direct client services, and do not have the time or resources to individually identify and implement the comprehensive strategies necessary to mediate the root causes of homelessness. Acting as an umbrella agency, the Alliance reviews, recommends, and facilitates the public awareness, research, training, advocacy, and policy changes needed to end homelessness.

To read the full job description click here. The Mercer Alliance is an equal opportunity employer. Please submit a resume and cover letter, preferably via email [Email address: info #AT# merceralliance.org - replace #AT# with @ ], by August 24th, to:

Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness
Attn: Search Committee
3131 Princeton Pike, Bldg 4, Ste 113
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

 We normally do not do music reviews, however this is one we felt was important to share. The follwoing is the official press release from Shore Fire Media.

Album Proceeds To Help Fight Homelessness

Performers Include Bruce Springsteen And Pete Seeger, Jon Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Madeleine Peyroux, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Tim Robbins And Others
 
On September 25th, Appleseed Recordings will release ‘Give US Your Poor,’ a multi-artist benefit CD devoted to fighting homelessness. The release features exclusive new songs by American musical legends Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Madeleine Peyroux, Sonya Kitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Merchant, Michelle Shocked, Keb Mo and others, many in collaboration with currently or previously homeless musicians.

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