Monarch Housing’s Blog!

Today is the last day of 2007 and this blog will be a year old tomorrow. We have posted including this article seven hundred and forty (740) posts.

As we age, we thought it might be good to share an overview of how to use the Monarch Blog effectively.

How to run a search?

On the top of the sidebar is a Google search engine. This will search this blog, the related Monarch Housing web site as well as the web.

How to look at a subject?

There are two ways to search from within the blog.

One is by using the categories that are sited in the sidebar. If you click on anyone of the names such as Project Homeless Connect it will take you to all of the posts on that subject.

Also, in the sidebar, there is a list of `tags’ which are subject codes. If you click on any of these labels, you will get all blog entries which are on this subject. The URL associated with any of these labels is a permalink. You can also click here to view the tag cloud. for example clicking on Continuum of Care will provide all posts with that tag.

How to view the photos?

The Monarch Blog is fully integrated with our online photo gallery. Eight hundred ninety four (894). In the sidebar you will find random photos, the most recent photos as well as the most viewed photos. Click here to view more information about the photos as well as links to all of the albums.

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In Sunday’s Bergen Record Mike Kelly wrote a column on housing first entitled “Homeless apartment plan is a short-sighted idea“. Mr. Kelly based his arguments on common sense. He states:

Not to cast too dismal a shadow over the much-touted “Housing First” initiative that is about to begin in Passaic County, but this pilot program contains such a massive common sense flaw at its center that even experienced homeless advocates question whether it can work. With $1.4 million in federal housing funds earmarked in Passaic County for “Housing First,” this is no small matter.

Unfortunately, it appears that Mr. Kelly has not done his home work. Has he read “Million Dollar Murray” by Malcolm Gladwell? Has he read the articles on homelessness and the editorial on Housing first in his sister newspaper the Herald News? Has he reviewed any of the studies on Housing First? Who are the homeless advocates that he has spoken with about Housing First?

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As we end the 2007 and prepare for the start of New Jersey’s initial Housing First demonstration in Mercer County developed by the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, it is very reassuring to read the Herald News Editorial of December 27th. The Herald News editorial summed up the issue even better than we could have done.

It appears that the Housing First model is a long term and cost efficient plan, as opposed to the traditional option of placing the homeless in temporary shelters with little privacy and the threat of crime.

Housing First seeks to help homeless people trade instability and homelessness for stable, productive and self-sufficient lives. The $2.5 federal grant should play a major role in helping some of the area’s most vulnerable people reach that laudable goal.

We applaud the Herald News for understanding and endorsing Housing First as one of the key steps in moving form managing homelessness to ending homelessness not only in Passaic County but in all of New Jersey. In 2008 New Jersey should have even more to celebrate!

The full editorial is printed below. To read it online click here.

Steps to self sufficiency - Editorial
Thursday, December 27, 2007
HERALD NEWS EDITORIAL

With an estimated 1,300 homeless people, Passaic County is one of four counties selected by the State of New Jersey and the Corporation for Supportive Housing to set up a pilot program aimed at helping the 349 chronically homeless become self sufficient.

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Tags: CSH, Ending Homelessness, Herald News, homeless, homelessness, Housing First, Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, Supportive Housing

Blankfest 2007, organized by Let’s Rock America, continues to rock NJ to help end homelessness! The final totals are not in as of today. However, this year’s event has met or exceeded the goal. In addition, a solid foundation has been set for Blankfest 2008.

New photos from the event have been added and an online album established for Blankfest 2007.

These are some random photos from Blankfest 2007. To view all of the pictures click here.

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) has added the conference materials for The 9th Annual Supportive Housing Conference - Beyond Bricks and Mortar was held on December 6, 2007 at The Conference Center at Mercer in West Windsor, NJ. Adding the links will make this conference beneficial to the supportive housing and ensign homelessness community year round.

To view the conference materials click here.

The sponsors for this all day event were:

NJ Department of Community Affairs
NJ Division of Mental Health Services
NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities
NJ Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency
Enterprise
JPMorgan Chase
US Department of Housing & Urban Development and
Washington Mutual Bank.

We wanted to share this summary of the funding that was approved in the FY 2008 Budget for permanent, affordable and supportive housing for the homeless. The list was prepared by Sarah Kahn [Email address: skahn #AT# naeh.org - replace #AT# with @ ] of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This is a significant accomplishment in a budget year that appeared at one time to be a disaster in the making. this is a a solid foundation that should make it possible in 2008 to make significant strides toward ending homelessness in New Jersey!

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is funded at $37.6 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion over last year’s level and $2 billion more than the President’s request.

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants are funded at $1.586 billion, including $25 million for a rapid housing initiative for homeless families. This is a $144 million, or 10 percent, increase over current funding.

The bill appropriates $135 million for new Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers: approximately 8,000 vouchers for homeless veterans through the HUD- Veterans Affairs Supported Housing program; 4,000 vouchers targeted to non-elderly, people with a disability; and 2,800 vouchers for the Family Unification Program. These are the first new vouchers appropriated since 2002.

The Project Based Rental Assistance Program is funded at $6.139 billion - a $406 million increase over current funding.

The bill includes $300 million for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids program - a $14 million increase over last year’s level.

Public Housing received a $647 million increase and is funded at $12.878 billion.

Unfortunately, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG formula grants) program received a lower funding level than in the earlier conference agreement. The program is funded at $3.593 billion which is $118 million less than the fiscal year 2007 level.

The appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services includes an additional $9 million for the Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) program, a 20 PERCENT INCREASE over last year; and a $10.5 million increase for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. (Note: these numbers reflects a 1.7 percent across-the-board cut of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill.)

Last week we had a post about the December 21, 2007, HUD announcement of the 2007 Continuum of Care Funding Awards. That post had links to how each county in New Jersey did in this round of funding.

Overall New Jersey received awards totaling $31,829,896. This amount was $3,318,175 more than last year. The total increase was 12%.

Counties that worked with Monarch Housing Associates received funding totaling $20,283,088 or 63.7% of the total awarded to NJ.

One third of the money awarded to New Jersey - $10,478,086 - was for new permanent, affordable and supportive housing.

Of the funding for new projects $7,472,216 or 71% was in counties working with Monarch Housing Associates. This new funding will create one hundred nineteen (119) new permanent, affordable and supportive housing units for the homeless.

In addition, of the new funds, $3,721,080 was for housing first initiatives in three counties - Trenton/Mercer, Bergen and Passaic.

Click here for more details about how counties that worked with Monarch Housing Associates did with their 2007 applications.