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In the last week we have heard a three reports on NPR about homelessness that forced us to stop and listen.

The first is from This American Life about two men from New Jersey who become homeless.

The second was from Day to Day. They had two reports about preparations for the Democratic and Republican conventions and their impact on the homeless.

Gregory Deloatch and Daniel Canada, both from New Jersey, dreamed of being writers, but normal life - marriage, jobs, paying the rent - always got in the way. To pursue their dream, the two friends embarked on an unusual experiment. They became homeless. Lu Olkowski tells the story of how it turned out.

Check out Hobo Bob’s and Obsidian’s blogs, and learn more about their event, The Shout Out. (28 minutes) To listen click here. The first eight minutes is another story.

 

 Gregory Deloatch and Daniel Canada [59:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Denver announced this week that it will not sweep the homeless off the streets for the Democratic National Convention. Instead, city officials plan to involve them in the political process. Alex Cohen talks with John Parvensky, Read the rest of this entry �

More advocacy needed!

Congressional Reception could be crucial!

Click here to register to attend!

The following information is from the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Although this post is lengthy it is definitely worth reading in full as it provides a comprehensive overview of the budget issues that affect programs to end homelessness and expand supportive housing.

Appropriations - As we reported on June 24th, the House of Representatives, both the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) and the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittees passed bills to fund the departments and agencies under their jurisdictions.

A full chart of the T-HUD Subcommittee’s funding levels may be found by clicking here.

The T-HUD Subcommittee suggested McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants be funded with $1.691 billion, an increase of $105 million over FY 08 and $55 million more than the President requested.

HUD’s proposed cuts to the 811/202 programs were rejected and instead received small increases.

Both the project-based and tenant-based Section 8 accounts received substantial increases.

Another round of $75 million for 10,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers was included in the legislation, as well as $30 million for 4,000 new vouchers for the disabled.

Unfortunately the HOPWA program was funded at the same level as last year — at the President’s requested level of $300.1 million.

The Senate T-HUD Subcommittee is scheduled to meet on July 10th to consider their version of the FY 09 Appropriations bill.

The Labor-HHS Subcommittee is responsible for funding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), which administers several programs that benefit homeless individuals. CSH, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, NAMI, Enterprise, National AIDS Housing Coalition and other partners were successful in advocating for an increase to programs that fund services in permanent supportive housing. The victory was all the more significant in the face of proposed cuts to this account in the President’s budget.

The bill set to be voted will increase SAMHSA’s homeless programs by $21.4 million above the FY 2008 level for a total of $75 million. It appears that nearly all of the increase would go to fund services in permanent supportive housing. This would significantly expand SAMHSA grant funding for supportive housing.

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We were reading Homelessness a problem for women veterans by Melissa Schmitt and found ourselves becoming angry about the rapidly growing number of homeless women veterans. Ms. Schmitt’s article highlights this American tragedy. Click here to read the article.

Because of PTSD and military sexual trauma, women veterans are four times as likely to go homeless than their civilian counterparts. This situation should never have happened. Together we need to prevent this from happening as well as provide permanent, affordable and supportive housing to these women veterans when they come home.

In addition, the report provides the following facts.

Military Sexual Trauma: A risk factor for homelessness

23 out of 100 women who use the VA health system reported experiencing sexual assault in the military

Sexual assault is a risk factor for developing PTSD - another risk factor for homelessness

Homeless Women Veterans: At a Glance

Approximately 7,000 women veterans are homeless

Numbers are expected to increase as more women return from Iraq and Afghanistan

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Tags: Ending Homelessness, female veterans, homelessness, ptsd

In today’s issue, the New York Times published an article “Helping to Keep Homelessness at Bay as Foreclosures Hit More Families“. It highlighted, Sandra Rolon, a returning Army Reserve grandmother who bought a home with a monthly payment beyond her salary after her mortgage broker told her she could simply refinance the mortgage later and easily pay it. Now the house is in danger of foreclosure, and she may become homeless. A new program created by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund is responding to people like Ms. Rolon during the surge in subprime lending and foreclosures. The program will help dozens of families at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure from becoming homeless by awarding grants to pay for moving costs, the first month’s rent and the security deposit at their new apartments, and other emergency expenses. Each eligible family can receive up to $10,000 as part of the Subprime Neediest Program.To read the full article click here.

On February 1st the Trenton Times wrote an eloquent letter in support of housing first. it specifically commended the “the efforts of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, a consortium of leaders from the county’s business, government and nonprofit sectors, as it continues to develop new strategies to prevent and end homelessness in Mercer County. ”

We reprint the full editorial. It can be found on line by clicking here.

Housing first, Friday, February 01, 2008

It’s not a statistic that in spires pride: About 1,600 in Mercer County are without a home.

But it’s not that surprising, considering how many households — 20 percent — in Mercer earn less than $25,000 a year. That’s about 14,000 in the suburbs and almost 12,000 in Trenton. With that level of income, households don’t hold together very well, and it’s a very few steps to the street and the huddle of whatever hovel is available.

That could be a tent, a cardboard carton or an alley — not the most welcoming of quarters.

But, as was reiterated by some inhabitants of those haunts during this week’s tally of the homeless, they would rather have that flimsy comfort than the restrictions that go with more substantial structures.

Most programs aimed at housing the chronically homeless — many of whom are substance abusers or suffer mental illness — require them to stay sober, take medication or find jobs in return for the hospitality. More than a fair exchange, we might think, but those conditions are nearly impossible for the addled and the addicted to meet.

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Tags: homelessness, Housing First, Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, Mercer County

The following editorial written by L.A. Parker was posted in the Trentonian Newspaper:

 

 A time when the homeless count: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A time when the homeless count

The healed cut meandered from the corner of her left eye to an area just under her left cheek, residue of an unwanted barter for alcohol and drugs.

“I was a 15-year-old in the park and partying. I enjoyed the stuff that the guy had, but then he wanted something from me that I wasn’t willing to give,” Jean said.

A broken bottle would eventually leave a scar as a constant reminder of past indiscretion.
She is 42 years old now, no longer homeless, and clean and sober for one calendar year.

In recovery terms, one year away from crack or alcohol is a watermark, although staying clean remains a “just for today initiative.”

Failure could be sparked by anything that life might deliver, whether the circumstance smells like potpourri or urine.

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Tags: homelessness, Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, Project Homeless Connect

Bergen’s County Executive, Freeholders, departmental staff, civic and faith based communities held a forum with Phil Mangano of the Interagency Council on Homelessness  on January 29, 2008.  Freeholder Chair Bernadette P. McPherson welcomed the participants. She announced that one key component of the Bergen County’s soon to be completed Ten Year Plan will be to have all of Bergen County’s departments work together in partnership to end homelessness. Mr. Mangano noted that as easy as these sounds it rarely happens without leadership by the freeholders and county executive. To listen to Mr. Mangano’s speech use the toolbars.

 

 Phil Mangano address in Bergen County [58:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

These are random photos from the event. Click on anyone to see it full size. Click here to view all of the photos. To view a slide show click here.

The National Housing Conference and its research affiliate the Center for Housing Policy will launch a new online guide to state and local housing policy developed by the Center on January 29. This is an important resource that will help all of us to improve public policy on the local and state level to both end homelessness and to increase the supply of supportive housing.

KnowledgePlex will be offering a two-day series of online workshops about high-impact housing policies that states and localities can use to improve housing outcomes for low- to moderate-income working families. They have teamed up with the National Housing Conference and its research affiliate the Center for Housing Policy for these events.

The dates and times are:

Wednesday, January 30 at 2 p.m. ET

Thursday, January 31 at 2 p.m. ET

For more information and to join these conversations, click here.

Read the rest of this entry �