ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. Federal, state, and local partners from the private and public sector demonstrated partnership last week at the announcement of new targeted federal resources for housing and employment for homeless veterans in St. Louis and Missouri. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, joined by Missouri Senator Christopher Bond, and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, celebrated the award of $228,000 to St. Louis for the HUD-VASH housing program (HUD-VA Supportive Housing), with $800,000 total awarded for 140 vouchers in Missouri. St. Louis earlier this year received a record $11.8 million in HUD homeless resources.

"We are here to announce several new grants and faith-based partnerships, both state and federal, that combined will bring nearly $1.8 million to our City to create 120 new units of supportive housing to help veterans who are homeless get back on their feet," said the Mayor (pictured here), adding, " With new resources from the federal government and great work by members of our homeless network, we have made great progress in addressing the needs of chronically homeless people in St. Louis. Our homeless count has dropped by 30% since we implemented the 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in 2005. We now have one of the lower percentages of homelessness in the nation."

Noted Mayor Slay: "We would not have made so much progress in reducing chronic homelessness were it not for Senator Bond. He has been a friend to the City of St. Louis, particularly his efforts to provide more people with decent places to live. "

Council Executive Director Mangano, who has visited St. Louis on several occasions for 10 Year Plan events, noted of Mayor Slay, "Mayor Slay was an early adopter of the 10 Year Plan strategy. His investment of political will has resulted in decreases in homelessness for the most vulnerable and disabled in this city. As a result, Mayor Slay has become a leader among his fellow Mayors on this issue. Inside city government, Mayor Slay's Director of Human Services, Bill Siedhoff and Antoinette Triplett, have smartly implemented the Plan and overseen results unprecedented in St. Louis' history." Director Mangano is pictured here (center) with Senator Bond (left) and Mayor Slay (right).

"Veterans are owed more than a blanket and a hot meal," said Senator Bond (pictured here). "We must provide them with the health care, mental health care and transitional services they need to be integrated back into their communities and former lives. This new funding will greatly enhance our ability to help homeless veterans in the St. Louis area." Senator Bond, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $75 million in federal funds with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in the fiscal year 2008 Transportation-Housing spending bill. President Bush has requested an additional $75 million for 10,000 more vouchers for FY 2009.

"It is quite possible that we would not be here today to acknowledge new and increased HUD and VA resources if Senator Kit Bond were not such a supporter of homeless people and veterans," Director Mangano stated. "He has been a consistent champion in the Congress for increased resources targeted to homeless people, not simply for funding and expending, not based on conjecture and anecdote. But to be invested with accountability to achieve results."

Partners at the press event included Frank Piper, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 15 Homeless Veteran Coordinator; James Heard, Director of St. Louis HUD Office; Tony Smithart, U.S. Department of Labor, Director of Veterans Employment and Training Services from Des Moines and Acting Director for Missouri; Lynn Carter, Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health; Evelyn Paul, Coordinator for Health Care for Homeless Veterans, St. Louis VAMC; and Jeffrey Williams, a homeless veteran who lived 22 years on the street and was assisted by St. Patrick Center. Mr. Williams is pictured here during his remarks. Pictured below are (left to right): St. Louis DHS Director Bill Siedhoff, Anthony Smithhart, State Director Veterans' Employment and Training Services, Jeffrey Williams, Senator Bond, Director Mangano, Mayor Slay, Lynn Carter, Deputy Director Missouri Department of Mental Health, and Frank Piper, VISN 15 Homeless Veteran Coordinator.

Also in focus was the recent award of two additional VA Per Diem grants totaling $600,000 - one to the Missouri Department of Mental Health and one to the St. Vincent de Paul Society in St. Louis - which will bring new transitional capacity for veterans. New state Department of Mental Health resources of $300,000 of annual general revenue support are combined with the federal award which the St. Patrick Center will use to support 50 veterans.

St. Patrick Center, the state's largest resource for people who are homeless, has also just received the good news of its second year $300,000 award from the Department of Labor Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). St. Patrick Center, under the leadership of CEO Dan Buck, will reach over 200 veterans with HVRP resources, with a planned employment rate of over 90% - one of the highest targets of over 90 programs awarded nationally. St. Patrick just secured its 18th consecutive year of full funding for the program.

"This isn't merely good news. This is real progress in our city's fight to end homelessness," said Dan Buck of the St. Patrick Center. "Senator Bond, Governor Blunt, Mayor Slay and several faith-based and community organizations are helping to breakdown those walls with one of the most aggressive, meaningful federal, state and local homeless veterans efforts in the history of our city."

While in St. Louis, Director Mangano also met with the Homeless Services Network (pictured here) and visited McMurphy's Grill, an employment and training initiative of the St. Patrick Center.

DENVER, COLORADO. The Denver City Council gave final approval this week to an investment of up to $1.5 million a year for the next 20 years from city resources to develop more than 200 units of permanent supportive housing for people who are chronically homeless to achieve further results in ending chronic homelessness under Denver's Road Home, the city's 10 Year Plan. The City and County of Denver's new investment is based on documented annual cost savings from the reduction of chronic homelessness and the use of expensive public systems, with those savings married to targeted housing resources to create long-term housing solutions in five sites.

"It is a good day for Denver's Road Home and - while there is much more work to be done - there are also many people to thank for the support of this initiative that will bring us closer to ending homelessness in Denver," said Jamie van Leeuwen, Denver's 10 Year Plan manager for Mayor John Hickenlooper. "Homeless providers, business and foundation leaders, neighborhood advocates, and homeless individuals filled the Denver City Council chamber for this important dialogue about solutions, and together they underscored that, three years later, as Denver's Road Home moves forward, support for the ten year plan remains strong. Through the leverage of $1.5 million annually in public dollars for these projects, we will create over $82 million in new housing!"

Responding to the investment news, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano indicated: "Under Mayor Hickenlooper's leadership - and with an exemplary and expansive partnership of the public and private sectors in Denver's Road Home - Denver and the nation have benefited from the city's commitment through its jurisdictionally-led, community-based, business- oriented 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness and the plan's publicly reported progress to date in reducing chronic homelessness." He added: "Through Denver's Road Home, documentation of cost savings from the success of Denver's earlier Housing First initiatives - including its 2003 federally-funded pilot - has shown the economic benefit to taxpayers of adopting this field- tested, evidence-based innovation that makes common sense and dollars and sense."

Denver's Road Home, with a goal of reducing chronic homelessness 75% by July 2010, produced over 500 housing units for chronically homeless individuals in its first three years. As a result, the use of costly municipal services has been substantially reduced, with detox admissions for the most frequent users of these services declining 84%. Jail incarcerations for homeless individuals were reduced 22%. Future efforts will target reductions in emergency room and hospital admissions. These municipal cost savings are being applied to the new housing solutions to further the reduction in chronic homelessness.

The community goals for developing the new permanent supportive housing included: offering new units in locations outside the core downtown, creating mixed-income communities, ensuring neighborhood support by adopting Good Neighbor Policies for each development, and green built design standards. To achieve these goals, a site selection committee comprised of neighborhood and business leaders, city staff, and homeless advocates identified the development criteria and recommended sites to City Council for approval.

The 208 permanent supportive housing units are included in five separate affordable housing mixed income housing developments. These five apartment complexes will offer a total of 447 affordable units. The city's financial commitment is an upfront commitment which will leverage investments of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and other federal and state housing grants. The city's financial commitment will ensure the feasibility of rental income, no long term debt, and supportive services.

Permanent financing will be secured by each developer within the next 18 months. Denver will execute annual Service Agreements not to exceed the total of $1.5 million per year. The final contribution to each housing development will be based on the rates and terms of permanent financing and other federal rental subsidies.

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA. The Fargo Civic Center was the site of the third Project Homeless Connect for Fargo, which is implementing "Going Home," its 10 Year Plan completed in 2006. Fargo/Cass County, North Dakota and Moorhead/Clay County, Minnesota border one another, and the Connect event was organized by the Fargo/Moorhead Coalition for Homeless Persons under the leadership of Michael S. Carbone, Executive Director.

The Project Homeless Connect event included a forum with formerly homeless consumer Sarah Wells as moderator, and presenters including North Dakota Lt. Governor Jack Dalrymple and North Dakota State Senator Tim Mathern of Fargo. The Lt. Governor noted that the Administration of Governor John Hoeven, which has supported the development of jurisdictional 10 Year Plans across the state and is underway with the state's own plan based on local strategies, has a sound budget from which new solutions may emerge. "I look forward to a period of time when we see a visible improvement in what we can do for people," he said.

Fargo previously hosted Project Homeless events in August 2007 and February 2008, welcoming almost 500 people at the two events. Fargo has purchased land for the development of some of the more than 220 units of housing called for in the plan, as well as being underway with an outreach center, emergency shelter and detox center.

Watch the Council's National Project Homeless Connect web site for upcoming posting of new best practices resources for communities planning their upcoming events.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Home & Healthy for Good, Massachusetts' innovative Housing First initiative, "continues to lead the housing revolution in Massachusetts, " stated Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance Executive Director Joe Finn, as he unveiled new data and results from the Commonwealth's strategy to move to a humane, efficient, and cost-effective solution to chronic homelessness. An evaluation of the Housing First program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing.

As of June 16, 2008, over 280 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts. Tenant retention stands at 82%. For the 239 participants who participate in the research study component, the annual cost per person, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $33,440 before housing to $25,519 after housing placement, an annual savings to the state of $7,921 per person. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care, according to MHSA.

In the six months prior to entering housing, 239 participants accounted for 504 emergency room visits, 1,065 days in inpatient care, and 21,309 nights in emergency shelter. The use of these services decreased substantially following participation in HHG.

Mounting evidence from around the country that Housing First is a cost-effective and evidence-based practice that decreases the incidence of chronic homelessness led to Home & Healthy for Good. The Massachusetts Legislature passed line-item 4406- 3010 in the FY07 state budget to fund a statewide pilot Housing First program for chronically homeless individuals. The state allocated $600,000 to MHSA through the state's Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to operate the program. Investment in this program was increased to $1.2 million in FY08, and has been level funded at $1.2 million for FY09. This resource is used to fund a portion of the service or housing components for program participants, with the expectation that federal or other state resources will be leveraged to finance additional needed service or facilities funds.

The Legislature requested an evaluation of the pilot program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost-savings in state-funded programs. The new MHSA report describes the implementation of Home & Healthy for Good and updated findings from the evaluation of the program as of July 2008. The Boston Foundation recently announced a new investment in MHSA's advocacy initiatives for the Home and Healthy for Good strategy and its results.

CALGARY, ALBERTA. The Calgary Committee to End Homelessness released Calgary's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness just six months ago, but already change is happening in the Alberta city and in the province, and many adopted innovations will sound familiar to U.S. readers: Housing First, Rapid Rehousing for families, Project Homeless Connect. The Calgary Homeless Foundation has taken on the role of lead implementing organization for the Plan, which was supported by Mayor David Bronconnier and formally endorsed in July by the Calgary City Council. City Administration also brought forward the "Enterprise Housing Program" which recommended a series of legislative, regulatory and financial incentives for the creation of more affordable housing in the City. The Council directed the City Administration to begin work to implement that program.

"By endorsing the 10 Year Plan and then taking the action they're proposing, the City of Calgary has become a leader among Canadian municipalities in ending homelessness," said Calgary Foundation President and CEO Tim Richter.

Following the release of Calgary's 10 Year Plan, the Government of Alberta announced the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness, charged with developing a provincial 10 Year Plan to end homelessness.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano has previously visited Calgary at the invitation of both Mayor Bronconnier and the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Federal of Canadian Municipalities, and Big City Mayors' Caucus, which afforded opportunities to meet with business and civic leaders, including the Chamber of Commerce, as well as foundations, including the Calgary Homeless Foundation, as government and private sector partners moved forward their commitment to a 10 Year Plan and the subsequent unveiling of their results-oriented strategies.

In partnership with homeless services agencies, the private sector, government partners, the faith community and foundations, progress and solutions are underway in Calgary. The Alex Community Health Centre replicated the Pathways to Housing/Housing First innovation from New York City and has re-housed more than 30 chronically homeless individuals in less than 8 months, on track for 50 individuals by the end of October. The Calgary Urban Projects Society launched a Rapid Exit program modelled after the Hennepin County, Minnesota program and has re-housed more than 55 homeless families in less than 8 months. They are on track to meet a target of 120 families by March 2009.

The Calgary Homeless Foundation this week reported early success in its goal, predicting it will create 1,000 new affordable homes this year against an original target of 850 new units in the 10 Year Plan's first year. Investment by the private sector and government are spurring the results.

Calgary launched its first Project Homeless Connect on April 26th with 50 agencies and 100 volunteers offering resources to more than 650 people, and a second event is scheduled for September 20th at City Hall, with a third on tap for November.

In launching their plan, Calgary partners noted that the community had a homeless crisis that was worsening no matter what action was taken, but then the community was "shown a way out" through 10 Year Planning, accompanied by the "leadership of unreasonable people." Planners also examined the lessons of business thinker Jim Collins of "Good to Great," who urges leaders to "confront the brutal facts" before setting out. Calgary's Planning Committee was chaired by Steve Snyder, President & CEO of TransAlta Corporation, with 28 members on the leadership committee including front lines agencies, Mayor Bronconnier, Aldermen, Members of Parliament, private sector CEOs, foundations, health region CEO, post secondary education, and Aboriginal and faith community representatives.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. Even as new federal and state resources for homeless veterans were being announced last week in St. Louis (see lead story), final preparations were in motion for the upcoming opening of the St. Patrick Center's BEGIN New Venture Center (BNVC), an innovative community partnership program of business incubation and entrepreneurial, skills and trades training. BEGIN will operate in the St. Patrick Center (SPC), a one-stop site, with project goals to stimulate Businesses, Employment, Growth, Incomes and Neighborhoods. BEGIN's mission is to prepare homeless and impoverished people for higher-wage, sustainable jobs with benefits by providing a comprehensive career path with all of the necessary support services to ensure success and self- sufficiency through meaningful employment, which in turn leads to financial stability and permanent housing opportunities.

Four key elements of BEGIN are:

A business incubator within a homeless center that provides a supportive entrepreneurial environment and facilitates new venture creation by providing start-up and early-stage companies with daily business assistance from the incubator manager and staff, access to professional service providers, shared administrative services, assistance with access to investment capital, guidance from an advisory board/mentor program, marketing assistance and state-of-the-art facilities. Incubator companies will primarily include, but not be limited to, SPC client-owned enterprises and companies with non-client ownership which are committed to employing SPC clients.

An innovative educational environment of pre- training assessment, pre-incubation assessment, trades/skills training (including soft skills), and business/entrepreneurial training provided through business/outside agency/educational collaborations with an emphasis on real-world application and experience. Trades/skills training will provide ongoing courses within the construction trades, restaurant and hotel services, "green" occupations, manufacturing/machining, healthcare and others, with resultant certifications. Critical to the success of training and employment efforts within the BNVC will be the development and nurturing of deep employer partnerships through a pro-active business liaison function within SPC that focuses on cultivating an employer base which embraces the SPC mission and provides significant employer involvement in needs assessment, training design/implementation, and employment commitments.

A complete network of wrap-around social support services for all SPC clients participating in the business incubator and in the educational center. These training, employment and business ownership programs must necessarily deal with complex issues faced by people who are homeless, including lack of job-readiness skills and industry- specific job skills, lack of entrepreneurial training and ongoing mentoring services for those capable of operating their own business, mental illnesses, drug and alcohol addictions, transportation needs, inaccessibility of existing services, lack of knowledge of existing services, insufficient or inappropriate life skills, and homelessness or insufficient housing. BNVC case managers/job coaches will help to guide and support training participants, as well as clients employed by or operating a BNVC incubator company, through a minimum of one year after initial employment, and will serve as points of connection for BNVC program participants to all other SPC supportive services.

Operation of social enterprises that provide transitional jobs, training, and employment opportunities for SPC clients. These ventures will expand on SPC's current transitional employment programs, exemplified by McMurphy's Grill, the first-in- the nation full-service restaurant for training homeless/mentally ill clients, providing clients income- earning employment experiences that enhance their work history while teaching them work habits and developing job-readiness skills that will lead to sustainable employment in careers of their choice.

The BEGIN Catholic Charities Conference Center is an on-site multi-purpose community conference facility featuring a 250-seat meeting room with facilities, catering and audio-visual capabilities. The facility can be divided to meet the needs of various size audiences for multiple uses include meetings, receptions and seminars.

The BEGIN New Venture Center recently was named the winner of the 3rd Annual Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Competition (SEIC) from Washington University. St. Patrick Center's award is funded by Washington University's Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the YouthBridge Community Foundation. Since 2005 the Skandalaris Center at Washington University and the YouthBridge Association have partnered to operate the SEIC to expand opportunities for collaboration, innovation and learning. The competition defines social entrepreneurship as "using entrepreneurial skills to craft innovative processes, approaches, and solutions to help resolve social issues." The goal of the SEIC is to provide a collaborative learning environment for those proposing social ventures to move their ideas forward and to develop and fund sustainable ventures that impact a social issue.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS. While in Tarrant County, Texas last week for visits to jurisdictional leaders in Fort Worth and Arlington, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano joined Arlington Housing Authority Executive Director David Zappasodi to honor Mission Arlington for its work with neighbors who are homeless.

Director Zappasodi and Director Mangano presented a plaque to Tillie Burgin, the Executive Director of Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex in "recognition and appreciation" of "continued outstanding public service and commitment to Arlington's homeless." The award was signed by Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck.

Mission Arlington is a consumer-centric and volunteer-driven ministry that has demonstrated flexibility in creating new resources and services that help prevent and end homelessness, with a focus on rehousing its homeless neighbors. "A person in need" is how the Mission describes the beginning of many of its individual efforts.

The Mission provides a Ministry of Crisis Intervention that includes direct financial assistance to help families with portions of their rent, utility, gasoline, and prescription costs. Families are also supplied with short-term supplies of groceries, personal hygiene items, diapers, baby formula and more to help them get by when resources are tight.

The Christmas Store was created when volunteers noted the regular increase in requests for assistance that came every January, after families had used rent and utilities resources to provide Christmas gifts for their children. The Store began with a toy collection where Bible Study leaders picked out toys for families. Families were encouraged to pay their rent, pay their utilities and let Mission Arlington help with the "extras" of "toys, trees and turkey." The Christmas Store is open six days a week for about two weeks in mid-December, and it is set up like a traditional stores with shelves and tables holding gifts divided by age groups. Staffed by churches, schools, families and individuals from the community who have donated toys, worked, and planned year-round, volunteers act as shopper helpers, helping adults to find gifts for their kids, stockers who keep toys and other gifts placed in the store, and child care helpers providing a safe place for parents to leave their children when they shop.

Mission Arlington provides adult and children's clothes free of charge: men and women can find clothes for job interviews, school clothes for their children, and more. The Mission also picks up donated furniture and appliances and delivers them to families who have experienced loss due to flood, fire, and other crisis situations. Mission Arlington can provide support to people with different kinds of identification needs such as social security cards, driver's licenses and birth certificates. Volunteers at Mission Arlington restore donated computer systems to give to children in the community. Computer classes are also offered.

Mission Arlington transports people in need to jobs, education and job training, social service needs, childcare, after-school programs, tutoring, and more. The Mission also accepts bikes and automobile donations to help community members with transportation needs. On a limited basis, Mission Arlington currently provides gas vouchers to help people in emergency situations get to work and the doctor.

The Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex day time shelter facility is open seven days a week for current residents of the local Arlington Life Shelter. Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex also operates a variety of ministries which relate to the physical and emotional well-being of people. The Allan Saxe Dental Clinic offers dental care free of charge. The free-of-charge Medical Clinic provides quality health care, sample medications and help with prescriptions as well as providing medical education to promote long-term health. The clinic also provides assistance to patients with accessing available community health care programs.

Tillie Burgin joined the Arlington ministry in 1986 and began Apartment Ministry Churches with the goal of meeting the needs of all people through Bible studies, medical and dental service, child and adult day care, clothing, food, furniture, transportation, and counseling. A native of Arlington, she came to the Mission from a career in the Arlington Independent School District and the field of education, including as an elementary school teacher and special education supervisor. With her family, she spent several years as a missionary in Korea, also teaching and tutoring. Her numerous recognitions include the 2006 "Yellow Rose of Texas" awarded by Governor Rick Perry; 2000 induction into the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame by Governor George W. Bush; 1997 Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation, 1994 Daughters of the American Revolution Excellence in Community Service Award, and recognitions to Mission Arlington as Best Volunteer Organization by the staff of the Fort Worth Weekly; Arlington Police Department: APD's "Business Partner of the Year;" and a 2005 Texas House of Representatives for recognition of outstanding and invaluable service to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The following excerpts are from recent remarks of Mayors in Fort Worth and St. Louis whose jurisdictional leadership is achieving new results through 10 Year Plans.

"Every sector of our community is now deeply engaged. We are literally entering a new era of collaboration and innovation on the issue of homelessness. That includes people and organizations representing the faith-based community, the health care systems, and our housing and service providers. Even our corporate partners have jumped on this train, and we're moving forward with a lot of momentum!

" . . . Another sector that's not often been directly associated with the fight to address homelessness is that of the business community. With the leadership of Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and the Commissioner's Court, a cost study was conducted as part of the creation of our Directions Home plan. Many of us were stunned to learn that our community spent more than $30 million in 2007 responding to homelessness. Even worse, only about a third of those dollars were spent on proactive responses like permanent supportive and transitional housing . . . This was a tough pill to swallow, as it showed we were spending more money to manage homelessness rather than ending it. We have been - in effect - spinning our wheels with little to no return. This was language that our business leaders understood.

"No one is foolish enough to think this is going to be easy. However, be that as it may, today we stand committed to help every homeless citizen in this city and in this county find their own 'Direction Home.'

"There's an old saying that a preacher friend of mine once told me . . . It's one of my favorite sayings . . . He said, 'When you pray for something, move your feet!' That's what's happening here! "
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, at the celebration of Directions Home, the new city-county 10 Year Plan

"Many thanks for joining us this morning for the opportunity to share with you some good news on new funding for homeless veterans and for those who help them . . .

"It is appropriate that we make this announcement today with tens of thousands of members of our armed forces at risk around the world- especially in Iraq and Afghanistan . . .

"When they return home, we have a responsibility to them. When things go wrong in their lives - especially if it is caused by or related to their tour of duty - we have a responsibility to give them a hand up . . .

"Veterans who are homeless don't expect a hand out. They need a hand up. Based on our count of homeless people, these new resources should accommodate almost every veteran who is in need of help in our community. "
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, at the announcement of new federal employment and housing resources for homeless veterans

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