RENO, NEVADA. The City of Reno, joined by Sparks and Washoe County, Nevada, last week became the 200th jurisdiction to commit to a 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, joined Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini, Washoe County Commissioner Bonnie Webber, local officials, and United Way of Northern Nevada President Anne Cory at Reno City Hall for the event. Jurisdictional leaders named former City Councilmember and local business leader Bob Rusk as Chair and Deputy City Attorney Mike Halley as Co-chair to forward the new initiative which is expected to result in a draft plan within six months.

"It's a privilege to be in a city reaching one hand to newly homeless Katrina evacuees and the other to historically homeless citizens," stated Director Mangano. "Today the 'biggest little city in the world' is demonstrating that a little city can have a big heart." Director Mangano also noted the work that Reno has done to encourage cost benefit analysis as part of 10-Year Plans, citing the work of Reno Police Department Officers Patrick O'Bryan and Stephen Johns who conducted their own analysis of several individuals on Reno streets and their use of emergency and law enforcement services. Cost benefit studies across the country continue to indicate that homeless people, especially those who are experiencing chronic homelessness, are among the most expensive people to the public purse. Costs in expensive healthcare systems - emergency rooms of hospitals, acute entrances to substance and mental health systems, court and law enforcement costs - when aggregated demonstrate clearly the solutions of the future can be less expensive than the ad hoc responses of the past.

Director Mangano also met with the new Reno Area Alliance for the Homeless which includes service providers, law enforcement agencies, banks, and community groups. While in Reno, Director Mangano visited the site of a new homeless services complex under construction that will serve as a one-stop center and heard details of Reno's homeless court program created by the Reno Municipal Court to deal with nonviolent homeless offenders. Council Region IX Coordinator Eduardo Cabrera, Department of Housing and Urban Development Field Office Director Tony Ramirez, and HUD staff Thomas Vetica also took part in the Reno events.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. Mayor Paul Pate, Co- Chair of the Mayors Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness of the United States Conference of Mayors and original signatory Mayor to the Mayors Covenant of Partnership to End Chronic Homelessness, this week welcomed United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano to Cedar Rapids. Mayor Pate, also President of the Iowa League of Cities, convened the Linn County Continuum of Care Policy and Planning Council to hear the latest on federal initiatives to end chronic homelessness and details of the jurisdictional plans underway in over 200 cities and counties. Prior to the Council meeting, Director Mangano joined Mayor Pate for a tour of the City's one-stop site for Katrina evacuees at City Hall.

The Linn County partners include Chairperson Dave Gosch of Rockwell Collins, and representatives of Salvation Army, Linn County Community Services, Foundation 2, Linn County General Assistance, Iowa Legal Aid, Catherine McAuley Center, Area Substance Abuse Council, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Department of Human Services, Waypoint Services Madge Phillips Center, American Red Cross Rapids AIDS Project, United Way of East Central Iowa, and MHDD Services & Linn County CPC.

Mayor Pate also invited the members of the Iowa Council on Homelessness to participate. The Council, created in 2003 by Executive Order, draws its members from the state's Departments of Economic Development, Education, Human Services, Justice, Human Rights, Elder Affairs, Public Health, Corrections, Workforce Development, and Public Safety, Veterans Affairs, and the Iowa Finance Authority.

While in Cedar Rapids, Director Mangano visited Waypoint Services for Women, Children and Families, a multi-service program for persons experiencing homelessness. The organization, formerly the YWCA is located in the former Cedar Rapids YWCA, which was itself previously a lodging house for unemployed women. Mayor Pate's Chief of Staff Doug Wagner, and staff Dawn Svenson and Alissa Van Sloten played key roles in hosting the visit.

WASHINGTON, DC. With Hurricane Rite rapidly approaching, communities are bracing themselves for the latest storm and its consequences. Here is an update of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina including some waivers and dispensations issued by federal agencies.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal disaster declarations are covering 90,000 square miles of affected areas. More than 72,000 unified federal personnel have been deployed. More than 49,800 lives have been saved and rescued. 89,400 people are currently housed in shelters nationwide. 717,000 households have received $1.5 billion in disaster assistance. Approximately 54,800 housing damage inspections have been completed. More than 73% of affected drinking water systems in Louisiana have been restored and 78% are restored in Mississippi. The American Red Cross, in coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, has served more than 12 million hot meals and more than 8.2 million snacks to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. 50,000 National Guard personnel responded to the relief effort. 44 Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to gain assistance from recovery specialists of local, state, federal and volunteer agencies.

Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued waiver for several programs under Community Planning and Development (CPD): McKinney-Vento Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA), HOME, CDBG, and the Consolidated Plan. CPD Assistant Secretary Pamela Patenaude has authorized ESG waivers so that the definition of "emergency shelter" is not limited to "facilities." The current definition prevents the use of conventional housing owned by private sector landlords from being used as short- term emergency and transitional shelter resources. Because of the scope of this disaster, HUD is providing maximum flexibility to grantees to meet emergency housing needs.

CPD has also waived for up to one year the obligation and expenditure requirements that currently require states to make ESG funds available for use within 65 days, obligate them within 180 days and spend them within 24 months. Entitlement communities must spend funds within 24 months. This waiver will enable grantees to retain their funds while homeless providers and their communities seek to rebuild service delivery systems.On-line resopurces provide further information special proceudres for ebenfits, locating clients, health information, and more.

Department of Veterans Affairs. There are several mobile outpatient clinics which have been deployed from other VA medical centers to help provide care in the area. VA has established a toll-free number (1/800-507-4571) to assist veterans who received care at the New Orleans VA Medical Center and the VA Gulf Coast Health Care System (Biloxi and Gulfport). VA's web site has information and links on benefits, health care, public health issues, and concerns of family members and employees.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service waives campground fees for Hurricane Katrina survivors. The forests offering free camping include the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, the National Forests of Alabama, the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas, the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma and the National Forests and Grasslands of Texas. In all, 106 campgrounds are open without charge to victims of Hurricane Katrina as they transition through the first weeks of the disaster.

Eligibility requirements associated with the rural housing program are being waived to expedite the relocation process by USDA Rural Development. 30,000 housing units across the country in the USDA Rural Development program are available to displaced residents. 50,000 low-income residents in the affected areas who have mortgages through USDA are being notified of a 90-day minimum moratorium on payments to reduce the financial hardship.

Schools are being permitted to provide free meals to children who have fled areas devastated by the hurricane. USDA has authorized and continues to encourage states to pre-load electronic food benefit (EBT) cards with $50 worth of assistance, which will enable displaced residents to immediately purchase food even before their application has been processed to receive complete benefits. These cards can then be distributed to displaced residents as they move from shelters to temporary housing.

Department of Health And Human Services has waived provisions of the Social Security Act or related regulations for the affected areas under the declarations of emergency for Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and to the extent necessary to ensure sufficient health care items and services for persons enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP programs and to insure health care providers that furnish such items and services in good faith, but are unable to comply with requirements due to Katrina, can be reimbursed for services.

CMS has adopted a series of emergency policy changes to accommodate the needs of thousands of displaced Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) beneficiaries who have fled Hurricane Katrina and need urgent medical attention in their new host states. Special evacuee status is granted to all those who fled states because of Hurricane Katrina. Accordingly, CMS is working with affected states to develop a new Medicaid and SCHIP application template, through which states may be granted emergency section 1115 demonstrations to provide temporary eligibility for all eligibility groups. Using this new program, evacuees displaced because of the storm will be able to quickly enroll in Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in the state to which they have been evacuated.

The Administration is working with Congress to provide financial support to states that provide Medicaid and SCHIP coverage to evacuees who are currently residing in their states. Consequently, CMS is allowing states to count the full expected cost of these temporary programs in their financial statements to determine federal payments. The following changes to Medicaid and SCHIP will be available to states through the special Section 1115 demonstration initiative: States may waive the normal documentation requirements for verifying an evacuee's Medicaid or SCHIP status in his/her home state or any information relating to household income or employment. The host state may provide temporary eligibility to applicants who are already enrollees in their home state. During the period of eligibility, the host state is required to verify circumstances of eligibility to the greatest extent possible. Evacuees may apply using a simplified application in the host state. Host states, at a minimum, will provide their own Medicaid and SCHIP benefit packages to the evacuees. Host states must extend the expedited application process to evacuees who may be newly eligible because of new economic circumstances created by the hurricane (i.e., loss of job and income that may have made them ineligible prior to the storm). CMS has assigned staff to work with all states who are hosting evacuees to provide speedy access to Medicaid and SCHIP benefits to those in need.

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. Durham, North Carolina, one of three communities in the state where the Triangle United Way has taken the lead in convening community partners to create 10-Year Plans to End Chronic Homelessness, last week hosted one of five planned Community Forum events, with the Durham event attracting over 100 stakeholders in the Durham Partnership to End Homelessness. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited by Triangle United Way Executive Director Craig Chancellor, joined Durham Mayor Bill Bell, County Commission Chair Ellen Reckhow and Plan Co- chairs Carolyn Thornton and Peter Anlyanto to address the forum. Triangle United Way Senior Vice President Linda Tuday and United Way's Community Impact Specialist on Homelessness Stan Holt took part in the North Carolina events.

"The title of this forum is '"Can we end homelessness?' " observed Director Mangano. "The question is no longer 'can we,' the deliberation is 'how do we?' Across this country there is an unprecedented level of political will and community partnership to get this job done." Council Region IV Coordinator Michael German also took part in the North Carolina events. Pictured here are (left to right): Mayor Bell, Director Mangano, and Commissioner Reckhow.

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA. Over 125 partners gathered at United Church of Chapel Hill for the Orange County Human Services Forum last week, convened by the Human Services Advisory Commission and the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. The Partnership is the countywide coalition creating the area's 10-year plan. Council Director Mangano joined Mayor Kevin Foy and County Chair Moses Carey and other community partners for the event.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA. Across the country, communities of every size are stepping up to the work of engaging, assisting, and supporting hurricane evacuees with a spontaneous and inituitive response: one-stop sites that provide a range of health care, benefits, social services, and employment services so that evacuees can access as many needed supports as possible. In City Halls, government buildings, convention centers, churches, and schools, one-stops have set up shop to assist with family reunification, veterans and other benefits, shelter and housing information, food, special needs, pet recovery information, unemployment, small business and retiree assistance, student assistance at every level of education, banking, legal, and insurance assistance.

While in Phoenix this week, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano and Council Region IX Coordinator Eduardo Cabrera visited the Hurricane Katrina one-stop center and evacuee site at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the state fairgrounds. The evacuee shelter, which welcomed up to 600 people at its peak operation, is expected to close this week as evacuees are relocated to extended stay hotels. Director Mangano is pictured here at right with Arizona Department of Economic Security official Charlene Moran Flaherty as they toured the one-stop site.

From Raleigh to Montgomery to Cedar Rapids and Phoenix, one-stops are showing effective ways of engaging and serving those evacuees newly homeless and needing to connect with services and supports. Like the Project Homeless Connect innovation established in San Francisco to create a regularly scheduled one-stop point of engagement for persons experiencing chronic homelessness, the new centers are offering a results-oriented model whose lessons can be applied beyond Katrina's affects. Project Connect's successful methodology has provided the model for the upcoming December 8 National Project Homeless Connect Day being organized by the Council.

Arizona's capital city is also moving forward with new services for historically homeless people. Director Mangano, who will keynote the opening of the city's new Human Services Campus in November, this week saw the progress on the new site. The Human Services Campus is a cooperative effort among Maricopa County, homeless service providers, and non-profit organizations to develop a coordinated delivery of services to person experiencing homelessness. Arizona Department of Economic Security officials Charlene Moran Flaherty and Allie Bones accompanied Director Mangano and Council Coordinator Eduardo Cabrera on the visit to the existing Day Resource Center and its new Campus site.

The Human Services Campus will provide coordinated delivery of housing, medical, educational and other services to homeless clients. The campus will be located just west of the downtown Phoenix area. Other partners with Maricopa County in the Human Services Campus include, Central Arizona Shelter Services, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Joseph the Worker, Nova Safe Haven and the City of Phoenix.

WICHITA, KANSAS. Wichita, Kansas, was the site last week of new focus on federal initiatives to end chronic homelessness as United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director visited with Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans and County Commission Chair David Unruh, met with key community leaders, and toured local homeless programs. In positive conversations with the juridictional leaders, Director Mangnao encouraged the development of a 10-Year Plan in the region.

Under the leadership of Sam Muyskens, the Inter- Faith Villa permanent housing program, home to formerly homeless individuals with serious mental illness, hosted the Wichita events. Inter-Faith Ministries, which operates the housing program, a Safe Haven, and other services, traces its local roots to 1885. While in Wichita, Director Mangano toured local programs, including Inter-Faith Villa, and addressed a meeting of local homeless providers. Council Coordinator Michael German also took part in the events, which included a gathering of local leaders convened by philanthropist and business leader Helen Galloway.

HOOD RIVER, OREGON. Partners from across Oregon convened this week for the Oregon Coalition on Housing and Homelessness' 17th Annual Training Conference in Hood River. Coalition Board Chair Dan Murphy welcomed Untied States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who keynoted the conference. Pathways to Housing Founder Sam Tsemberis of New York City also presented on the success of Pathways Housing First initiatives for persons experiencing chronic homelessness.

The annual training event was sponsored by Oregon's Departments of Human Services and Housing and Community Services, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Washington Mutual, Catholic Community Services -Lane County, Arches Project, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, and Recovery Association Project. The conference featured training sessions on Crisis Prevention and Intervention, Self Sufficiency Services, Effective Advocacy Strategies to Move Public Opinion, Working with Survivors of Trauma, Enhancing Access to SSA Disability Programs for People who are Homeless, Domestic Violence and Homelessness, Accessing employment for hard-to-place clients, Re- Entry, VA and Community Based Programs for Homeless Veterans, McKinney Programs in Rural Districtas, McKinney Education Liaisons, and more.

WASHINGTON, DC. With both the White House and Congress supporting the independent status of the Council and the establishment of independent offices, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has moved to a new office address, along with a new email address. Here's an update on key contact information for the Council.

After more than three years of the generous hospitality of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in providing office space and administrative support under both former Secretary Mel Martinez and current Secretary and Council Chair Alphonso Jackson, the Council has established new offices.

We are currently in those new offices. Here are the details:

TELEPHONE: 202/708-4663 (This number remains the same.)

MAILING ADDRESS: NEW! 409 Third Street SW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20024

FAX: 202/708-1216 (This number remains the same.)

EMAIL: NEW! Key addresses:

Executive Director Philip Mangano: Philip.F.Mangano@usich.gov

Deputy Director Mary Ellen Hombs: Maryellen.Hombs@usich.gov

Special Advisor Janna Jahn: Janna.Jahn@usich.gov

Administrative Officer Darren Franklin: Darren.G.Franklin@usich.gov

Note the change in the email addresses from hud.gov to usich.gov. For other email addresses, contact the Council's Administrative Officer.

WEB SITE: NEW! www.usich.gov

If you experience temporary glitches in communicating with the Council, here are some failsafe numbers that will get you to the Council's phones and FAXes: PHONE: 202/205-4796 and FAX: 202/205-4398. Both numbers are now supported by voice mail.

If you have been emailing to our old address, you have received a standard "out of the office" response. The reality is that it is against federal protocol to forward email outside of an agency. The reality is that we are in our offices and continuing our work of partnership with federal agencies, states, and cities, as well as with all who are on the frontlines of ending homelessness.

We look forward to smooth communications and increasing opportunities to accomplish the mission.