JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY. More than 150 elected officials, community and church leaders, business representatives, and citizens including homeless and formerly homeless individuals and families gathered at St. Lucy's Shelter in Jersey City last week to kick off Hudson County's 10-year planning effort to end chronic homelessness. The planning effort, entitled Keys to Ending Homelessness in Hudson County, will be led by co-chairs United Way of Hudson County President Dan Altilio, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Goldman Sachs official Chandra Gibson, Newark Archdiocese Bishop Thomas Donato, and Bishop Thomas Robinson of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to speak at the kickoff, welcomed Hudson County into "the National Partnership to end a social wrong that includes 223 other communities around our country committed through their Mayors and County Executives to create 10-Year Plans to end the homelessness of those who are the most vulnerable, most disabled, most likely to live and die on the street, and we are learning, most expensive to the public purse in our communities."

Funding for the plan's development is being provided by the United Way of Hudson County and through the Hudson County CDBG (community development block grant) program. The community was welcomed to the 10-Year Plan kickoff by Catholic Charities St. Lucy's Shelter Director Brenda Pulaski. Other speakers included the plan Co-Chairs, and several homeless and formerly homeless community members.

Describing the broad coalition that had been brought together for the kickoff, UW President Altilio said, "we are trying to bring not just government muscle, but also corporate muscle, and non profit muscle together to tackle a serious problem," Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise noted that the "current hodgepodge of shelters" isn't a winning strategy and pledged the county resources "to work with the good people here today" to create a 10-year roadmap to end homelessness. In announcing the kickoff effort, Mayor Healy described the intention to work collectively and acknowledged "we can gain valuable insight into what strategies may work by taking a hard look at the issue of homelessness and the model approaches that have proven successful for other urban areas around the country."

The plan will be developed with the help of five Task Forces on Permanent Affordable Supportive Housing, Health Care, Family Breakup and Domestic Violence, Discharge Planning, and Mainstream Resources. Community members were invited to participate in the 10-year planning effort by signing up to participate as a Task Force member.

Pictured above, top, UW President Altilio (left) and Director Mangano with transitional housing resident Barbara Johnson and her daughter Akira. Ms. Johnson was one of the speakers at the kickoff event. Pictured bottom with Director Mangano are plan co- chairs, l-r, Mr. Alitio, Bishop Robinson, Mayor Healy, County Executive DeGise, and Chandra Gibson.

Director Mangano was joined at the event by Council Regional Coordinators John O'Brien and Sam Miller. Mr. Miller is working specifically with New York and New Jersey counties, state officials and federal agency partners to promote and provide technical assistance to state and local jurisdictional planning efforts to end homelessness. The evening before the kickoff, Director Mangano, Regional Coordinator O'Brien, UW President Altilio, and UW Board Chair, Dr. Howard Parish visited a homeless shelter in Hoboken where they talked with residents about their housing and service needs.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. With strong leadership and jurisdictional cooperation between Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, and building on momentum from two successful Project Homeless Connect events which have galvanized business and community volunteers, the Heading Home Hennepin: A Ten Year Plan for Ending Homelessness in Minneapolis and Hennepin County was unveiled at a news conference on Monday at the Plymouth Congregational Church.

The Heading Home Hennepin 10-Year Plan was developed by a 70 member commission led by Plan Co-Chairs Mayor Rybak, Commissioner Dorfman, Attorney Mike Ciresi, City Council Member Gary Schiff, and Plymouth Congregational Pastor Jim Gertmenian with the guidance of Cathy ten Broeke, the City-County Homelessness Coordinator. Based on the underlying principles that homelessness costs more than housing, shelter is not housing, and providing services without housing does not end homelessness, the Plan adopts a Housing First approach calling for housing preservation efforts and the creation of 5000 tenancies with appropriate support services; 24/7 street outreach; a one-stop shop Opportunity Center; expansion of Hennepin County's nationally recognized Homeless Prevention Program; and includes special focus on the chronically homeless, veterans, and the needs of homeless children.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Philip Mangano, invited to speak at the unveiling, applauded the plan for being consumer centric and for refocusing community investments and efforts from a shelter based response to a rapid re-housing strategy.

"The good news for your city and county today is that cities that have created intelligent and realistic plans, such as the one we acknowledge today, have seen visible, measurable, quantifiable change on their streets, in their shelters, and in the live of homeless people. In the face of 20 years of increasing numbers on the streets, business and results oriented 10-Year Plans are making a difference. More than 30 cities reporting declines where only increases had been reported before," said Director Mangano.

Director Mangano credited the cooperation and leadership demonstrated by Mayor Rybak, Commissioner Dorfman, and Homeless Coordinator ten Broeke, noting that "Not only has each had an impact on this issue locally, but your Mayor at the US Conference of Mayors, Gail in testimony before Congress, and Cathy among her peers across the country, have all championed this issue." He also noted that the Plan's implementation strategy and structure, including a proposed Executive Committee, the city/county coordinator, consumer feedback, a legislative agenda, and data based evaluation demonstrate the intent of the jurisdictional leaders for accountability and results.

Pictured here top, front l-r, Cathy ten Broeke, Commissioner Dorfman, Mayor Rybak; back l-r, Director Mangano, Councilman Schiff, Pastor Gertmenian, and Attorney Mike Ciresi. Pictured bottom, Director Mangano with Mayor Rybak. Thanks to Teresa Schafer for Minneapolis photos.

Traveling to St. Paul from Minneapolis, Director Mangano visited an innovative police outreach initiative that is creating tenancies for chronically homeless men and women with substance addiction and incarceration backgrounds. (see related story) Director Mangano was joined in Minneapolis and St. Paul by Council Regional Coordinator Daryl Hernandez.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. A collaborative effort of public and private sector leaders led by Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and County Supervisor Roger Dickinson has created a joint city/county Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. Resolutions to approve the plan were unanimously adopted by the City Council and County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

At a press conference on Monday held at the Fairview Apartments 10-unit permanent supportive housing project operated by Turning Point, Mayor Fargo and Supervisor Dickinson, joined by County Director of Human Assistance Bruce Wagstaff, Turning Point Community Programs CEO John Buck, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera, and various city and county officials and community members, discussed the Plan's five key components: a Housing First approach utilizing leased housing and the development of permanent supportive housing; central intake and outreach; prevention; leadership; and evaluation/reporting. For each component, the Plan designates lead entities, identifies anticipated resources including realignment of existing resources, identifies funding gaps and discusses implementation challenges.

The incorporation of the Housing First model as the central housing strategy draws upon the community's successful experience with service enriched housing for persons with mental illness funded through the state AB34 and AB2034 programs and from best practices in cities including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Richard Harris, the Executive Director of Central City Concern in Portland, who has also served as faculty for Council-sponsored city focus groups, assisted the Sacramento planning effort and attended the news conference. In August, the Sacramento County Criminal Justice Cabinet endorsed the Plan's centerpiece Housing First strategy as an effective approach.

Among those appearing at the City Council and Board of Supervisor hearings on Tuesday to support the plan were Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Anne Moore whose agency will implement the Housing First initiatives, and Jeanne Reaves, River City Bank President and CEO who oversaw the Plan's development. Council Regional Coordinator Cabrera also spoke at the hearings. The strong city-county partnership with the private sector that created the plan will continue with the establishment of a Policy Board to provide strategic direction, oversight and advocacy and whose initial members will be jointly appointed by the Mayor and the Chair of the Board of Supervisors.

Pictured above at the press conference are l-r, Bruce Wagstaff, Ed Cabrera, Mayor Fargo, Supervisor Dickinson, Richard Harris, and John Buck.

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. Spirit of Unity: The Power of Partnerships was the theme of the 2006 Kentucky Affordable Housing Conference sponsored by the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) in Lexington last week. The conference focused on ways to work "in the spirit of unity to help more Kentuckians achieve the dream of homeownership and toward solid solutions to end chronic homelessness for others."

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who was invited to keynote the conference, joined KHC Chief Executive Officer Ben Cook in addressing the opening day plenary session which was attended by city, county and state officials, housing developers, lenders, non profit housing providers, homebuilders, mortgage lenders, and real estate agents. The opening session also included video remarks from Governor Ernie Fletcher during which he noted that special needs housing efforts will benefit from action by the 2006 General Assembly to create a permanent funding source for the state's Affordable Housing Trust expected to generate $4.3 million a year, and credited the Kentucky Housing Corporation for innovative funding approaches that have made possible housing and services for people with severe mental illness, those in need of recovery assistance, victims of domestic violence and homeless families with children. The Governor also presented Director Mangano with the Kentucky 2006 Spirit of Unity Honor of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award. Pictured here are Kentucky Housing Corporation Board Chair Don Ball (right) and CEO Ben Cook who presented Director Mangano with the Unity Award and a bust of Abraham Lincoln, a son of Kentucky whose successful effort to abolish slavery is often referred to by Mr. Mangano as inspiration in the effort to abolish another social wrong-homelessness.

In his remarks, Director Mangano credited Governor Fletcher and the Kentucky Housing Corporation including Board Chair Don Ball and CEO Ben Cook for leadership in creating a State Interagency Council on Homelessness, a State 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, the Recovery Kentucky and Safe Havens initiatives, and the convening a statewide summit of mayors. "These are all significant initiatives. Kentucky Housing and the Governor are to be commended for their creativity and foresight. But we all know, don't we, that there is much to do to remedy the social and moral wrong of some of our neighbors being without housing.To accomplish that cure, I cannot think of two themes more powerful than those entitling this conference - the spirit of unity and the power of partnership. Those are indeed themes that inform and direct the Council's efforts to constellate the National Partnership to end chronic homelessness in our country. Our work together, the power of our partnership, is the creation of permanent supportive housing which ensures that the central antidote to end chronic homelessness is in place." Director Mangano urged "acceleration of the initiatives underway to bring to scale the housing needed to end the moral disgrace of homelessness."

Earlier in the day, Director Mangano met with Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac (shown here with Director Mangano and Ben Cook), who committed to moving forward with a 10-year planning effort in Lexington.

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. While in Minnesota this week for the unveiling of the Minneapolis/ Hennepin County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, accompanied by Regional Coordinator Daryl Hernandez, traveled to St. Paul to explore an innovative police outreach initiative that is creating tenancies for chronically homeless men and women with substance abuse and incarceration backgrounds. The Council seeks to provide "rapid dissemination of innovations" to jurisdictions around the country engaged in results oriented 10-year planning processes to end chronic homelessness.

In St. Paul, Director Mangano met with the police officers and an outreach worker who have collaborated to create the St. Paul Police- Homeless Outreach Project (P-HOP) through which they are identifying and engaging chronically homeless individuals living on the streets in the downtown area and in camps and working with landlords to create housing opportunities for them. The officers had recognized from their work on the streets that many homeless people they were encountering had criminal records, poor rental histories, and in some cases ongoing substance use issues that served to exclude them from housing. Since the initiative began in January, two duplexes of 8 units each have been dedicated by their owners to housing P-HOP identified homeless men and women. Director Mangano joined members of the P-HOP team including P-HOP Coordinator and outreach worker Bret Byfield, Code Enforcement Officer Dean Koehnen and Downtown Beat Sgt. Paul Paulos (shown top, l-r, with Director Mangano) in a visit to one of the houses where he spoke with residents about their life experiences and how their lives have been changed by having a place to live. Also participating in the visit were Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter, St. Paul Police Central District Commander John Vomastic, and Minnesota 10-Year Plan Coordinator Laura Kadwell.

Since its inception less than a year ago, the P-HOP program has secured housing for over 50 homeless individuals, helped to enroll 9 people in treatment placements of 90 days or longer, and assisted 4 individuals secure disability incomes.

Earlier this year, St. Paul/ Ramsey County officials chose Sgt. Paulos and Officer Koehnen to be the lead organizers for the community's Project Homeless Connect held in June. During last week's Peer-to-Peer conference call sponsored by the Council for jurisdictions interested in participating in the upcoming National Project Homeless Connect Week, Sgt. Paulos described his experience and lessons learned. The officers are also founding members of an innovative downtown Police-Provider Forum that meets quarterly. In their meeting with Director Mangano last week, the officers described how all of these efforts are working to break down barriers and "open new pathways" of trust and communication between the police and persons living on the streets of St. Paul.

One of the key lessons from last year's National Project Homeless Connect Day and from other Project Homeless Connect events held in communities since then is that results are infectious. Just ask Denver whose next PHC event is being entirely sponsored by COMCAST or Portland, OR where the Portland Trail Blazers recently announced that they want to help sponsor Portland's next PHC.

Over the summer 37 cities and counties committed to holding a one-day PHC event during this year's National Project Homeless Week December 4-8. To ensure that every community that is still deciding has a chance to hear from the experts and ask questions, the Council will sponsor another in its series of Peer-to-Peer national conference calls on Tuesday, October 3 at 1 pm Eastern. The Council's Regional Coordinators will describe best practices from across the country and successful PHC planning, providing specific examples from prior PHC events. Even if your community has already committed, you are also welcome to join the call. You can register for the call by sending an email to usichevents@usich.gov.

Also, the Council is facilitating an October 4-5 site visit to the October 5 San Francisco Project Homeless Connect event. Mayor Gavin Newsom's office has graciously offered to give interested cities an "insiders look" including a pre-event briefing, an opportunity to participate in the morning rally for volunteers led by the Mayor, a guided tour of the event site, and the chance to volunteer or observe throughout the day. If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact the Council at usichevents@usich.gov.

The transcript and audio recording of the September 7 National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families-United States Interagency Council on Homelessness webinar on Project Homeless Connect are now available on the NLC website.

Housing for homeless veterans is the goal of a new Seattle, Washington $3 million initiative proposed last week by Mayor Greg Nickels, shown here, while two recent conferences provide insights for 10-year planning processes on meeting the needs of returning service members and developing permanent supportive housing on surplus military and VA properties.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. At a press conference held in Seattle's Garden of Remembrance to honor Washington State's wartime dead, Mayor Nickels announced that his proposed 2007-2008 budget will include a $3 million Housing First initiative for chronically homeless veterans. $1 million would be used to provide rent subsidies to provide immediate housing. The remaining $2 million would be used to start the process of building new permanent supportive housing. The City will seek to augment these funds with funding from private and other government sources. In his remarks, Mayor Nickels said, " Many vets leave the service and resume their lives. But some return to fight a different kind of battle-with drugs, alcohol or mental illness. Simply put, veterans who fought our battles abroad shouldn't be sleeping on our streets at home."

It is estimated that the initiative would house 30-40 veterans initially and that the supportive services made available will allow many to transition to other housing allowing more veterans to be assisted from the streets. Governor Nickels also challenged suburban cities in King County to do more to end homelessness, noting that Seattle spends about $42 per capita annually on homeless and affordable housing programs. The $3 million initiative builds on the more than $38 million Seattle committed in 2005 to help end homelessness. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson was among those who attended the Mayor's press conference.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK. The Ford Foundation and Common Ground teamed up this week for a roundtable on Developing Supportive Housing on Surplus Military and VA property. With the participation of Pete Dougherty, VA Director of Homeless Veterans Programs and Claude Hutchinson, VA Director of the Office of Asset Management Enterprise Management, roundtable participants including U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator John O'Brien explored opportunities, barriers, and technical assistance opportunities for creating permanent housing opportunities for homeless veterans using land and/or buildings on VA properties that have been identified through the CARES process or may otherwise be identified as available using the Enhanced Lease program.

Among the key issues identified were the importance of cost benefit analysis in demonstrating to the VA the budget offset benefits of using VA property for permanent supportive housing; the need to engage political will and support early in the process; identifying revenue streams such as state general obligation bonds, federal resources and other funding sources including veteran service organizations; and the importance of tying such projects into local jurisdictional 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. The roundtable included presentations by Minnesota Housing Finance Agency officials Tim Marx and Kasey Kier on two MN projects and current or potential initiatives by the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Village of San Diego, NY State Division of Veterans Affairs, VA Connecticut, and the City of Denver.

AUBURN, ALABAMA. Last week, the U.S. Departments of Defense, Labor, and Veterans Affairs in collaboration with Alabama Governor Bob Riley held a two day National Dialogue at Auburn University to highlight issues, programs, and best practices to assure the recovery and successful transitioning of wounded, injured, and disabled service members and their families. The National Dialogue offered an opportunity to identify gaps in services and promote continuity among federal, state, and local programs and services. Planning for the prevention of homelessness among returning service members and providing permanent housing opportunities for homeless veterans are critical elements in successful community 10-year planning efforts.

In his opening remarks, U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training Charles "Chick" Ciccolella reported that over 30,000 service members have been medically evacuated from operational theatres "who do not wish to sit on the sidelines and it is our job to make sure they don't have to." More information on the Department of Labor's REALifelines program, which serves as a gateway to employment and transition assistance can be found on the Department's website. Governor Riley, who initiated creation of Alabama's Operation Grateful Heart, noted that " we have so many service members we can never repay. They allow us to live in the country we live in today but some pay a very high price. We must never deprive a service person of his and her hopes and dreams because of their service."

BOISE, IDAHO. During his State of the City address earlier this month, Boise Mayor David Bieter (shown here) announced a new initiative to engage the faith community in efforts to end family and youth homelessness through Project Catch - Charitable Assistance to Community's Homeless. Congregations are being invited to collaborate with the city in a pilot effort to meet the housing and supportive services needs of 10-15 homeless families with children and 3-5 young adults aging out of foster care by sponsoring the rental housing costs for one family or youth for six to twelve months. Ongoing case management will be provided by a city social worker who will link the families with community support services including mental health and addiction treatment, workforce training, and help in locating childcare. The family would be added to the Section 8 waiting list at the time of enrollment in Project CATCH with the expectation that after six months to a year, a unit would be available for them if needed and appropriate. Already 8 congregations and one business have committed to the pilot effort. While the initial appeal was to congregations, the city will accept offers of assistance from businesses and other charitable organizations wishing to participate in the effort.

"We want to help homeless families get a roof over their head first and then begin to work with them on the issues that contributed to their homelessness," explained Greg Morris who will oversee the program for the city. Referrals of homeless families to the program will be handled by the Boise/Ada County Housing Authority and the Salvation Army. Youth referrals will be handled by the Casey Family Program. Other community organizations partnering with the city in the effort include the BSU School of Social Work, Idaho Power, Terry Reilly Health Services, and the St. Vincent de Paul and Idaho Youth Ranch thrift stores.

In Denver, over 150 churches and faith based organizations are currently participating in the Family and Senior Homeless Initiative by paying the deposit and first month rent and mentoring a working homeless family. While employment will not be a prerequisite for enrollment in Boise's pilot effort, families will be expected to obtain employment within 90 days of enrollment or be in the process of obtaining a disability determination.

The City expects to launch Project Catch next month. On November 1, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano will travel to Boise to speak at Mayor Bieter's Neighbors in Need Summit that will launch a more formal 10 year planning process to end homelessness in the community.