MINNEAPOLIS. "This is the beginning of a new way to address homelessness in Minneapolis," said Mayor R.T. Rybak. "Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop shop to deliver real services to people experiencing real homelessness in our community. But this is also about a commitment to move from simply managing homelessness towards really ending homelessness." Wednesday's Project Connect event, the most recent of the National Project Homeless Connect events sponsored by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, was convened at the Basilica of St. Mary. More than 500 homeless persons and 250 volunteers participated in the first effort of an expanded City- County initiative to end chronic homeless in Minneapolis.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to address the volunteers before the doors opened for the day, told those gathered, "Today in joining in the National Project Homeless Connect Day, we are opening the doors of this great church and the doors of this great city to our poorest neighbors, to offer them what they want and need. What is happening here is unprecedented - there is nothing else like it in our country. It is the beginning of the end of homelessness in your city."

In addition to Director Mangano, key City and State leaders addressed Minneapolis Homeless Connect's volunteer event. Newly named Minneapolis point person Cathy ten Broeke, Minnesota Housing Finance Commissioner Tim Marx, Minnesota Director of Ending Long Term Homelessness Laura Kadwell, and Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman. In addition to the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, event sponsors included Target, Starbucks, Catholic Charities, and the Salvation Army. Federal partners present included United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Field Office Director Dexter Sidney, and the Social Security Administration.

Laura Sether and Jared Nordlund of Mayor Rybak's office played key roles in the day. Pictured here are County Commissioner Dorfman, Mayor Rybak, and Director Mangano.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. "Homelessness is a community-wide problem that touches all of us - from our businesses to our neighborhoods - and it will take broad, city-wide commitment to address it," said Mayor Bart Peterson, leader of the first city in the nation to develop a 10-Year Plan. "Our city is fortunate to have many great corporate citizens already dedicated to this effort, and Indy Homeless Connect has been successful in broadening this support." Indianapolis this week saw almost 45% of its estimated homeless population take part in Indy Homeless Connect, the city's contribution to the National Project Homeless Connect Day sponsored by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and successfully convened in 23 cities last week.

Mayor Peterson, Deputy Mayor Jane Henegar, Coalition for Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Executive Director Dan Shepley, Coalition Board President Bill Moreau, and (pictured here right to left with Director Mangano), welcomed almost 900 homeless individuals to the Indiana Convention Center. Volunteers turned out in unexpected numbers as well, and dozens of private sector partners provided nearly $60,000 in monetary and in-kind donations.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to address the volunteers gathered for Indy Homeless Connect, reminded the partners that their Mayor was the first in the nation to develop a 10-Year Plan: "Now you show more leadership with Project Connect - a technology communities can use throughout the year to make it easier for people to get the housing and services they need and to engage the entire community. Properly calibrated by the right intentionality and design, this event can make a real difference in helping communities progress toward bringing homelessness to an end."

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, United Auto Workers, and other locally-based health care organizations were among those providing support, and Sprint and a local exposition service contractor were among those who provided critical in-kind support.

The Capital City event made clear to volunteers the potential for changing the way they do business, according to Aleshia Valentine of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP): "It really showed us that if we all work together we can have an impact beyond what any one organization can do on its own."

RESULTS continue to be reported from around the country as city sponsors and organizers and volunteers examine the outcomes from their participation in the National Project Homeless Connect Day sponsored by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

In San Juan, the Towards Hope Initiative took place in five sectors of the city with a high prevalence of homelessness. Organizers from the Department of Family and Community of the Municipality of San Juan gave special recognition to the role of law enforcement: "We would like to share this experience with all our friends of how our homeless people received the assistance of our Police. For the first time, they rode in their vehicles not to receive punishment but to receive motivation and services."

639 people participated in the event, which was declared a "total success." 89 people moved from the streets into treatment programs or shelters, and another 12 received housing vouchers. San Juan is one of more than a dozen Puerto Rico cities which participated in the historic Puerto Rico-wide Mayors' Summit to End Homelessness in September 2004, at which Council Director Philip Mangano was the keynote speaker.

In St. Louis, Homeless Services Division Manager Antionette Triplett credited volunteers for a successful event: "Through your dedicated efforts, we took a valuable step forward in addressing the needs of St. Louis' chronically homeless population." The event featured health screenings, identification assistance, employment services, legal assistance, and enrolment in mainstream services such as Social Security and Food Stamps. 432 bus tokens were provided to participants for follow-up appointments. 13 of the 142 Project Connect participants left the streets that day. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, whose city recently completed a 10-Year Plan, is pictured here with one of the day's volunteers.

In Columbia, South Carolina, the National Day drew strong support from the private sector, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Bi-Lo, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Publix, Krispy Kreme, and Bojangles. The event took place at the Beth and Lou Holtz Emergency Winter Shelter, a facility that serves 200 to 250 people per night during the winter months. According to Jennifer Moore, the Program Coordinator, three educational workshops on job skills, tenant rights and std/HIV Aids drew good participation from the 217 participants. Haircuts and manicures provided by students from a local cosmetology school were also well received.

Even as results continue to roll in for last week's National Project Homeless Connect Day sponsored by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, cities across the country are planning additional events and next steps for future local engagement strategies.

Upcoming Project Connect events are scheduled in January in Portland, Oregon (January 17) and Waco, Texas (January 27),Denver, Norfolk, Knoxville, and Miami - each of which hosted a National Day event last week - are among the cities already thinking about their next Connect event. Miami has tentative plans for Miami Cares Day in the spring; Denver and Knoxville, in the summer. "We know what we need to do differently next time," said Knoxville city organizer Mike Dunthorn.

Janna Jahn, point person for the Interagency Council in organizing the National Day, is actively debriefing participating cities from the National Day and developing best practice profiles of initiatives from partner cities, as well as additional technical assistance materials. Materials will be available through future e-newsletters and on the Council's web site: www.usich.gov. Knoxville's event is pictured here.

WASHINGTON, DC. Even before the doors closed on December 8th, National Day cities were already talking about "next time" and what they will do differently. Communities around the country are already adapting the Project Homeless Connect model to suit local needs, and adding unique features of their own. As cities around the country continue to host Project Homeless Connect events in the coming months, the Council will collect and report innovations as they arise.

"The themes to stress through this technology," said United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, "include immediacy, hospitality, and community." He points to Long Beach, which hosted a PHC in October, as a great example of immediacy. The event included local employers like UPS. "Instead of handing out job information, people walked away with jobs."

While legal services were part of the service mix in many cities, a few went one step further to include a homeless court. Participants in Denver, Knoxville and Hollywood/West Hollywood could appear before local judges and, with the assistance of public defenders, resolve misdemeanor issues preventing them from accessing housing or jobs.

Outstanding utility bills prove a barrier to many seeking housing. Knoxville's Project Connect included representatives from the Knoxville Utility Board who helped 138 address these issues.

Hospitality is an important ingredient that distinguishes Project Connect from day-to-day interactions with agencies and providers. In San Francisco, client support volunteers personally escort participants from station to station to help make sure they get what they need.

Nashua, New Hampshire's Project Connect "had the feel of a holiday affair with services," according to Council Regional Coordinator John O'Brien. Rather than an intake process, people were welcomed at the door by outreach workers who directed participants to services of interest, which included employment, a mobile health clinic, and Social Security enrollment. Music helped set a festive atmosphere in Indianapolis, where the brass ensemble from the Indianapolis symphony orchestra provided holiday music.

CITIES are communicating their successes and lessons from the December 8 National Day organized by the Interagency Council, and it is causing additional communities to consider the idea of their own future engagement event. Indy Homeless Connect volunteers are pictured here.

KEY TOOLS from the National Project Homeless Connect Day, as well as core materials from the original San Francisco model, are housed on the web site of the U.S. Interagency Council.

VISIT the web site to see materials for volunteers, event forms, and planning tools. Materials from the National Day press packet are also available. Coming soon: a "best of" e-album of National Day photos!

The Council also notes here its deep appreciation for the work of Michael Stepansky, former Council intern, who worked directly with many city partners in bringing the National Day to fruition. Thanks, Michael, for all your dedicated work.

WASHINGTON, DC. As part of the ongoing implementation of Electronic Government (E- Government), a key component of the President's Management Agenda, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is continuing with its transition to a total electronic grant application system. This system requires applicants to submit applications for Federal grants electronically through Grants.gov, the governmentwide portal for electronic grant applications. To protect the applicant and the applicant's information, and to assure Federal agencies that they are interacting with officials authorized to submit applications on behalf of applicant entities, an applicant must register with Grants.gov to submit an application for funding.

To facilitate the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Federal grant application process, HUD has recently published a Notice in the Federal Register (December 9) that encourages prospective applicants for HUD funding to register early for the FY2006 funding cycle. Registering now, in advance of agencies posting their FY2006 grant opportunities, may eliminate many of the registration issues that HUD applicants faced in FY2005 of not meeting registration requirements in time to meet grant application deadlines. Early registration provides HUD, Grants.gov, and the applicant sufficient time to address any questions regarding the registration process, as well as allow applicants to focus on completing application requirements, since registration will be completed.

HUD anticipates that it will post its funding opportunities in early 2006. Prospective applicants for FY2006 HUD grants are encouraged to register at http://www.grants.gov with the publication of this Notice. Although applicants can register at any time before an application is submitted to HUD, the registration process can take approximately 10 days or more. The process relies upon an exchange of data across three different databases and an organization's E-Business Point of Contact (E- Business POC) to complete the authorization process.

THE COUNCIL notes with sadness the loss of one of its inaugural class of Regional Coordinators, Debbie R. Jackson, who died December 11 in Baltimore. Debbie was Region III Coordinator, responsible for Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

During this time of year when so many of us look to be with family and friends, we extend our sympathies to her family - with whom she was very close - and her many friends and colleagues, and recognize their loss.

As one of the original Regional Coordinators to come to the Council in the partnership established with then-HUD Secretary and Council Chair Mel Martinez, Debbie will be remembered for her outgoing spirit, her special commitment to homeless veterans through her years of work at the VA, and her many relationships in her region with people working on the front lines. We are thankful for her contributions, especially that she wanted to be of help to others while facing difficulty herself.

Debbie came to the Interagency Council from the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she earned national recognition for her work, including being awarded the Department of Veterans Affairs Olin. E. Teague Award in 2003. At the Montrose VA Medical Center she established the first dual diagnosis unit, and she provided services to veterans with needs including HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, mental illness, and long term care. She managed employment and housing assistance opportunities in programs including Compensated Work Therapy, VA- Department of Labor Veterans Reintegration Project, and HUD-VASH, which combines Section 8 vouchers with intensive case management. She was a graduate of Howard University School of Social Work and a certified clinical social worker