Even as we take time this week to remember through National Homeless Persons Memorial Day homeless people who have died, we can also celebrate the lives that are being saved as a direct result of an unprecedented constellation of political will to end chronic homelessness. In Washington, DC, in state houses, and in communities across the nation, strategic planning, innovative solutions, and new resources are being brought to bear to save the lives of people who have been living for far too long on the streets and in shelters. This story focuses on 15 of those lives.

In October 2003, Central City Concern in Portland, Oregon, was awarded one of eleven Chronic Homelessness grants under an historic collaboration among the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs to provide communities with coordinated housing and supportive services resources targeted to ending the homelessness of men and women with disabilities who had been living long term on the streets or in shelters. On Monday of this week, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano traveled to Portland where he met with 15 of the 53 men and women whose homelessness has been ended through this investment of resources. When fully implemented, the federal resources awarded to this project will provide permanent supportive housing for 73 persons at any one time. Director Mangano was joined by staff of Central City Concern and representatives of all three collaborating federal agencies - HUD Oregon Field Office Director Tom Cusack, Oregon/Idaho HUD CPD Director Doug Carlson; Larry Brennan of the Portland VA Medical Center; and HHS Region X Executive Officer Bobbie Mowery. "This was a great opportunity for members of the collaborative including VA, HHS, and HUD to be able see together, on the ground, the progress being made here in Portland. [Those fomerly homeless individuals] let us know what it meant to finally have a warm, safe place to call home," said Director Cusack.

What these 15 men and women described to the federal visitors were stories of lives transformed by the availability of housing. All had been homeless - living mostly on the streets- for at least three years. Some had been homeless as long as 10 years. The rugged winters of Oregon had taken a physical toll on them. For many, accepting the housing opportunity had not come easily. There was a great deal of distrust, skepticism. Was this just going to be another short stay in a shelter? Now as they find themselves stably housed in their own apartments for the first time in years, there's genuine desire - and belief that it's possible to "get their lives back on track". For many that includes mental health and/or substance abuse treatment. Some have already begun expressing interest in finding a job. While each had taken a different path into homelessness, all agreed the common path out of homelessness - and out of hopelessness - for them was housing.

For Central City Concern and its community partners - the Multnomah Department of Human Services and the Portland Housing Authority - the $5 million multi-year commitment of federal resources through the Collaborative Initiative has helped them strengthen the linkages among community organizations creating a more streamlined and integrated system of outreach, primary and mental health care, and substance abuse treatment linked to housing. This collaboration has created accountability to each other and more measurable results. It has also served as a catalyst for interesting members of the Portland downtown business community in the effort to end chronic homelessness in the community. By concentrating outreach efforts in the Burnside area, which had the heaviest concentration of persons living on the streets, the project has achieved a visible change noticed by the business community.

WASHINGTON, DC. "On behalf of President Bush, I'm honored to extend the federal government's helping hand to our nation's most needy people," stated Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response Michael Brown (pictured here) as he announced federal funds totaling $153 million have been awarded to help feed and shelter the nation's hungry and homeless people in 2005. "The dedicated members of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program again have successfully carried out this worthy mission. Homeland Security and FEMA are pleased that Congress has provided the necessary means to help our communities feed the hungry, assist the poor and shelter the homeless in the coming year."

Federal funding was made available by Congress for the Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Program to support social service agencies in more than 2,500 cities and counties across the country. EFS funds are used to supplement food, shelter, rent, mortgage and utility assistance programs for people with non- disaster related emergencies. In addition to direct funding awards, Under Secretary Brown said eight percent of this year's total EFS appropriation has been set aside by the national board for state grants to aid the needy in non-qualifying jurisdictions.

The EFS Program, entering its twenty-second year, is administered by a national board of volunteer agencies chaired by FEMA. The national board qualifies jurisdictions for annual EFS funding awards based on criteria involving current population, unemployment and poverty levels. Grants are awarded to non-profit community and government organizations that are chosen by local boards in the qualifying jurisdictions. EFS funds were first authorized by Congress in 1983 and are currently appropriated annually under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Under Secretary Brown noted that with the 2005 allocation, more than $2.65 billion in federal aid will have been disbursed through the EFS Program since its inception. Member agencies of the national board include American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; United Jewish Communities; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Salvation Army; and United Way of America. On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

PORTLAND, OREGON."The perception that homelessness is hurting the local economy exists among individual citizens, neighborhoods and many in Portland's business community. That's why the end to chronic homelessness needs to be one of our top priorities as a community." So states "Home Again," Portland, Oregon's new 10-Year Plan released this week by the Citizens Commission to End Homelessness. The new year plan is built on three principles: focus on the most chronically homeless populations; streamline access to existing services to prevent and reduce other homelessness; and concentrate resources on programs that offer measurable results.

The Portland and Multnomah County Plan unveiling convened at the Rose Quarter Housing construction site in Portland, a project of Central City Concern and site of a former Ramada Inn that will be renovated to provide 80 units of housing for formerly homeless people. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano joined Portland Mayor Vera Katz and Mayor-elect Tom Potter, City Commissioner Erik Sten, Multnomah County Chair Dianne Linn, and County Commissioner Serena Cruz, and other city, county, state, and federal officials displayed the intergovernmental partnership at work in the Plan. Federal partners included VA VISN 20 Director Dr. Leslie Burger and Social Security Administration Regional Communications Director Dan Ferrell. Council Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson, whose efforts have been instrumental in the 10-Year Plan activities of cities across the Northwest, participated in the event. Other public and private sector partners included the Portland Development Commission, Portland Housing Authority, and state Office of Housing and Community Services, as well as Multnomah County sheriff's office, local health care system, and homeless services providers.

Director Mangano, invited to keynote the unveiling, stated: "How does this plan move Portland closer to the goal of ending chronic homelessness? By establishing baselines and benchmarks to ensure that performance can be measured. By forging broad community input and support. By being housing- centric in focusing on housing creation. By prioritizing prevention. By encouraging home-grown and borrowed innovative initiatives that get results. By increasing local investment, and by investing in results rather than just funding programs."

Stating that "in order to make sure that this plan works, we have built in a system of accountability and measurable outcomes. No public funds will be used for programs or services that do not demonstrate measurable success toward ending homelessness, "the Citizens Commission sought to achieve four key outcomes with the Plan: fewer people become homeless; the duration and harm caused by a housing crisis is reduced; more people move off the streets and out of shelters into permanent housing; and people have enough support to maintain permanent housing successfully.

"Housing gives people the opportunity to work and be successful," said Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto. "If you address the other needs in homeless people's lives after they have a place to call home, you can help them succeed permanently." Among the Plan's measurable goals are:

• 175 chronically homeless people will have homes
• 160 new units of permanent supportive housing will be opened and 300 additional units will be under development
• 20 "hard to reach" homeless youth will be housed permanently
• Waiting lists for shelters and turn away counts will be reduced by a minimum of five percent
• 250 homeless families with children will be permanently housed
• Resources for permanent supportive housing will increase from 12% to 20% of the overall homeless service system

"As part of this plan, we will expand our efforts to include non-profits, churches, hospitals, police, neighborhoods, businesses and ordinary citizens," said City Commissioner Erik Sten. Commissioner Sten noted the City Council expects to pass this week an $11 million affordable housing bond to cover five housing projects totaling 171 permanent units during the next year.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, this week announced federal investments totaling $153 million to help feed and shelter the nation's hungry and homeless people in 2005 (see related story). The Federal Emergency Management Agency - a former independent agency that became part of the new Department of Homeland Security in March 2003 - is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters.

The EFS Program is administered by a national board of volunteer agencies chaired by FEMA and composed of representatives from American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; United Jewish Communities; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Salvation Army; and United Way of America. United Way acts as Secretariat of the program, has a staff of 10 dedicated individuals with the responsibility of administering the program, and maintains an informational national EFS web site. Under the program's operating plan, the national board is responsible for selecting jurisdictions for annual EFS awards and disbursing the funds to non- profit community and government agencies that are chosen by local boards in the qualifying jurisdictions. In addition to allocating funds, the local boards advertise the availability of awards, establish priorities among community needs and monitor program compliance.

In each of the past few years, more than 11,500 local agencies nationwide have been funded through the EFS Program. The funds are used for mass shelter and feeding, food distribution through food banks and pantries, one-month utility payments to prevent service disconnections, and one-month rent or mortgage assistance to prevent evictions or help people leaving shelters to establish stable living conditions. They also can be used to rehabilitate existing shelters or feeding facilities to make them safe and sanitary and bring them into compliance with local building codes.

. . .that the Portland Plan's goal to increase the supply of permanent supportive housing by 2015, is projected to create 2,200 new permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless individuals and homeless families with special needs in Portland and Multnomah County.

. . . that the Citizens Commission set a goal to emphasize permanent solutions because of the documented use of the shelter system as temporary housing. Currently, only 27% of people in the homeless system are placed in permanent housing, and the Plan proposes to increase this number to 40% within three years. By 2012, Portland will place and maintain 60% of homeless people in permanent housing-more than doubling the number of people placed in permanent housing in seven years.

. . . that the Portland Citizens Commission summarizes its efforts in the new 10-Year Plan as building strategies that cross all systems to produce successful models that result in the best outcomes, build cost benefit models to assure effectiveness and efficiency, ensure accountability in all funding streams, encourage innovation and experimentation, and plan today's efforts to be effective in 10 years and beyond.

PORTLAND, OREGON. Federal investment in ending chronic homelessness is hitting the ground in Portland, Oregon, whose 10-Year Plan was unveiled this week (see related story). Portland partners have competed successfully over the last two years for a variety of the federal agency and interagency investments that been forwarded to achieve the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness.

In addition to Portland's status as one of 11 Collaborative Initiative sites (see related story), Worksystems, Inc. of Portland was one of 5 demonstration grants announced at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness's October 2003 meeting, where then United States Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Mel Martinez and Labor Secretary (DOL) and current Council Vice Chair Elaine Chao jointly announced HUD-DOL awards to Portland, Boston, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles to partner housing providers with customized employment strategies for chronically homeless persons with disabilities. The Portland award included DOL funds of $625,000 a year for up to 5 years and $3 million in HUD funds to the Housing Authority of Portland.

DOL's commitment to ending chronic homelessness also reached Portland with the July announcement by Secretary Chao of $17 million in grants to train and employ homeless veterans under the DOL Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). Portland's Central City Concern was one of the new Grantees awarded a total of $6.7 million dollars across 16 states. Existing program grantees received $10.3 million in second-year funding.

"Through the Department's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, about 12,000 American veterans across 31 states will receive $17 million in funding for occupational training, education, placement assistance and other key services," Secretary Chao said. "President George W. Bush and I are dedicated to making sure that no veteran is left behind." HVRP expedites the reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor force. The grants provide homeless veterans with job training and placement assistance. The Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) expects that more than 8,000 homeless veterans will gain employment as a result of these grants. HVRP has been recognized nationwide as an extraordinarily efficient program and is the only federal program that focuses exclusively on employment of veterans who are homeless.

Echoing President Bush's State of the Union declaration that "everyone deserves a second chance," U.S Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Vice- Chair Elaine Chao in August announced a $10 million award for 14 sites for the DOL Ready4Work program targeted to ex-prisoners. Stated the Secretary, "This grant is part of President George W. Bush's vision to help former offenders turn their lives around." Ready4Work is a three-year, $22.5 million program to assist faith-based and community programs that provide mentoring and other transition services for men and women returning from prison. The initiative represents investments by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Justice (DOJ), and a consortium of private foundations. Stated Secretary Chao, "Few people go through life without regrets. That's why there is nothing so common as the wish for a new beginning. This grant offers a new beginning to some of the people who need it most."

Irvington Covenant Community Development Corporation in Portland received Ready4Work investment funds. Each Ready4Work site engages local businesses, workforce development agencies, criminal justice personnel, and faith and community- based partners in a collaborative effort to connect ex-offenders to the workforce, strengthen their social and support networks, and provide them with other support services, including transportation, child care and drug rehabilitation. According to DOL, studies show that approximately two-thirds of ex- offenders are rearrested within three years of release, with significant costs to communities. This year, more than 600,000 adult inmates will complete their sentences and be released. To help individuals set a new direction, numerous inner-city faith-based and community leaders have created programs that work with business and service providers to offer job training, housing options, and transitional services that help ex-offenders contribute to their communities.

The Interagency Council's most recent meeting on September 29, 2004, was the occasion of an announcement by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary and former Council Chair Tommy Thompson, who forwarded 34 awards for the HHS Treatment for the Homeless Projects program, totaling $67.6 million over five years in awards to 34 grantees. Central City Concern was among those grantees who received up to $400,000 annually over a five-year period in this competitive grant program awarded to community providers to enable communities to expand and strengthen their treatment services for homeless individuals with substance abuse disorders, mental illness, or with co- occurring substance abuse disorders and mental illness.

As this year draws to a close, I want to take a moment to wish each of you Happy Holidays. But more than the wishes of the season, thanks to the leadership of each of the 20 federal agencies that make up the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. When we return in 2005, it will be more than a New Year. There will be new faces and new challenges. Thank you to Secretaries Thompson, Principi, and Chao for their leadership in the Council this year. Thanks also to the senior staff of all the Council member agencies who have played front line roles throughout the year in overseeing the day-to- day details of federal initiatives to achieve the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness.

Thanks to all of our state partners, from Governors to state agency officials to Policy Academy team members. And in the cities and counties across the country, we thank Mayors and County Executives, City Councils and County Commissions, and their agency leadership. Public sector leaders at every level have sent a strong message this year about partnership in ending chronic homelessness.

Thanks to all the civic and business leaders, law enforcement, faith-based organizations, and service providers and advocates, all those on the front lines who will be working during the holidays and the winter months to ensure that local communities meet their poorest neighbors where they are and assist them in whatever way they can. Thank you for the important work you do. Happy Holidays. Philip F. Mangano