"Pilgrimage" is a national innovation that has emerged as a key research ingredient in identifying and adopting results oriented solutions to prevent and end homelessness.

Since its revitalization in 2002, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has been committed to the rapid dissemination of innovation, identifying "what's working and what's not" to prevent and end homelessness. No longer does a policymaker or practitioner have to wait and hope that next year's conference will provide the opportunity to "bump into" a new idea. Instead, the Council actively encourages the "legitimate larceny" of evidence-based best practices through "pilgrimages" (both geographic and virtual) that support highly effective peer-to-peer exchanges focused on results.

"Results are infectious," business thinker Jim Collins of "Good to Great" tells us. And that is why pilgrimages have taken hold as a practical strategy. Today we profile examples of best practices in this national innovation of pilgrimage, from states, to 10 Year Plan cities and counties, to Community Champions, and Project Homeless Connect events.

In this issue of 20in20, we outline both geographic and virtual pilgrimages, with examples of actual travel to working sites of innovation - such as a delegation making a visit to Denver or San Francisco or Atlanta - as well as examples of virtual journeys to gather with peers, such as a national or regional convening of Community Champions.

Pilgrimages - whether virtual or geographic - are generally self-organized and funded, with an itinerary dictated by local priorities and interests.

People experiencing homelessness benefit from having best practices available for the creation and allocation of resources that can prevent and end homelessness.

Jurisdictional leaders at every level of government and the private sector benefit from the first-hand opportunity to be an eyewitness to results in another community, then translating and applying the innovation to a home community.

Innovators from every sector benefit from seeing their local results translated into opportunity in other jurisdictions.

The innovation of pilgrimage has been identified and promoted as an essential research element of developing a jurisdictional plan. 10 Year Plan cities and counties, Housing First, and Project Homeless Connect have been among the most popular focal points of pilgrims. Just a few years ago, popular pilgrimage sites were the streets of Philadelphia to see street engagement strategies under the leadership of then Deputy Managing Director Rob Hess, now New York City Commissioner of Homeless Services, and Pathways to Housing in New York City, where innovator Dr. Sam Tsemberis was modeling the evidence-based, consumer-centric Housing First technology, now spread across the nation and internationally.

Here we offer a few examples of recent popular pilgrimage destinations.

10 Year Plans.
In October 2007, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief led a 22-person Study Group of business and community leaders - who were instrumental in developing the new draft 10 Year Plan for the city - on a pilgrimage to Denver, to 1811 Eastlake in Seattle, and to Los Angeles.

In September 2007, then Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Zev Yaroslavsky also visited Denver where he met with Mayor John Hickenlooper and other key Denver's Road Home implementers. The Chair and Council Director Mangano toured successful Housing First programs that have reduced chronic homelessness in Denver.

St. Louis' St. Patrick Center has hosted visitors to its engagement, employment, and Housing First initiatives, including Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Bob Coble and City Councilman E.W. Cromartie.

Atlanta's Gateway Center is a centerpiece of the Atlanta Regional Blueprint. Under the leadership of Mayor Shirley Franklin and Community Champion Horace Sibley, the new center has galvanized public and private sector investment and refocused solutions in the city. Atlanta has hosted pilgrims from Birmingham, Alabama; Dallas, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; Napa Valley, California; Greenville, South Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Wichita, Kansas.

For example, Winston-Salem, North Carolina organized a pilgrimage to Atlanta in June 2007 which included Mayor Alan Joines; Chris Henson, CFO of BB&T and 10 Year Plan Commission Chair, as well as other Commission members and service providers. Mayors Joines and Franklin met to discuss strategies for the City to back the 10 Year Plan. Visitors met with Community Champion Sibley and were interested in the Gateway Center as well as other housing strategies developed for the chronic population. While in Atlanta they also visited Hope House, a transitional substance abuse program for individuals in recovery.

Community Champions.
A "virtual pilgrimage" occurred in 2007, as Community Champions - those business and civic leaders tapped by Mayors and County Executives to lead development and implementation of a 10 Year Plan - convened to share their own best practices in creating partnerships, sustaining political will, and expanding investment in the plan. Not designed as a visit to a site, but as a practical retreat where leaders - often prominent and in demand in their own communities - could share lessons learned and emerging practices with their peers, as well as strategize about new ideas.

In 2008, Community Champions from ten New England cities met in Boston with five New England community innovators to discuss innovations in permanent supportive housing, including creating housing for homeless veterans; leveraging of private sector resources; sustaining political will; and accessing mainstream resources.

The convening benefited Community Champions, as this was their first opportunity to meet with other Community Champions from communities throughout New England to discuss what was and was not working to engage community stakeholders and leverage resources in the creation and implementation of 10 Year Plans. Community Champions dialogued with Community Innovators to bring the innovations that are leading to the result of preventing and ending homelessness back to their communities. Community Innovators benefited as they were able to converse with private sector leaders from throughout New England who are successfully leveraging new investment resources to prevent and end homelessness.

Project Homeless Connect.
By far, one of the key attractions for a wide variety of partners has been a pilgrimage to San Francisco to see Project Homeless Connect in action, providing the opportunity to learn more about the city's 10 Year Plan and other local innovations such as the city's Direct Access to Housing initiatives. On site at the innovative one-day, one-stop PHC engagement events, pilgrims could see and hear what the event had to offer, its welcoming spirit, and the commitment of its innovators and partners, starting with Mayor Gavin Newsom. Cities regularly travel to San Francisco to experience the event as they plan their own Project Homeless Connect event.

In 2005, the Interagency Council organized a national pilgrimage for cities from New York to Portland, Oregon who were interested in partnering in the first National Project Homeless Connect in December 2005. Representatives from Atlanta, Knoxville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Portland, OR, San Diego, Los Angeles County, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Miami, San Jose, and New York were welcomed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Tourk, who organized Project Connect. City officials spent time with the group answering questions and conducting a site tour. Participants spent the day much the same way as any volunteer: they walked the streets, interviewed consumers, served meals, and acted as "shepherds" to help guests find their way to resources.

The Project Homeless Connect pilgrimage has spread, along with the adoption of the innovation in more than 170 cities across the nation and across borders. Among those attending the September 2007 North Carolina Triangle Project Homeless Connect event were a team of representatives of U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJonge, Jr. who were observing the event as they planned for hosting their inaugural Virgin Islands Project Homeless Connect in November.

In Region X in the Northwest states, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Region 10 Coordinator Paul Carlson has facilitated several visits by jurisdictional leaders, 10 Year Planners, and community leaders as a key strategy in his region to encourage "legitimate larceny" by representatives of 10 Year Plan jurisdictions in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho to Project Homeless Connect events in Portland and other Northwest communities.

Recently in an example of a "reverse pilgrimage," outgoing Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten - who has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Portland and Multnomah County 10 Year Plan and has been actively involved in Portland's Project Homeless Connect events for both chronically homeless individuals and for families - was invited to travel to Seattle to present to the Seattle/King County 10 Year Plan Governing Board. In just three years, Project Homeless Connect has grown from one city to being held in more than 170 communities.

State Interagency Councils on Homelessness.
State Interagency Councils also have a role to play to create virtual destinations for regional partners eager to learn from one another. In 2006, the Chairs of the New England State Interagency Councils on Homelessness from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut gathered - along with the Federal members of the New England Region Federal Interagency Council on Homelessness - to brief one another as State Council peers on current state initiatives. State partners also identified Federal program areas of interest, especially those where Federal resources have an impact for state agencies. These included: SOAR initiative for SSI, HUD's mainstream permanent housing resources, prisoner re-entry, and supportive services. The presence of Federal officials helped create a regional picture of what's working in states and where Federal resources could have an impact.

A single profile defies the innovation of pilgrimage and is testimony to the widespread adoption of journeying to other jurisdictions by jurisdictional leaders from states, cities, counties, business and civic leaders, faith based and community partners, and more - to witness, to inquire, to value what is responding to the consumer, what is creating partnership, what is achieving results.
Put on your traveling shoes . . .

To learn more about the innovations that are preventing and ending homelessness, visit the Council's Innovations web site.

20 in 20, A Month of Innovations, continues tomorrow with a Special Issue focused on:

Academia:
How many roles can a partner play?

Don't miss a single episode during this 20 in 20 Month of Innovations . . . but, if you do, you can always access the Council's "on demand" service and catch up. Just visit our web site at www.usich.gov/innovations

YES, we'd be happy to consider your innovation for an upcoming episode of 20 in 20.

Just email us the details of the innovation and the innovator, the benefits, the results, and contact information to: 20in20@usich.gov

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