EUREKA, CALIFORNIA. The effort to "Bring Humboldt Home" began in earnest last Friday as more than 100 local government officials, social service providers, and other community leaders and residents, gathered at a breakfast meeting and afternoon work session organized by the Northern California Association of Non Profits and the Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition to officially launch the 10 year planning process.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited to speak at the breakfast, noted that political will is an extremely important element in successful plan development and implementation and acknowledged the many elected officials at the event including Eureka Mayor Peter LaVallee and Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Chair John Woolley, who had welcomed everyone to the event, as well as Arcata Mayor Michael Machi, Fontana Mayor Pro Tem John Roberts, Eureka Councilmembers Mary Beth Wolford and Mike Jones, and Arcata Councilmember Mark Wheetley. "In moving forward with a Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness you will join hundreds of other communities across our country to bring an end to our most disadvantaged neighbors being without a place to live. To join your colleagues - Mayors, County Executives, business people, non-profits, and faith communities - who are partnering to disturb the status quo. We can no longer afford - morally or economically - to maintain a status quo that has not accomplished the mission. Some will be challenged, some even threatened by the change needed to accomplish the mission. We can capitulate to that anxiety and declare détente with a moral wrong. Or we can accept the need for change and implement innovation to end the human tragedy. Everything I know about you tells me that you're ready to take the challenge," he told them. Director Mangano was introduced by Humboldt Bay Housing Development Corporation Executive Director Elizabeth Conner.

The Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition is the umbrella group of public and private parties that will oversee development of the plan. Coalition member and Interim Executive Director of the Redwood Community Action Agency Kermit Thobaben also addressed the breakfast meeting.

Consistent with the Interagency Council's encouragement to communities to commit "legitimate larceny" in adopting identified best practices, the afternoon work session included a review of some 10-year plans developed by other cities. "We are going to see what has worked for other places before we design our plan," said Humboldt County Health and Human Services Assistant Director Lance Morton who was the emcee for the morning and afternoon sessions. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera attended the breakfast and provided technical assistance, including presentation of the Council's document Good...to Better...to Great: Innovations in the Development of 10-Year Plans, during the afternoon work session.

Pictured here, l-r, are Councilmember Wheetley, Arcata Mayor Machi, Director Mangano, Eureka Mayor LaVallee, and Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Chair Woolley.

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA. Winter comes early in Fargo, North Dakota so this week's press conference by Mayor Dennis Walaker to celebrate adoption of a 10-Year Plan to End Long Term Homelessness was timely news. Especially welcome was the announcement of a proposal to create a HOME-funded tenant based rental assistance program. This will be the first investment of city resources to support housing for persons experiencing long term homelessness and, together with a state-funded pilot project for an Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) team within the Southeast Human Services Center, represent first steps in the plan's implementation.

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, invited by Mayor Walaker to join him at the press conference, commended Mayor Walaker and former Mayor Bruce Furness, who retired this year after three terms, for sustaining the 10-year planning effort through their transition and praised the "sophistication and resolve" of the plan they brought to fruition. Director Mangano noted in particular the plan recommendation for housing "affordable to homeless people", rather than just "affordable housing"; the embrace of Project Homeless Connect; the emphasis on consumer choice, better engagement and prevention; and the call for better coordination, data, and a regionwide approach for Fargo-Moorhead that "recognizes permeable geographic boundaries." The plan, entitled Going Home, was developed with regional input and has already been adopted by the Fargo City Commission with consideration by Moorhead to follow.

In their joint letter of support for the plan, Mayor Walaker and former Mayor Furness write, "Going Home implies that you have a place where you belong, where you feel safe and secure, and hopefully can find respite from the stresses of the day. For the health of our community and for the people living in it, we believe that everyone should be able to say that they are Going Home."

Plans are underway for Fargo-Moorhead to hold the region's first Project Homeless Connect event this winter. Prior to the press conference, Director Mangano met with local officials and key 10-year planning committee members including Mayor Walaker; former Mayor Bruce Furness; City Commissioner and Deputy Mayor Linda Coates; Senior Community Development Planner Jessica Thomasson; Housing Authority Director Mr. Lynn Fundingsland; ND Coalition for Homeless People/Continuum of Care Coordinator Mary Magnusson; Tran Doan, ND Department of Commerce; Gary Groberg, Churches United for the Homeless; Candace Fugelston, Southeast Human Service Center; Karla Aaland, FM Area Foundation; Judy Green, YMCA Cass Clay; and Community Development Planner Dan Mahli. Also present was Council Regional Coordinator Paul Carlson.

Pictured here, top, is Director Mangano speaking at the press conference. Bottom, l-r, are Deputy Mayor Linda Coates, former Fargo Mayor Furness, Director Mangano, and Fargo Mayor Walaker.

ALBERTA PROVINCE, CANADA. Jurisdictional 10 year planning to end chronic homelessness is an innovation that has spread to Canada. Last year, Red Deer Mayor Morris Flewwelling established a Mayor's Task Force on Ending Homelessness to create a 10- year plan. Announcing the formation of the Task Force, which was affirmed by the Red Deer City Council, Mayor Flewwelling said, "This is being done in a number of American cities, so there are some models that we can follow to develop a set of strategies that we can adopt in our communities so that over the next decade we can work towards eradicating homelessness." At the invitation of Mayor Flewwelling, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano stopped in Alberta Province last week on his way to northern California (see related story) to discuss 10 year planning innovations and strategies with Mayor Flewwelling and the Task Force members.

Similar to the best jurisdictional 10-year planning efforts in the US, Mayor Flewwelling has engaged a broad and inclusive group of stakeholders from the housing, health, corrections, and faith based communities, the business sector, service providers, the United Way, philanthropy, academia, citizens, and elected local and legislative officials. Initial efforts have focused on developing baseline data on the number of characteristics of the homeless population. In his letter of invitation, Mayor Flewwelling noted that " our task force is at a point in its process that we are ready to kick into action" and Task Force members welcomed the opportunity to hear from Director Mangano on rapid rehousing, prevention, and other results oriented strategies.

In addition to meeting with Mayor Flewwelling and the Task Force, Director Mangano was invited to speak at a community luncheon attended by more than 200 community leaders, service providers, and the homeless. Red Deer is located in the Alberta province, an energy rich region of Canada that with its growth is experiencing substantial increases in the number of homeless people. Director Mangano's presentation on the elements of Good ... to Better... to Great in the development of 10 year plans, including the importance of quantifying the economic consequences of chronic homelessness, resonated with the Red Deer community. "We have talked for awhile now about how we get the business voice and the business way of thinking on our non profit boards and into our community projects. I think this absolutely helps" said Tricia Haggarty, Executive Director of Central Alberta Housing after Director Mangano's luncheon presentation.

While in Red Deer, Director Mangano had an opportunity arranged by Mayor Flewwelling to speak at a meeting of elected officials from the seven Alberta Province cities that include Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat and Red Deer. In August, the community-based organizations responsible for managing homelessness programs in all seven of these communities submitted a joint proposal to the Provincial Government requesting $20 million for a Project Innovation Funding initiative to support outreach teams and supportive services projects to tie into housing that has been created recently under the National Homelessness Initiative. Cost benefit data from a March 2005 National Secretariat on Homelessness report was cited that showed psychiatric hospital costs in Alberta of $65,000-200,750 annually per person compared to $29,700-47,100 to house a mentally ill homeless person in a one bedroom apartment with a high level of support. The seven city CBO leaders had also urged creation of a formal mechanism to ensure more coordination of provincial department efforts on homelessness similar in concept to the state interagency councils on homelessness promoted by the Council.

Traveling on to Calgary at the invitation of Calgary Homeless Foundation President and CEO Terry Roberts, Director Mangano addressed a community breakfast meeting sponsored by the Foundation in partnership with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the Calgary Downtown Association, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Calgary has grown from a city of 350,000 to over 1 million in the last three decades. Introduced by Mr. Roberts, Director Mangano spoke to the 125 government, business and private sector leaders about the importance of having a "business-informed, consumer centric" approach to ending homelessness. "What we know is the status quo is not working. We can't tolerate homelessness morally, and we can't tolerate it spiritually, and what we're discovering more and more is it's intolerable economically." Pictured here, l-r, Calgary Homeless Foundation President and CEO Roberts, Director Mangano, and Foundation Board Chair Brian O'Leary.

The Calgary Homeless Foundation is a non profit that provides capital funding for housing in partnership with government, service agencies, and the private sector, and facilitates "community consultations on homelessness issues and community collaborations on solutions." The Foundation has distributed over $80 million through a Collaborative Funding Process by which community agency proposals for homelessness funding are peer reviewed and then forwarded for consideration to the Funders Table which brings together representatives of 12 foundations, government departments, agencies and the United Way of Calgary.

While in Calgary, Director Mangano met with Calgary Mayor Dave Broconnier to discuss 10-year planning strategies and Gabriella Micallef, who is working with business leaders on a new national foundation initiative called the 2016 Foundation. This private sector-driven initiative, whose objective takes its cue from the US inititative to end chronic homelessness in 10 years, is encouraging and engaging business leaders to work with local elected officials to apply a results-oriented strategy to ending chronic homelessness in Canadian communities by 2016.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. The important role for state government agencies in creating adequate and appropriate discharge planning protocol and practices to prevent and end chronic homelessness was the focus of a federal technical assistance program extended to 16 states last week in followup to the federal interagency Policy Academies conducted over the last several years. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Deputy Director Mary Ellen Hombs (pictured here) was invited to keynote the 2-day session. She described to the state partners the importance of interagency and intra-agency partnership in developing data, zero tolerance protocols, and best practices that intervene in the frequent use of systems of care, treatment, and incarceration by persons experiencing homelessness including treatment, jails and prisons, hospitals.

Frequent users of these systems and the costs they currently represent are increasingly being documented by 10-year plan communities in local cost benefit analysis which is underway or completed in more than 35 communities being tracked by the Council. No city or state can afford to maintain the status quo demonstrated through these studies, Ms. Hombs told the states, noting that more strategic investments based on data can result in better outcomes for individuals and address acute care costs.

Ms. Hombs described data collection approaches and innovations from work conducted in Massachusetts on discharge planning beginning in the early 1990's in treatment, health care, housing, and corrections, noting that state agencies are uniquely positioned now - as 53 Governors of states and territories have moved to create State Interagency Councils on Homelessness to ensure that public resources do not create homelessness but forward targeted subpopulation strategies that include residential resources at the back door of public systems to prevent and end homelessness.

Federal partner agencies attending included the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, and Veterans Affairs. States participating included Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Similar federal sessions have been convened to provide technical assistance on key issues identified by states in developing their state plans, including the most recent prior session on partnership among mainstream workforce investment, behavioral health, and housing to create employment opportunity for persons who are homeless. Upcoming sessions for states will focus on youth issues and data.

Planning for 2006 National Project Homeless Connect Week December 4-8 is in full swing. Over the summer, more than three dozen communities committed to participating in this year's event. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness this week completed a series of Peer-to-Peer national conference calls for communities interested in participating in the National Week, using experienced city experts to cover topics including the role of jurisdictional leadership, convening a core planning group, creating consumer focus, and managing event logistics. On Tuesday, the Council concluded this series of calls with a review of best practices in organizing, conducting, and evaluating a Project Homeless Connect event. Council Regional Coordinators John O'Brien, Michael German, Daryl Hernandez, and Paul Carlson provided specific examples from prior PHC events across the country and answered questions. The Council is also facilitating a site visit to the San Francisco Project Connect event on October 5 this week, with interested cities receIving special briefing and training from the San Francisco team conducting the city's thirteenth event.

Any jurisdiction interested in participating in 2006 National Project Homeless Connect is encouraged to contact the Council at usichevents@usi ch.gov. Additional information is also available on the Council's Project Homeless Connect website.

Future national conference calls will focus on information and resources specifically for those communities that have committed to participate in the National Week effort. Beginning with an October 17 call at 1 pm Eastern, calls for partners will focus on intake and outcome data collection, media strategy, and consumer issues.

In addition to the cities which have committed to National Project Homeless Connect Week, a number of other cities have PHC events planned including Duluth, MN, San Francisco, and Denver this week, and Las Vegas on November 8.

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA. The City of Riverside in partnership with the Riverside Homeless Care Network held a Faith Based and Community Organization Summit on Homelessness on Saturday. This one day educational summit, held at California Baptist University in Riverside, brought together members of the faith based community, service organizations, local business and neighborhood groups for a series of presentations and workshops on the different profiles of homelessness, and on innovative strategies to end homelessness including best practices in prevention, outreach, service coordination, and rapid rehousing. Also discussed were capacity building for faith based organizations and the community's upcoming December 8 participation in National Project Homeless Connect Week. (see related story)

Participants were welcomed by Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, Councilman Don Betro, University Associate Vice President Cynthia Wright and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera, who has been working with Riverside city and county officials to develop a 10 year plan to end homelessness. Later, Mr. Cabrera joined Riverside Homeless Services Coordinator Don Smith and Carrie Harmon from the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services in presenting information on National Project Homeless Connect Week during a workshop discussion on Best Practice Models to End Homelessness. Among the other best practice model programs cited by presenters during the workshop were Pasadena's Faith-based Homeless Prevention Program, the Orange County Rescue Mission Assertive Community Treatment program, and faith based capacity building efforts by the Village Training Institute.

Interfaith Community Services Executive Director Suzanne Stewart Pohlman gave the keynote address. Other elected officials at the event included Councilmembers Art Gage, Andy Melendrez, and Nancy Hart.

Pictured here at the Summit , l-r, are Councilman Don Betros, Councilwoman Nancy Hart, Mayor Ron Loveridge, California Baptist University Associate Vice President Cynthia Wright, and Council Regional Coordinator Ed Cabrera.

A unique supportive housing effort for homeless women and children in Midvale, Utah, a suburban community in Salt Lake County, offers a ladder of housing opportunity that is responsive to the changing support service needs of homeless families as they stabilize, while simultaneously allowing the women and children to "set down roots socially and academically." LifeStart Village consists of 2 co- housing buildings with kitchen and other common areas and 22 two and three bedroom apartments, 15 rental townhomes and cottages, and 8 lease-to-own 3 bedroom townhomes built around a small park area. The project was developed and is operated by the non profit Family Support Center with strong support from Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini and Salt Lake County officials.

The co-housing units provide the greatest level of supportive services while the rental units offer a more independent living environment for families who have completed a self sufficiency training program and are employed. The 8 lease-to-own units were created through the Utah Housing Corporation CROWN ( Credits-to-OWN) program and may be purchased by the family after a successful 15 year lease that includes responsibility for most maintenance and repair concerns. The CROWN program utilizes Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits together with UHC direct construction and permanent loans and deferred financing from participating communities for land and site improvements that is repaid at rates substantially below market level at the end of the 15th year. The CROWN program has created 229 homes to date with 17 more under construction in 37 projects around the state.

Funding sources for the Midvale project included Salt Lake City and County HOME funds, Salt Lake County CDBG monies, a HUD Shelter Plus Care grant, UHC and LIHTC support through American Express Centurion Bank of over $3.5 million, and nearly half a million dollars in donations including labor and materials.

DULUTH, MINNESOTA. "Incredibly humbling and exhilarating" is how Kim Crawford, congregational outreach organizer for Churches United in Ministry, described results from a community-wide Sleep Out in Duluth this past Saturday night which served to engage the citizens of Duluth in the effort to end chronic homelessness by raising awareness of the city's Project Homeless Connect event being held this week and generating donations of toiletries, blankets, sleeping bags, socks, hats, mittens and other items for distribution at the event. More than 400 people, including many young people, slept out in eight different locations raising more than $5500 in cash donations and generating mounds of donations. Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson and St. Louis County Commissioner Steve O'Neil along with three formerly homeless residents met and spoke with people gathered at the eight sleep out locations that included the Churches United in Ministry parking lot, Asbury United Methodist Church, Temple of Israel synagogue, Eastridge Community Church, Concordia Lutheran Church, Family of God Lutheran Church, the College of St. Scholastics and the University of Minnesota at Duluth.

The idea for the community-wide Sleep Out was born when organizers for Duluth's planned October 4 Project Homeless Connect contacted Churches United in Ministry, a human services agency created through an association of 38 congregations in Duluth, for ideas on how to increase community awareness of the event and generate volunteers. Over the years, individual congregations had held sleep outs as a way to raise money but never had there been a community-wide effort and especially one in which people were asked to pledge donations of basic new and unused necessities that would be given directly to homeless people in need.

Each participant was asked to find at least 10 sponsors to donate items or money. On Saturday night, the 400 participants brought the items that had been donated to their sleep out locations where throughout the night additional items and donations were dropped off. Collected items were distributed at the city's first ever Project Homeless Connect event on Wednesday. Results from that event, attended by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano and Regional Coordinator Daryl Hernandez, will be described in next week's enews.