John Lozier


NATIONAL HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS COUNCIL
         LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | June 30, 2010
Greetings!

June 2010 began and ended with major events for Health Care for the Homeless: our 2010 National HCH Conference and Policy Symposium and the release of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.  

We also began implementing our new Individual Membership structure, hired some new staff and said farewell to others,, elected a new class to the Board of Directors, published a Healing Hands on Barriers to Care, and vigorously pursued our on-going training, research and advocacy agendas.
  GETTING THE MOST FROM THE 2010 HCH CONFERENCE
The national conference in San Francisco was the best attended ever, with 836 registrants contributing to 70 workshops, five pre-conference Institutes, a spirited rally, great films, and strong plenary sessions.
 
The conference looked back at 25 years of HCH experience and looked forward to the challenges of making national health care reform work to help end homelessness.  That's rich material, and we are pleased that we were able to capture much of it so that you can still learn from it.  For audio recordings of sessions, presenters' PowerPoints and handouts, simply go to the conference schedule scroll down to any session, and click away. 
 
For a taste of the spirit of the Conference you might want to see Donna Smith's blog "The Conference that Love Built" on Michael Moore's website. 
GETTING THE MOST FROM THE FEDERAL STRATEGIC PLAN
During Friday's Plenary at the HCH Conference, Keynote Speaker Barbara Poppe, the Executive Director of the Federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, announced that the new national plan on homelessness would be released in late June.  The National HCH Council and our National Consumer Advisory Board provided significant input throughout the development process and when the Plan was released at the White House last week we were pleased to see that it seriously addresses the relationships between poor health and homelessness. 
 
Medical Respite Care, Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health, Services in Permanent Supportive Housing, outreach to assure that newly eligible people actually benefit from Medicaid expansion - it's all there, just as it was all explored at our Conference. Implementation is now the challenge, and the Council has already begun planning and advocating to this end.
 
A very significant omission, however, is that the federal homelessness plan does not address the desperate situation of homeless people who are not in this country legally, a reminder that the Plan is, after all, a political document issued by an Administration always concerned about elections.  In the same wise, the Affordable Care Act does not establish a right to health care.  On these fronts and others, the Council will continue to articulate a vision of justice and to work hard for the realization of human rights.
  JOIN US!
Your support and participation are very important to ensure that the National HCH Council continues moving forward on all of these fronts.  If you have not done so already please:
  1. Join us - become an Individual Member now. 
  2. Email us - help raise awareness and build membership by sending us the names and email addresses of three individuals you who need to know about the Council's work (or use the Forward Email link at the bottom of the page).                                                                                                                                                                                                        And remember that our advocacy depends on private contributions:                                  
  3. Please donate as you are able.
 THANK YOU  
Thank you for your ongoing support.
 
Peace,
JNL signature



John N. Lozier, MSSW | Executive Director
615/226-2292 | www.nhchc.org | jlozier@nhchc.org
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HEALTH CARE AND HOUSING ARE HUMAN RIGHTS