USICH is excited to announce the release of the nation's first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness titled Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness on Tuesday, June 22. Opening Doors will serve as a roadmap for joint action by Council agencies to guide the development of programs and budget proposals towards a set of measurable targets.

Each night, 640,000 men, women, and children in the United States are without housing. The HEARTH Act, signed into law by President Obama in May 2009, mandated that USICH produce a "national strategic plan" to end homelessness to Congress.  Beginning in January 2010, USICH held regional stakeholder meetings, organized federal working groups focused on specific populations, solicited public comment through an interactive website, and engaged experts from across the country to develop an action plan to solve homelessness for veterans, adults, families, youth, and children.

USICH will announce the historic plan at the White House on June 22 at 9:00 AM EDT with three Cabinet Secretaries: HUD Secretary and USICH Chair Shaun Donovan, Labor Secretary and USICH Vice Chair Hilda Solis, and VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

We invite you to join us for the announcement by watching it live on www.whitehouse.gov/live.  Opening Doors will be available at www.usich.gov and www.hud.gov. We will also be hosting a live webinar to have a more in-depth discussion with Assistant Secretaries from HUD, Labor, HHS, and VA about the specifics of the Plan. We will release information about the webinar on the USICH website in the coming days.