|
Board of Directors
|
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Seattle, WA
Leslie Strnisha
(Vice-Chair)
Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland
Cleveland, OH
Deborah Fung
(Treasurer)
Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation
Boston, MA
Tom Nurmi
(Secretary)
William S. Abell Foundation
Chevy Chase, MD
Ann Woodward
(Clerk)
Melville Charitable Trust
Boston, MA
Nancy Barrand
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Princeton, NJ
Sonya Campion
Campion Foundation
Seattle, WA
Nancy Frees Fountain
The Frees Foundation
Houston, TX
Barbara (Bobbie) Ibarra
Miami Coalition for the Homeless
Miami, FL
Bill Pitkin
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Los Angeles, CA
Debbie Reznick
Polk Bros. Foundation
Chicago, IL
Martha Toll
Butler Family Fund
Washington, D.C.
Joe Weisbord
|
|
Support Funders Together
Funders Together is supported by generous grants from several of our member foundations. We don't currently charge dues, but we do encourage members to make a donation or a grant to help support our mission and services.
Funders Together is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
allison@funderstogether.org
|
|
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE
| | |
> 2012 National Private Sector Award goes to Funders Together!
> Thanks to Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Home Depot Foundation, Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Maxine & Jack Zarrow Foundation, and Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation for their investment in Funders Together.
WELCOMING OUR NEW MEMBERS
Funders Together extends a warm welcome to our newest members
NEWS FROM FUNDERS TOGETHER
> Bobbie Ibarra joins Funders Together board of directors
> Funders Together executive director and board member present at the National Conference on Ending Homelessness
>20 grantmakers attend our funders reception in Washington, D.C.
> Funders Together board chair reflects on our week in Washington, D.C.
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
> Conrad N. Hilton Foundation funds illuminating study in New York City
>Melville Charitable Trust announces new executive director
>Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation Fuels Systems Change with Mini Planning Grants
> Zarrow Family Foundations to Host National Mental Health Conference in Tulsa, OK
NEWS FROM OUR FRIENDS
>National Conference on Ending Homelessness attracts record number of participants
> HHS Secretary Sebelius Highlights Butler Family Fund's Systems Change Work
> Bloomberg Philanthropies' $9 million competition to mayors to address major urban challenges such as homelessness
The latest useful tools and resources on homelessness
Details about upcoming conferences, webinars, and funders-only calls
|
Special Announcements
| | |
Funders Together Receives "Private Sector Achievement
Award" from National Alliance to End Homelessness
"We are enormously honored to receive this award," said Funders Together Executive Director Anne Miskey. "We are very passionate about bringing grantmakers together to help prevent and end homelessness. We know it can be done, and it is wonderful to have earned recognition for our accomplishments from the National Alliance, which is a national leader in such efforts." Read more.
NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS | From left to right: Irene Mabry Moses, National Alliance to End Homelessness; David Wertheimer, Funders Together to End Homelessness; Anne Miskey, Funders Together to End Homelessness; Gary M. Parsons, National Alliance to End Homelessness
$300,000 Grant from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Supports Member Services and Member Network Growth
Funders Together is very pleased to announce the second year of a three-year $300,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. This grant helps to improve our member services and communications to members, to ensure a strong membership base by targeting strategic funding organizations, and to create effective two-way communication between Funders Together and our members and partners.
The Foundation helped spearhead the creation of Funders Together and has been addressing homelessness in the United States for more than two decades. Specifically, the Foundation works to make permanent supportive housing a reality for chronically homeless people in Los Angeles County.
Home Depot Foundation and Miami Coalition for the Homeless Support Best Practices, Advocacy, and Regional Network Building
The Home Depot Foundation awarded Funders Together $5,000 to support best practice models for solving homelessness, which include Funders Together's efforts to leverage federal funds to support a pilot project to house 700 of the nation's most vulnerable homeless veterans.The Miami Coalition for the Homeless generously gave $5,000 to Funders Together to support our advocacy work and our efforts to build a network of funders dedicated to ending homelessness in Florida.
Maxine & Jack Zarrow Family Foundation and Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation Enhance Our Capacity
We are very appreciative of the $2,500 grant from the Maxine & Jack Zarrow Family Foundation and the $2,500 grant from the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation for general operating support. The Foundations are both sponsors of the 2012 Zarrow Mental Health Symposium.
You can be featured in our "Special Announcements" section! Contact Allison Silva at allison@funderstogether.org or Anne Miskey at anne@funderstogether.org to discuss how you or your organization can financially support Funders Together to End Homelessness.
|
Welcoming New Members
| |
Funders Together is delighted to welcome the following members to our growing network of more than 140 grantmakers dedicated to strategic, innovative, and effective solutions to homelessness.
Anne & Henry Zarrow Charitable Foundation|Bill Major, executive director
Bank of America Charitable Foundation | Stephanie Lomibao, vice president of Global Corporate Responsibility and National Philanthropy program manager
Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation | David Odahowski, executive director
Maxine & Jack Zarrow Charitable Foundation | Bill Major, executive director
United Way of Greater Plymouth County | Dennis Carman, president & CEO
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack County | Kory Eng, assistant vice president, community impact
|
News from Funders Together
| | |
Bobbie Ibarra joins Funders Together Board of Directors
 Funders Together welcomes Bobbie Ibarra, executive director of the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, to its Board of Directors this month. Since 2001, the Coalition has awarded over $2 million in grants and investments to partners dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness. She replaces Terri Donlin Huesman of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, who stepped down in June. We want to thank Terri for her two years of service on the Funders Together board and for her creative and strategic approach to grantmaking investments in the area of homelessness. Read more.
Funders Together Executive Director and Board Member Present at National Conference on Ending Homelessness
Funders Together executive director Anne Miskey and Funders Together board member Joe Weisbord (of Fannie Mae) presented at this year's National Conference on Ending Homelessness, hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS | From left to right: Otis Thornton, City of Fort Worth, Texas; Kelly King Horne, Homeward; Anne Miskey, Funders Together to End Homelessness
Anne presented as part of "Funding What Works: Collaborative Funding Strategies," which examined the most effective ways to get funders to agree on goals and strategies. The workshop taught attendees how to maximize their impact through consensus and demonstrated how public and private funders can amplify their success when they act in concert.
Joe participated in "Assessing Needs and Prioritizing Housing for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness," which covered methods for deciding which homeless individuals to house first and the operational details of assessment strategies. In light of the shortage of permanent supportive housing, meaning that some homeless people are housed before others, the workshop helped attendees to understand an important dimension to permanent supportive housing as a broader solution.
You can access powerpoint presentations from the National Conference workshops here.
Funders Attend Reception Hosted by Funders Together 20 grantmakers attended our special reception for funders at the National Conference on Ending Homelessness. Funders Together board chair, David Wertheimer wrote that we "had a strong showing of funders at the conference - from United Ways, foundations and trusts, and corporate donors. Funders are no longer standing on the sidelines, but are actively engaged partners in the systems change process, moving away from funding what is familiar (and sometimes ineffective), to what is innovative and energized with the potential for better solutions to seemingly intractable problems." Thank you all so much for coming, representing your respective organizations, and sharing your passion and ideas. Board Chair David Wertheimer Reflects on Meeting with Federal Partners, National Conference, and more... In July, Funders Together traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with representatives from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, as well as the Domestic Policy Council and the Office of Management and Budget. We also attended the National Alliance to End Homelessness' annual National Conference on Ending Homelessness. Funders Together Board Chair David Wertheimer, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, blogged about the experience, writing "On the cutting edge of these conversations are the important topics of rapid re-housing, moving away from the one-size-fits-all approaches of the past, and viewing the solutions to the problems we must solve as needing more than just the brains from our own limited perspectives and disciplines. Bravo!" Read more.  NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS | From left to right: Anne Miskey, Funders Together; Teri Larson, Funders Together; Sue Beaton, Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation; Nan Roman, National Alliance to End Homelessness
|
News from Our Members
| | |
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Funds Illuminating Study in New York City
CASAColumbia and CSH have released two papers from a project funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The project evaluated New York City's housing first program for chronically homeless single adults whose substance use is a primary barrier to independent living. Unlocking the Door provides a detailed overview and analysis of program implementation and uncovers challenges and promising practices from its first three years of operation. The Twelve-Month Tenant Outcomes report contains findings from interviews and case logs on tenant outcomes in areas such as housing retention, alcohol and drug use, health, employment, and satisfaction after one year of housing. Upcoming papers from the project will present results of an analysis using administrative data to investigate service utilization and cost.
Melville Charitable Trust Appoints Janice Elliott New Executive Director
The Melville Charitable Trust announced Friday, July 27, that it appointed Janice Elliott as its new Executive Director, effective September 4, 2012. Before joining the Trust, Ms. Elliott was Managing Director for theCorporation for Supportive Housing's four national programs: Policy and Research, Project Development and Finance, Resource Center, and Strategic Partnerships. As president of InSite Housing Solutions, Ms. Elliott was the principal author of Opening Doors--Connecticut, a strategic framework for preventing and ending homelessness and the nation's first state plan to be modeled on the federal Opening Doors initiative. Read more.
The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation Fuels Systems Change with Mini Planning Grants
The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation has been working in family homeless for 12 years, through two different state administrations, helping to keep the focus in Massachusetts on building a more collaborative system of interventions to end family homelessness in the state. When the foundation first began work in homelessness, it sought for the 10-year community planning process to include family homelessness. In pursuit of this vision, Fireman began a program of $10,000 "mini grants" to expand already-existing efforts focused on chronic homelessness to tackle family homelessness as well. Read more.
Zarrow Family Foundations Will Host National Mental Health Conference in Tulsa
This fall, advocates, funders, service providers, consumers, and researchers will convene in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the 2012 National Zarrow Mental Health Symposium & Mental Health America Annual Conference. The conference, titled From Housing to Recovery: Building Community, Building Lives, will run September 19 - 21, 2012. This national conference is designed to address housing and recovery support services for people with mental illnesses and co-occurring disorders. Read more.
Tell us your Story! Do you have news you'd like to share with other funders about your work in homelessness? Funding an innovative project? Looking to leverage funding? Your news could appear on our blog or in our bulletin. To share your news, contact Allison Silva.
|
|
| |
National Conference on Ending Homelessness Attracts Record Number of Participants
 NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS | From left to right: Mark Johnston, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, David Wertheimer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Funders Together to End Homelessness; Lloyd Pendleton, Utah Department of Community and Culture This year's National Conference on Ending Homelessness hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness brought in a record 1,500 practitioners, public officials, grantmakers, and other stakeholders to discuss cutting-edge and evidence-based solutions to homelessness. "The homeless assistance community has come far, in terms of its overall level of sophistication and focus on implementation in order to get results, and the conference was a great opportunity to share what they have learned, as well as for those of us in the community to engage in a discussion about what we still must do to achieve our goals," wrote Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy at the Alliance. Read more.
Secretary Sebelius Highlights Butler Family Fund's Systems Change Work
NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS | Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
On July 17, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius gave the keynote address at the National Conference on Ending Homelessness, hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). She spoke in part about work to maximize the impact of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding, highlighting efforts to which Funders Together board member, the Butler Family Fund has contributed. Read more.
Bloomberg Philanthropies' $9-million Mayors Challenge
Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Mayors Challenge in June 2012. Cities must compete to develop innovative, replicable ideas to improve city life. Michael Bloomberg's private charity foundation will award $5 million to the city with the "boldest and most replicable" idea. $1 million prizes will be awarded to four additional runners up. In order to be eligible, a city must have a population greater than 30,000 individuals. In July 2011, Atlanta's mayor was awarded a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to dramatically reduce chronic homelessness.
The submission deadline is September 14, 2012, after which 20 finalists will attend an "Ideas Camp." Then, following individualized coaching to prepare final submissions, winners will be announced in spring 2013.
|
|
Resource Center
| |
Journal of the American Medical Association on Cost-Effective Solutions to Chronic Homelessness
The latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association has issued an article focusing on the cost-effectiveness of supportive housing and future directions in homelessness. The article catalogues a growing body of evidence suggesting that it is more cost-effective to provide individuals experiencing chronic homelessness with supportive housing than to allow these individuals to remain on the street, where they may require costly public services. Read more
New Continuum of Care Regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released interim regulations for the new Continuum of Care (CoC) program under the HEARTH Act and a summary of these regulations.
The regulations primarily address the eligible activities and program requirements of the CoC program. The new program has five eligible components:
- Permanent housing, which includes permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities and rapid re-housing;
- Transitional housing;
- Supportive services only;
- Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS); and
- Prevention, which is available only for CoCs who are designated as High Performing Communities.
Keeping Families Together Guide Recently Released
Recording of "Stabilizing Highest-Risk Families" Webinar from July 10 Available
In case you missed this webinar hosted by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Funders Together board member, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, about applying for funding under the federal Administration for Children, Youth and Families public Funding Opportunity Announcement, you can view the presentation here. Technical difficulties prevented the webinar from being broadcast live. But, fortunately, this recording allows you to view the presentation at your convenience.
Department of Veterans Affairs Announces Funding for Services for Veterans Families Program
On July 17, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the award of nearly $100 million in grants that will help approximately 42,000 homeless and at-risk Veterans and their families through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (SSVF). The grants will go to 151 community agencies across 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Watch the June Council Meeting Online: Watch a Detailed Discussion of the Youth Framework
The June 2012 U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness(USICH) meeting focused on ending youth homelessness. USICH provided an overview of the proposed framework for ending youth homelessness by 2020. An expert panel shared their reactions to this framework and the Council and experts had a spirited discussion on the steps forward. You can now watch this event online.
|
|
Save the Dates
|
Advocacy Capacity Webinar
Hosted by the Alliance for Justice
July 31, 2012 | 2:00-3:15pm EST
 Next week, the Alliance for Justice is holding a webinar for nonprofits and foundations about the core concepts captured in their new tool, including who should use it, and how to get the most out of it. During the 1-hour, 15-minute online session, participants will learn about basic principles for evaluating the impact of advocacy as well as how foundations can assess whether a potential grantee has the resources to engage in advocacy work. Click here to purchase the $35 tickets.
The ACT will be useful for a range of groups - whether a community group fighting for change, a coalition of groups working together, or a foundation looking for ways to support their grantees. This tool can yield invaluable insights to improve advocacy efforts.
Please share this message with anyone you think could benefit from the Advocacy Capacity Tool. Contact the Alliance for Justice for more information via email: advocacycapacity@afj.org
National Zarrow Mental Health Symposium & Mental Health America Annual Conference
Sponsored by the Zarrow Foundations
September 19-21, 2012 l Tulsa, OK Convention Center
This conference, titled From Housing to Recovery: Building Community, Building Lives, features programs and research
that address housing, recovery, and community supports for people living with mental illness. Discussion will focus on innovative approaches to the development of safe, decent, and affordable housing, and best practice models of support services needed to sustain recovery.
Register now
Affordable Housing with Services Study Tour
Hosted by Grantmakers in Aging
September 10-15 | Boston, MA
& Burlington, VT
Grantmakers In Aging, along with LeadingAge Center for Applied Research and International Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, has organized a tour of five Northeast senior housing providers who have been at the forefront of policy shaping. Part of the tour will
feature a visit to Hearth, an organization dedicated to ending elder homelessness.
In addition to learning about services and supports, there will be funders-only sessions covering the role of foundations and other grantmakers in fostering affordable housing for older adults.
Register by August 1
Strategic Co-Funding: A Grantmaker Convening
Hosted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
October 29, 2012 | Washington, D.C.
 Join 150 peers in philanthropy for a convening to explore different approaches to strategic co-funding hosted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, as part of its Scaling What Works initiative, on Oct. 29 in Washington, D.C.
This day-long convening, designed for grantmakers currently involved in or interested in being part of strategic co-funding partnerships, will offer participants opportunities to deepen their knowledge and advance their practice around key areas such as: - building trust;
- developing joint strategies, goals, and common processes (e.g., due diligence, reporting);
- coordinating with public systems, policy, and funders; and
- collectively raising, administering, and evaluating pooled grant dollars.
|
|
Promote Effective Solutions to Homelessness. Join Funders Together Today!
Through Funders Together, you can connect with other funders like you, share lessons learned and promising practices, and help build the movement to end homelessness in America. Your voice can help make the difference in your community and across the country.
Contact Allison Silva, member services and development officer, at allison@funderstogether.org with any questions about membership. |
|
|
