Upcoming Events
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Homeward Best Practices Conference, Richmond
September 24 - 25, 2009
More info
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Governor's Housing Conference, Norfolk Marriott Hotel and Conference Center
November 18 - 20, 2009
More info
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Advocacy Campaign: Capitol Hill Day a Success
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On July 31, twelve members of the Virginia delegation to the National Alliance to End Homelessness's annual conference met with the offices of Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner to share our work and advocate for upcoming legislation involving veterans and families experiencing homelessness.
Kerrie Wilson, CEO of Reston Interfaith, shares her thoughts on the day:
On behalf
of Reston Interfaith, we just wanted to thank VCEH for all your work in
organizing the meetings and for prepping us all so well. Our
meetings together offered the perfect end to the week and I know we
were able to bring home to our Congressional delegation - in a very
personal way - the importance of these programs.
Equal thanks to our
colleagues from around the state - not only was it great fun riding the
train and walking the tunnels with you all, it is so good to see the
collective knowledge and talent we have in our Virginia
housing/homeless providers. I learned so much and we definitely have
to take advantage of this momentum to support
state and federal advocacy going forward.
We have found great allies
in Senator Webb's and Warner's staff. They get it and I expect their
advocacy will make a difference.
Also, we had a great meeting with
Frank Shafroth (chief of staff) in Representative Jim Moran's office. We shared our
thanks for their commitment to our housing/homelessness agenda. As we
suspected he would, Jim himself came back, invited us all into his
office and spoke frankly with us about the political challenges with
health care reform and other issues that need our help and advocacy -
introducing that topic with the comment that homelessness and health
care reform are related (clearly he's been reading his NAEH issue
briefs!). He told us Howard Dean will be speaking at a health care
reform event at South Lakes High School in Reston in late August and asked all
of us to get folks there to talk about the issues. Jim loves personal
stories and encouraged us all to
share those with his staff.
And, thanks to all for
your sensitivity and welcoming Luella Brown to join our team and share
her story - I do believe that the example of the Partnership for
Permanent Housing model and Luella's incredible achievements help us
demonstrate the need and value of the federal programs we discuss.
VCEH would like to add to Kerrie Wilson's expression of thanks and extend a special thanks to those who stayed in Washington on a Friday afternoon to meet with Virginia's Congressional Delegation. And we cannot express enough gratitude to Luella Brown who had the courage to share her own story as a person who had experienced homelessness. There is nothing more powerful than hearing from the people who have the experience of homelessness.
VCEH will be in touch about future opportunities for advocacy.
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New Resource Spotlight: Fairfax County and Harrisonburg Receive Awards under HUD's Family Unification Program
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HUD
Secretary and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Chair Shaun
Donovan announced the award of Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers to Fairfax County and Harrisonburg. FUP vouchers are Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for youth aging out of the foster care system and families involved with the child welfare system. FUP vouchers are an important resource to prevent homelessness among youth and to keep families together. The Redevelopment & Housing Authority in Fairfax County received 100 vouchers, while
Harrisonburg received 50.
For more information, see HUD's official news release
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Family Homelessness Report: Photos and Stories Needed
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In June, VCEH completed four regional roundtable meetings in Richmond, Northern Virginia, Roanoke, and Hampton Roads. The diverse groups engaged in lively, illuminating discussion on the people, work, and environment of family homelessness in their area of the Commonwealth. Many roundtable attendees commented that, despite the hard road ahead, they were hopeful for future success in their work. In addition, VCEH has conducted two conference calls on the unique experiences of rural communities and has conducted telephone interviews to continue to collect information.
To continue the work, we ask you to submit any photos and stories which illustrate your experience to enhance our report on family homelessness in Virginia. Send your submissions or questions about what to send to Phyllis Chamberlain (phyllis@vceh.org) by August 14.
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HUD Urges Public Housing Agencies Not to Terminate Voucher Holders
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From the National Low Income Housing Coalition...
HUD Urges PHAs Not to Terminate Voucher Holders
Make Sure Your PHA Contacts HUD by August 14
PHAs should contact HUD by August 14 if they suspect that a shortfall in their available voucher funding will force them to terminate families. (Contact HUD at pih.financial.management.division@hud.gov.)
What's Going On?
Hundreds of public housing agencies (PHAs) may be experiencing voucher funding shortfalls for the current fiscal year (FY09). HUD is urging these PHAs not to terminate voucher holders. Instead, PHAs are encouraged to work with HUD to minimize the impact on families and prevent terminating vouchers.
Please work with your PHA so that HUD can be contacted if the agency is moving toward termination. You can contact Linda Couch, linda@nlihc.org, to discuss how your PHA is responding to a voucher funding shortfall.
For more information, please visit www.nlihc.org
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