Greetings!
The holidays are upon us and the month of November has been busy, busy, busy for VCEH! In this month's newsletter, we are excited to share updates on the 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians initiative, our newest initiative on rapid re-housing children and their families, our policy and advocacy efforts on the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, as well as to share an available HMIS toolkit.
We are thankful for all the hard work that you do to promote long term solutions to homelessness in your local community and across the Commonwealth. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season! Sincerely,
Phyllis Chamberlain, Robin Gahan, David Young, and David Bresnahan
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New Public-Private Partnership Aims to Reduce Homelessness for Virginia's Children|
On November 17 at the Governor's Housing Conference, Governor McDonnell announced a new initiative to reduce rates of homelessness for children and their families by shifting practice and policy to rapid re-housing. This initiative is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, and the Freddie Mac Foundation.
The initiative will help communities improve the availability of affordable housing for children and their families experiencing homelessness by increasing the provision of rapid re-housing. It will build on the experience of Virginia's communities in delivering rapid re-housing and will specifically focus on identifying and implementing solutions to move children and their families out of shelters and into their own homes.
Project Goals
* Help families experiencing homelessness to move from emergency shelter and transitional housing into stable, permanent housing.
* Support the efforts of service providers in local communities across the Commonwealth as they address the complex needs of the most vulnerable individuals and families.
* By 2013, reduce homelessness for Virginia's children and families by 15 percent.
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VCEH is pleased to announce that three additional communities have joined our 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginian's initiative! A total of 9 communities across the state are now working on various stages of organizing their campaign, conducting registry weeks, and housing those identified as the most vulnerable in their communities!
In addition, VCEH has recently partnered with the VA and are grateful to have the support of Jeff Doyle, VISN 6 Network Coordinator working with us to connect local 1,000 Homes campaigns with their regional VA medical center.
Prince William County|
On November 16, Prince William County announced that they have officially joined our 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginian's initiative!
Virginia Beach|
On November 22, Virginia Beach's City council adopted a resolution authorizing the city's participation in the statewide 1,000 Homes campaign. City staff will be working with their
regional partners and VCEH to develop plans for their campaign.
Portsmouth|Also on November 22, Deputy City Manager Brannon Godfrey presented the 1,000 Homes campaign to Portsmouth's City Council who approved participation in the statewide and regional 1,000 Homes campaign efforts. 
1,000 Homes Roanoke is diligently working on their campaign that is coupled with the annual homeless point in time count scheduled for January 22-27. Some of their key partner agencies include the Jefferson College of Health Sciences, the Salem VA Medical Center, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the City of Roanoke and Total Action Against Poverty. They are also excited to share that they have identified existing resources to begin housing the most vulnerable.
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 Seven regional opening events have been scheduled across the Commonwealth to introduce the initiative to community partners.
Events occurred on November 30 and December 1 in Harrisonburg, Roanoke and Abingdon and generated much excitement and ideas for how to align the initiative with the current community successes and challenges in rapid re-housing. Anyone is welcome at the events. To register, please click a location below.
Be sure to attend one of our remaining Regional Opening Events!
*December 6, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Norfolk
*December 7, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, Richmond
*December 8, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Fairfax
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PUBLIC POLICY
UPDATE: Virginia Housing Trust Fund|
As a member of the Campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF), VCEH has been organizing a number of successful advocacy strategies and has continued to advocate that a minimum 20 percent of funding be targeted to families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
 Over the past month, VCEH organized an effort to obtain letters of support to be presented to Governor McDonnell from community leaders from across the state. City mayors from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Martinsville, Roanoke, Newport News and Danville sent letters of support as did local business leaders, housing development corporations, housing and service providers, and the Virginia Association of Community Service Boards (VACSB). VCEH would like to express our thanks to those VCEH members and/or partners who worked so hard to obtain letters of support from their community leaders including: Mary Aab, George Braunstein, Andy Friedman, Courtney Gardner, Jon Morris, Paula Prince, and Keisha Whitley.
The initial objective for the VHTF was that it be included in the Governor's budget. However, we understand from conversations with Administration officials that the VHTF is not likely to be included in the Governor's budget, but that the Governor continues to support the concept of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund as one strategy to achieve the state plan's goal to reduce homelessness by 15 percent by 2013.
Currently, members of the campaign for a Virginia Housing Trust Fund along with local and state partners are working hard to obtain legislative champions in the House and Senate to propose a VHTF bill or budget amendment. Already, Delegate Chris Jones, Delegate Chris Peace, and Delegate Scott Lingamfelter have expressed their support and it is expected that additional support will come forward in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for action alerts and ways that you can help to ensure that a Virginia Housing Trust Fund becomes a reality! For more information, click below: Hot Topics in State Policy: VHTF VCEH Virginia Housing Trust Fund brief Chumra Economic Impact Report
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2012 Policy Priorities Agenda|
VCEH has released its2012 Policy Agenda and Framework that provides policy priority recommendations in order to fulfill the various goals outlined in the Governor's plan to reduce homelessness by 15 percent by 2013.
 The state's leadership on this issue represents an unprecedented opportunity to make real and measurable progress in preventing and ending homelessness for the approximately 45,000 Virginians who experience homelessness every year. Over the course of the year, we will consult with our members and local, state, and federal partners to develop additional and/or refine policy and program recommendations. |
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VCEH gets around the state to visit with our partners, attend events, facilitate or host meetings, and more. Here's what we were up to in November!
Richmond for the 1,000 Homes Statewide Meeting for a day of networking, workshops, and an opportunity to share lessons learned in organizing local Registry Weeks and 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians initiatives.
Roanoke for a meeting about Roanoke's participation in 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians.
Martinsville for the unveiling of their regional ten year plan.
Richmond for the convening of VCEH's Legislative Advocacy Committee.
Hampton for the Governor's Housing Conference in which VCEH's new rapid re-housing family initiative was announced by Governor McDonnell.
On the phone for a meeting with homeless coalitions in other states about how we can coordinate our efforts to achieve greater national impact.
Richmond for a meeting with Delegate Chris Jones to discuss the importance of a Virginia Housing Trust Fund and to request his support.
On the air to address "Why in 2011 in the United States of America are our Most Vulnerable Citizens Homeless?" at 97.3 WRIR - Richmond Independent Radio.
Richmond for a meeting on Virginia HUD-VASH hosted by the HUD Richmond Field Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to discuss experiences in housing homeless Veterans and to provide an opportunity to allow Public Housing Authorities (PHA) and VA Medical Centers to work more effectively together.
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In 2011, HUD developed a Human Management Information System (HMIS) Budgeting and Staffing Toolkit to assist Continuum of Care's (CoC) and HMIS leadership in planning for sustainable HMIS implementation. This tool can help organizations secure funding/resources for those Estimated Costs identified as "needed."
The toolkit provides:
- An overview of eligible HMIS activities
- An analysis of a variety of HMIS funding strategies and staffing models
- An Excel-based "HMIS Budgeting Analysis Tool" to assist communities in identifying funds needed to support successful HMIS implementation
- An Excel-based "HMIS Staffing Effort Analysis Tool" to assist communities in identifying staffing needed to support successful HMIS implementation
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COMMUNITY UPDATES
VCEH will continue to highlight the work of communities across Virginia here. Keep us posted on what you, your organization, and your community are up to by emailing
Prince William County|We welcome our members to share job opportunities available in your agency and within your community! Northern Virginia Family Service has two available positions in Prince William County including Deputy Director of Client Services and Program Supervisor. For more information on each position, click the links above. Martinsville and West Piedmont region|
On November 11, the West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition (WPBHC) held a luncheon in which they released their regional Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness and announced the regions participation in the statewide 1,000 Home initiative. WPBHC's plan to end homelessness identifies a number of priorities, including increasing the number of permanent housing units where supportive services are provided and a strategy to explore the creation of and seek funds for a 60-unit apartment complex to provide permanent housing with supportive services for people with disabilities in Henry County and Martinsville.
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Have you received your annual membership renewal letter? If so, please renew! If you are unsure whether or not your membership is due, email vceh@vceh.org
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The Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness is the statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in the Commonwealth of Virginia through community collaboration, capacity building, education, and advocacy. www.vceh.org
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VCEH Publications:
2010 PSH Report A national consensus has formed on the effectiveness of permanent supportive housing for preventing and ending homelessness for the most vulnerable individuals, with the most severe and complex needs. The State of Permanent Supportive Housing in the Commonwealth of Virginia outlines the status of permanent supportive housing programs in Virginia, and includes: the current number of permanent supportive housing units, who permanent supportive housing serves and can serve, and how it can solve the problems of chronic homelessness, jail and prison recidivism, and inadequate housing options for youth aging out of foster care.
It answers the questions: how close does Virginia's current permanent supportive housing capacity come to meeting the need for permanent supportive housing in Virginia and how can we better use partnerships, encourage increased collaboration, and leverage existing and new resources to fill the gap between current capacity and actual need.
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