Helping communities shift from short-term to long-term solutions to homelessness
August 2012 Newsletter
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In this Issue:
- Summit on Employing People Experiencing Homelessness
- Where We've Been in July 2012
- Upcoming Events
- Rapid Re-Housing
- 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians
- Update: NAMI-VA &VCEH Housing Stability and Mental Illness Summit and Conference Evaluation!
- Policy: VCEH Working to Increase Federal Funding
- Welcome to New Members
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SPOTLIGHT:
SUMMIT ON EMPLOYING PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
 September 13th 10:30 am - 5:30 pm Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library 111 W. Ocean View Ave. Norfolk, VA 23503 VCEH, the South Hampton Roads Regional Task Force to End Homelessness, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development will convene an event to review and dialogue on best practice strategies for increasing employment opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. The summit will include experts from the Working to End Homelessness project of the National Transitional Jobs Network at the Heartland Alliance based in Chicago, Illinois. The National Transitional Jobs Network recently completed extensive research on employment strategies for people experiencing homelessness. "We learned that across all the strategies we examined that there are common, unifying principles. One of the most important is to meet people where they are to respond to a person's desire to work," said Chris Warland of the National Transitional Jobs Network. "It's not new to us, but needs to be acknowledged: people experiencing homelessness want to work." The summit will provide tools that agencies can immediately incorporate into their programs to provide employment opportunities for their clients, as well as long-term goals for program development. "The Network has always been interested in providing actionable, practical tools and ideas that can be implemented right away at little or no cost, so that agencies can begin to help their clients right away," said Warland. The event is free and open all, but registration is requested. Register now by clicking here! Preview of Resources to be Presented at the Summit: The Working to End Homelessness project has compiled a wonderful series of resources on the best practices to employ people experiencing homelessness that they will discuss at the summit. Check out these resources at the links below and join us on September 13th! For more information or if you have questions, contact David Bresnahan at 804-332-0498 or davidbres@vceh.org.
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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 July of 2012!
Hampton for the Virginia Housing Coalition, VCEH and Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Policy Forum to formally gather input into the design of the newly created Virginia Housing Trust Fund, provide an update on the outcome of the 2012 General Assembly Session, and discuss potential issues for the 2013 General Assembly Session.
Washington, DC for the National Alliance to End Homelessness annual conference on ending homelessness. VCEH helped to organize meetings with Virginia's participants for Capitol Hill Day in order to ensure adequate funding for homeless service programs in the coming fiscal year.
Richmond to host the NAMI Virginia, VCEH, and DBHDS Housing Stability and Mental Illness Summit in which 250 participants from across the state came together to increase their knowledge on the critical components of permanent supportive housing programs that are effective in creating stability for people experiencing mental illness and to create community action plans to develop permanent supportive housing.
On the phone with a national expert on HUD Continuum of Care funding
to strategize ways that Virginia can access a greater share of the more than $2.2 million in federal resources it currently leaves on the table for homeless assistance agencies in the Commonwealth.
Charlottesville for the Virginia Housing Coalition, VCEH, and Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Policy Forum to formally gather input into the design of the newly created Virginia Housing Trust Fund, provide an update on the outcome of the 2012 General Assembly Session, and discuss potential issues for the 2013 General Assembly Session.
Front Royal for a meeting with the Northern Shenandoah Valley Continuum of Care to review draft elements for possible inclusion in the Northern Shenandoah Valley's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. VCEH is assisting in the development of the plan and guiding the process.
On the phone with representatives of agencies and Continuums of Care throughout Virginia to learn about statewide progress on the state plan to end homelessness.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
August 15, 10am - 12pm (FULL) and 1:30pm - 3:30pm (open), Richmond
Housing Policy Forum: Input Session on VHTF
Register for this session here
August 21, 10am - 12pm, Fredericksburg
Housing Policy Forum: Input Session on VHTF
Register for this session here
August 21, 11am - 5pm, Wytheville
Rapid Re-Housing Workshops for Domestic Violence Providers
For more information and to register click here
August 22, 11am - 5pm, Charlottesville
Rapid Re-Housing Workshops for Domestic Violence Providers
For more information and to register click here
September 7, 10am - 12pm
Webinar: New HEARTH Act Regulations
Discuss implications for Continuums of Care and homeless assistance agencies throughout Virginia.
For more information and to register click here
September 13, 10am - 5:30pm, Norfolk
Employment Summit
The event is free and open to all, but registration is requested.
To register click here
September 17, 11am-5pm, Fairfax
Rapid Re-Housing Workshops for Domestic Violence Providers
For more information and to register click here
September 19, 11am-5pm, Norfolk
Rapid Re-Housing Workshops for Domestic Violence Providers
For more information and to register click here
September 27, 10am - 12pm
Webinar: Shifting Transitional Housing Programs to Rapid Re-Housing
First step in a series of available technical assistance to assist transitional housing programs realign their programs to best practice rapid re-housing models.
For more information and to register click here
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RAPID RE-HOUSING Rapid Re-Housing Grants Awarded A collaboration between VCEH, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, is awarding 18 grants made possible through funding from the Freddie Mac Foundation as a part of a project to reducing family homelessness in Virginia through Rapid Re-Housing. The goal of these grants is to reduce family homelessness in Virginia by supplementing efforts that support a rapid re-housing approach to ending homelessness. Rapid re-housing is a strategy that has proven effective in ending homelessness in many communities. It involves helping people quickly move into permanent housing and providing temporary support and financial assistance as needed. Click here to view the announcement! Rapid Re-Housing Certification Pilot
VCEH's partner, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, is seeking organizations that provide rapid re-housing assistance in Virginia to pilot a Rapid Re-Housing Certification. The certification is part of a collaboration between VCEH, the Alliance, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Freddie Mac Foundation. The Rapid Re-Housing Certification is designed to help providers, funders, and other stakeholders identify programs that are delivering rapid re-housing assistance effectively. Organizations interested in learning more about the certification and piloting the certification process should contact Anna Blasco at ablasco@naeh.org.
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1,000 HOMES FOR 1,000 VIRGINIANS
Statewide Vulnerability Data
Since the first registry week in August 2011, nearly 1,400 individuals experiencing homelessness of which over 40 percent are medically vulnerable have been identified across Virginia.
- 75% chronically homeless
- 59% report a serious health condition
- 25% report 3 or more ER visits in 3 months
- 16% over the age of 60
- 15% Veterans
- 3.85 years average length of homelessness
Fairfax County joins statewide initiative! VCEH is thrilled to share that Fairfax County has officially joined the 1,000 Homes for 1,000 Virginians initiative and 100,000 Homes campaign! The 13th community to participate, Fairfax is in the early stages of organizing their campaign. We look forward to continuing to share information on their campaign and how you can participate!
Arlington and Richmond honored during NAEH conference
At the National Alliance to End Homelessness annual conference, Arlington and Richmond were honored as two of the 15 communities across the nation to have a 2.5% housing placement average. Together, both communities have housed 113 individuals!
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UPDATE: NAMI-VIRGINIA & VCEH
HOUSING STABILITY AND MENTAL ILLNESS SUMMIT
Conference Evaluation
Did you forget to fill out your conference evaluation? Please take a few minutes to fill out our online conference evaluation. Your feedback is critical! Click here!
Nearly 250 people from across the state came together on July 22 and 23 to increase their knowledge on the critical components of permanent supportive housing programs in order create community action plans for the development of supportive housing for people experiencing mental illness. A total of 44 speakers and moderators provided their expertise for 12 workshops topics spanning outreach and engagement, peer support, community health partnerships and health policy, supported employment, and financing permanent supportive housing.
National, state, and regional experts included:
- Sam Tsemberis, CEO and Founder, Pathways to Housing, Inc.
- Linda Kaufman, 100,000 Homes Campaign Eastern US Field Organizer, Community Solutions
- Doug Bevelacqua, Inspector General, Virginia Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
- Banci Tewolde, Deputy Secretary, Virginia Office of Public Safety
- Cliff Hayes, City Councilman, Chesapeake, Virginia
- Jennifer McClellan, Virginia House of Delegates, 71st District
- Jim Stewart, Commissioner, Virginia Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
- Pam Kestner, Homeless Outcomes Coordinator, Virginia Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources
Over 56 localities were represented and 11 teams organized for local action plan development to create or enhance places for permanent supportive housing in their community.
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POLICY: VCEH WORKING TO INCREASE FEDERAL FUNDING
Virginia is leaving $2,252,913 in federal homeless assistance funding on the table. These funds, if claimed, could create 187 units of permanent supportive housing or 450 rapid re-housing opportunities across the Commonwealth.
Just about every other state and community is drawing down the total amount of funds to which they are eligible. Virginia is only one of two states that is not accessing the full share of federal homeless assistance funding. Parts of Oklahoma, parts of Florida, and parts of Northern California are the other areas not accessing their full entitlement. See the chart below titled "2011 Continuum of Care funding" highlighting the states and communities that are not accessing their full funding (those in blue are not accessing their full share).
 VCEH recently sponsored a meeting with national Continuum of Care expert Suzanne Wagner for CoC representatives to review how to increase competitiveness of federal funding applications. Read Suzanne's presentation by clicking here.
One recommendation for increasing access to this federal funding is for CoCs to merge. VCEH is dedicated to helping CoCs access our full share of federal funding and has been leading conversations on the possibility of merging.
If your CoC is interested in more information about merging to increase your community's competitiveness at securing funding for homeless assistance agencies, please contact David Bresnahan, VCEH Project Manager, at 804-332-0498 or davidbres@vceh.org.
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Thank you to our recent new and renewed individual and organizational members:
Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless
Caritas
Doorways for Women and Children
Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services
St. Luke's Catholic Church
Have you received your annual membership renewal letter? If so, please renew! If you are unsure whether your membership is due, email vceh@vceh.org.
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ABOUT US
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.
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Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness
PO Box 14649 Richmond, Virginia 23221
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