housing first

Guest Blogger
Tue, 03/18/2008

A New Perspective on Homelessness

Guest blogger Katie writes on Housing First

The following is a post from SpeakUnited's very first guest blogger. Katie is a 7th grader at Wellesley Middle School. She was introduced to Homelessness issues by her mother who helped to implement a program in London for homeless teens called Business Action on Homelessness. Katie also recently researched homelessness for a school assignment and interviewed United Way housing expert Liz Curtis. Click the headline to see her post.  read more »

Elizabeth Curtis
Thu, 03/06/2008

Ending Homelessness: Video on Successes Across the Country

Check out this free video and think of ways to use it!

Through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Alliance to End Homelessness has made a new video available to the public for free. The video can be accessed here.

The National Alliance is hoping that by offering this video for free, various groups will be able to use it for fundraising, educational purposes, and prompting discussion about how we work to end homelessness in our own communities.

What do you think of this video? Does it provide you with new information? How should United Way use it, and in what circumstances? Will you share this video with others?

Read More...   read more »

George Caponigro

"If you lost the most precious thing you have, how much more precious is it if you find it again?"

Today, George Caponigro lives for precious moments and the family that he thought he'd lost forever. In his cozy apartment, filled with photos of his grandchildren and the many recognitions he has received for his work as a homeless advocate, George
is a long way from the bench on Boston Common that he once called home.  read more »

Carly Moskowitz
Thu, 01/03/2008

Housing First, and then what?

Uprooting homelessness in our region

Yesterday I read an article (Amid Growth, No Place to Go) regarding the increase of homelessness in Plymouth. It discussed both the response of local merchants in the Plymouth downtown area, as well as those struggling on the streets. Business owners–and this is not strictly the sentiments of those in Plymouth–feel that customers are less likely to spend money at a store where a homeless person is hanging around the outside. They cite safety issues as their greatest concern including general vagrancy and drunkenness.  read more »

Meghan Keaney
Fri, 02/08/2008

Lt. Governor Murray at the Leadership Summit on Housing First.

The right resources & the right people at the right time to end homelessness in 5 years

I wanted to follow up Liz's post on Ending Homelessness in Massachusetts with a video of Lt. Governor Murray's Speech at the Leadership Summit on Housing First. The Patrick Administration has put forth $10 million plan to end homelessness in Massachusetts in the next five years. The plan is informed by the recommendations of the Special Commission to End Homelessness, which was Co-chaired by Representative Byron Rushing and Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks (and included United Way's own Liz Curtis)...  read more »

Elizabeth Curtis
Wed, 12/05/2007

Making a Difference Beyond the Holiday Season

How can we make a lasting difference?

With all the holiday toy drives, coat collections, and food drives,
it's easy for us to figure out how we can do something very simple to
help homeless and other low-income families. In an immediate way, we
can see that our donations of winter coats and stuffed animals can make
a difference for families who don't have the extra resources we all
need at this time of year. It makes us feel good, and it really does
mean something to those receiving the gifts. After reading an article
by Victoria Cheng in the Boston Globe last Sunday however, I was moved
to help keep people focused on the long-term goal - ending homelessness...  read more »

Elizabeth Curtis
Fri, 01/11/2008

More Work to be Done

Boston's Homeless Census Results Suggest Ongoing Action

On December 18th a cohort of United Way staff joined Mayor Menino, and 350 volunteers from around the area in their annual effort to quantify the number of people experiencing homelessness on that given night. See Donna Stiglmeier's blog entry for an account of her experience.

 This week, the results of the census were released. We received some positive news, as well as some clarity that there was much work left to be done to end homelessness for many of our neighbors.  read more »

Elizabeth Curtis
Tue, 05/27/2008

Nowhere Else to Go

Solutions have been presented, but until Housing First is implemented families are stuck

In last Saturday's Globe Jonathan Scott, a partner of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, wrote a compelling letter in reaction to the town of Yarmouth's policies to shut down motels that house guests for more than 30 days. Jonathan writes of the reality that many homeless families have had to resort to renting rooms in motels due to a lack of affordable alternatives (in some cases they end up there on their own, in others they are sent there by the state because regular shelter beds are full).

Bear with me, but before I go on with my point I want to just imagine that for a second. Living with my little kids on the side of a busy road, no kitchen, maybe no refrigerator, my family and friends are all somewhere else.  read more »

Kory Eng
Mon, 03/10/2008

Optimistic for the future

The National Student Conference on Service Advocacy and Social Action

Sunday, Joe Finn, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, and I spoke at the National Student Conference on Service Advocacy and Social Action at Northeastern University- a national conference for students around the country who are interested in making a difference by learning about and addressing social issues.

Topics included, everything from global warming, to community organizing, to responsible media. Joe and I spoke about homelessness in Massachusetts and the housing first movement. Wow these were kids engaged! I counted at least 15 provocative and intelligent comments and questions. Joe noted that many of the comments and questions from these kids about the issue as well as state and community responses are the exact ones raised and made by experts in the field for years. Afterward a group stayed and talked to us for another half hour about the problem and how they can get involved. Not only did I leave feeling even more invigorated and motivated by our work but the enthusiasm and passion of these kids made me feel really optimistic about our future!

   read more »

United Way announces new $717,000 commitment in the effort to end homelessness

09/08/2008

BOSTON - On the heels of a new report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which shows that funding "for permanent supportive housing," reduces the rates of chronic homelessness, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley is today announcing a new investment of $717,000 to advance the Housing First efforts of 13 organizations in Boston, Cambridge, Lynn, Lowell, Quincy and Somerville.  read more »

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