housing first

$1 Million Invested in Housing First

Meghan Keaney Anderson — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:58:20 -0600

United Way announces the largest single private investment in nonprofit organizations that have adopted the innovative Housing First approach to ending homelessness. Read more...

A New Perspective on Homelessness

Guest Blogger — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:41:18 -0500

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 »

Ending Homelessness: Video on Successes Across the Country

Elizabeth Curtis — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:56:00 -0600

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?

George Caponigro

Meghan Keaney Anderson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:25:16 -0500

"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 »

Housing First, and then what?

Carly Moskowitz — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:38:32 -0600

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 »

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

Meghan Keaney Anderson — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:56:32 -0600

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 »

Making a Difference Beyond the Holiday Season

Elizabeth Curtis — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:48:58 -0600

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 »

More Work to be Done

Elizabeth Curtis — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:56:57 -0600

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 »

Motel Homeless Numbers on the rise

Meghan Keaney Anderson — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:59:55 -0500

This morning, The Boston Globe ran a front page story on the record numbers of families being placed by the state into area motels because homeless shelters are over capacity. As of June 15, there were 751 families, with about 1000 children total, living in local motels at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $2 million last month ($85 a night). read more »

National Alliance to End Homelessness Releases new report

Meghan Keaney Anderson — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:10:32 -0600

BOSTON - Today, January 13, 2009, the Homelessness Research Institute of the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NEAH) released its second Homelessness Counts report, the first report to track changes in homelessness on both a state and national level over time. According to the report, chronic homelessness in Massachusetts was reduced by 6 percent, due in part to increased investments in Housing First, a strategy aimed at reducing chronic homelessness by read more »