Funders Together to End Homelessness is coming into leaf in new and exciting ways.
Out here in Seattle, signs of spring have become insistent, despite a long and wet winter. Flowers are blooming, trees are coming into leaf, and temperatures are slowly but steadily climbing. I’ve finally tuned up my bike and have resumed commuting to work on two wheels rather than four.
Funders Together to End Homelessness is also coming into leaf in new and exciting ways. Through the hard work of our dedicated staff and board, and as a result of expressions of interest and efforts by funders all over the nation, the vision of a vibrant network of philanthropic sector partners that lies at the core of Funders Together’s goals is rapidly being realized.
Since the start of 2012, representatives from the following organizations have joined Funders Together:
- Vladimir & Araxia Buckhantz Foundation
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. (L.A. office)
This list includes everything from large foundations with corporate connections doing bold work across the country to small family foundations working diligently within very specific geographies. The list also includes a growing number of United Way chapters from a broad range of jurisdictions that all share the goal of ending homelessness.
Regardless of their size or the scope of their activities, each of these organizations is a valued partner with a commitment to engaging in strategic, catalytic philanthropy that touches the lives of people who are homeless today while simultaneously promoting systemic level changes that will lead to ending homelessness once and for all in this country. Funders Together is now more than 135 members strong.
Developing Resources & Networks to Make Connecting Easier
Funders Together staff also have been hard at work developing new tools that our sector can use to better inform our voice, engage our partners, and embolden our work. Some of these tools give us the information and context to best align our work with the much larger federal resources that are now or will soon be coming into play, such as HEARTH Act funds. Others of these tools are designed to help our members and allies create partnerships and working groups to further shared agendas. Stay tuned for a refresh of our website that will make it far more accessible and user friendly, with easy access to the things funders need and want to know to enhance their work.
Funders Together is also proud to support and promote the work of existing or emerging philanthropic sector funders’ networks in cities throughout America, including: Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Miami, Sarasota, Chattanooga, Tulsa, Chicago, and Seattle. Even more importantly, many of these networks are now building bridges to the public sector funders from local, state, and federal systems that are at work in their jurisdictions, creating true public-private partnerships that will be essential to achieving shared, long-term goals. Funders Together – and our members – now have stronger ties than ever to important organizations like the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, and others.
This is truly exciting work, and I salute our Funders Together team and our partners across the country for the amazing work underway that puts the goal of ending homelessness even closer to our collective grasp.
There is a reason spring is my favorite season. Spring is the season of hope and certainty that infuses the air with growth and the promise of new life. And I’m delighted to report that spring is well underway at Funders Together.
David Wertheimer is the Deputy Director of the Pacific Northwest Initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, as well as the Board Chair of Funders Together to End Homelessness. Find him at @DavidWSeattle.