The Funders Together Staff takes a look back at 2021 as we move forward in our work for housing justice in 2022.

This year’s Funders Institute, held virtually on September 28-30, was an exchange of ideas and knowledge, weaving a web of knowledge centered on housing justice through every plenary and breakout session. Across three days, the theme of narrative connected conversations about slavery, critical race theory, grassroots advocacy, and whose stories get told. 

Funders Together to End Homelessness, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, United Philanthropy Forum, and Women's Funding Network, came together to send the following letter to Congress urging elected federal leaders to enact the housing investments in the Build Back Better Act. 

The National Coalition for Housing Justice (NCHJ) is aligned behind seeking housing justice in order to end homelessness, including youth homelessness. The national organizations that make up the NCHJ represent advocates and leaders in national efforts to end homelessness. 

Today, the coalition released the following statement calling on Congress to commit to and secure historic levels of funding for housing and homelessness services in the Build Back Better Act.

The National Coalition for Housing Justice (NCHJ) is aligned behind seeking housing justice in order to end homelessness, including youth homelessness. The national organizations that make up the NCHJ represent advocates and leaders in national efforts to end homelessness. 

Today, the coalition released the following statement, condemning the ongoing use of law enforcement in response to visible homelessness and calling on the federal government to take steps to stop this harmful approach.

For the past six months, Funders Together to End Homelessness, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), PEAK Grantmaking, and Southern California Grantmakers (SCG) have been on a journey of self-reflection and situational assessment to explore principles from the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ (EEF) and consider long-standing beliefs and assumptions in our learning and evaluation practices that show up as orthodoxies.

In July, Funders Together members were joined by three housing justice leaders for a Q&A to discuss the current state of housing and homeless service federal investments in response to COVID-19. Ann Oliva, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Sarah Saadian, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Susan Thomas, President of Melville Charitable Trust, joined Brittani Manzo, a consultant and advisor to Funders Together, in conversation to share insights and recommendations.

On June 8-10, thirty-four funders from across the United States gathered virtually to kick off the second Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE) community of practice. We came together to forge new relationships, learn about the work that others are doing related to racial equity and ending homelessness, and to articulate goals that we want to work toward over the next two years. 

Measure J passed in California on November 2020, signaling a critical win in a long-fought battle for greater equity and reform by local advocates. The measure’s campaign was built and executed by BIPOC-led organizations who have been working for over a decade to transform our justice system and reverse structural racism’s long-term devastation of poor communities of color. 

Learning with others and building relationships is at the heart of creating change. Funders Together is excited to announce the thirty funders in our second Foundations for Racial Equity community of practice who will work together to advance racial equity in their homelessness and housing work.