On September 7th, Funders Together hosted a webinar called "Housing Insecurity is an Economics Problem: Connecting Economic and Housing Justice" in conjunction with Funders for Housing and Opportunity, Economic Opportunity Funders, and the Tax Equity Funders Network. In her reflection, Christina Ostmeyer from Funders for Housing and Opportunity re-iterates how solving housing insecurity is ultimately linked with dismantling and transforming our current economic systems, to build towards a more just future.

We are excited to announce that Carey Cabrera joined Funders Together as our Membership and Knowledge Coordinator in August 14, 2023. Welcome to the Funders Together team! We officially met earlier this month in Atlanta, Georgia for our annual in-person staff retreat and look forward to working together in our mission to achieve housing justice. 

We hosted our 2023 Funders Institute in partnership with the National Conference on Ending Homelessness from July 17-19. Embracing themes of trust and accountability this year, we deepened our understanding of these concepts by leaning into the teachings of transformative justice writers and activists, as well as the knowledge of movement leaders who have effectively embraced these values in their work. 

The following blog was originally delivered orally by Michael Durham as part of the framing remarks for the 2023 Funders Institute in Washington, DC, which embraced the theme “accountability and trust” to inform its sessions. It has been edited slightly for this format.  

Funders Together’s second Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE) cohort wrapped its two-year learning-to-action journey learning in May 2023. We spent three days in Tulsa, OK learning about the history of Black Wall Street, deepening our commitment to housing justice, and dreaming of a more just and liberated future together. Read on to learn about our time at the Greenwood Cultural Center and Greenwood Rising and the questions we discussed.

Funders Together to End Homelessness has joined partner philanthropic organizations and private funders in responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rulings in the Affirmative Action case. 

Last week, Jordan Neely, a 30-year old Black man, was murdered while pleading for help and experiencing homelessness in New York City. Days earlier, Banko Brown, a 24-year old transgender Black man and organizer, was killed when suspected of shoplifting. 

We will name it: These murders are a result of policy choices rooted in white supremacy.

On February 28, we gathered in Oakland, California, in conjunction with the National Conference on Ending Homelessness for our 2023 Funders Forum. More than 60 participants from across the country joined to discuss how philanthropy can support the movement through coalition-building, what it means to engage in principled struggle, and how we can authentically and holistically center those with lived experience to achieve housing justice.  

National members of the National Coalition for Housing Justice (NCHJ) call on the Biden-Harris administration and Bowser administration to immediately halt plans to forcibly remove unhoused people in McPherson Square on Wednesday, February 15, two months ahead of schedule before all unhoused individuals in the encampment have been housed or moved to bridge housing while they await permanent options.

By creating the Greenlining Fund and intentionally sharing power with community members impacted by redlining in Omaha, Front Porch Investments demonstrates how transformative change can come from authentic relationships and ceding power.