**First 100 Day Priority
The federal government should not and cannot work in a vacuum. One way to prevent this vacuum is for advocacy organizations and activists to create substantial pressure from the outside. Philanthropy can be a catalyst in creating this pressure by providing quick and flexible resources for organizers and coalitions to build capacity and power to influence the administration’s vision and policy proposals and act as accountability partners.
One way to do this is through supporting the National Coalition for Housing Justice, a group of 14 national organizations, including Funders Together to End Homelessness, that are aligned in seeking housing justice in order to end homelessness. Since its formation in the Fall of 2019, the coalition has come together to coordinate advocacy efforts, develop policy recommendations, and leverage collective tools to garner the attention of both lawmakers and the public to meet the goal of housing justice. Supporting the coalition will allow it to both continue and expand components of its work, such as:
- working with key federal officials to inform and influence upcoming policy and program design and implementation through targeted community listening sessions and public comment opportunities tied to advanced copies of Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) outlines for on-the-ground feedback before it is finalized.
- aligning with homelessness and housing narrative projects to continue much needed messaging to change hearts and minds around homelessness and its solutions to influence federal officials to craft and design equitable policies and solutions to homelessness and gain public support for those solutions.
- engaging Black and Brown led organizers, activists, and people with lived expertise in the coalition’s work by informing efforts and having leadership positions within the coalition.
- building capacity for implementation of The Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response.
- coordinating and aligning with A New Deal on Housing Justice on policy priorities to advance racial and housing justice.
Funders who are unable to support national efforts can focus on resourcing local grantee partners, organizers, and activists to better equip them with the capacity to work with the National Coalition for Housing Justice and by connecting them to each other. It is critical for voices and expertise at national, state, and local levels to be working in concert and create a strong network of influence and accountability that can drive and push this administration to engage in systems redesign that achieves housing justice.
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