January 2021 | Kicking Off Health System Funders for Housing Justice

A national network of funders supporting strategic, innovative, and effective solutions to homelessness

January 2021 | Kicking Off Health System Funders for Housing Justice

We held our virtual convening over two days (January 25-26). During this time, we kicked off our network with quick introductions and set the table for the work ahead. Community Solutions presented their upcoming pilot, The Health Care and Homelessness Pilot Initiative. Participants were able to engage in conversation about possible things they would like to learn as this pilot develops. Additionally, participants engaged in discussion around advocacy and policy efforts at this intersection.

Pre-Reading

Outside Their Comfort Zone: Health Sector Players Speaking Up for Housing Policy Change: This article provides helpful background on the various policy and advocacy issues which will be explored further in Tuesday’s discussions.

Meeting Materials

Agenda
Monday, January 25
- Slides for January 25
- Notes from January 25
- The Health Care and Homelessness Pilot Initiative Resources
Tuesday, January 26
- Slides for January 26
- Notes from January 26
- Policy and Advocacy at the Intersection of Health and Homelessness
  - Slides presented by Anna Bailey from The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
    - Housing and Health Partners Can Work Together to Close the Housing Affordability Gap
    - Medicaid Can Partner With Housing Providers and Others to Address Enrollees’ Social Needs
  - Slides presented by Bich Ha Pham from Healthcare Anchor Network

Recordings

Monday, January 25

Tuesday, January 26

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We joined Funders Together because we believe in the power of philanthropy to play a major role in ending homelessness, and we know we have much to learn from funders across the country.

-Christine Marge, Director of Housing and Financial Stability at United Way of Greater Los Angeles

I am thankful for the local partnerships here in the Pacific Northwest that we’ve been able to create and nurture thanks to the work of Funders Together. Having so many of the right players at the table makes our conversations – and all of our efforts – all the richer and more effective.

-David Wertheimer, Deputy Director at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom. The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.

-President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 State of the Union Address

Funders Together has given me a platform to engage the other funders in my community. Our local funding community has improved greatly to support housing first models and align of resources towards ending homelessness.

-Leslie Strnisha, Vice President at Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland

Our family foundation convenes local funders and key community stakeholders around strategies to end homelessness in Houston. Funders Together members have been invaluable mentors to us in this effort, traveling to our community to share their expertise and examples of best practices from around the nation.

-Nancy Frees Fountain, Managing Director at The Frees Foundation