On July 23, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development officially proposed a rule that would rewrite the Equal Access Rule as it stand and erase protections for LGBTQ people facing becoming unhoused or in need of any HUD-funded services. This proposed rule change would remove critical equal access protections that ensure equal access for everyone in need of HUD-funded services and programs, but particularly targets transgender, gender nonconforming and nonbinary individuals. HUD exists to “build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination,” however the proposed rule would open the door to taxpayer-funded discrimination against the people in our communities who are at the greatest risk of violence and inequities. The Equal Access Rule’s protections against discrimination are critical to ensure safe access to shelter for transgender, non-binary, or gender nonconforming people experiencing homelessness, survivors of violence, and people fleeing disasters.

Currently, homeless shelters are expressly directed to accept transgender, gender nonconforming and nonbinary people, but the proposed changes would instead allow shelters to reject members of these communities simply because of who they are. This proposed roll-back would allow widespread discrimination towards transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people when they are facing becoming unhoused, or fleeing from disaster. The current regulations provide safety in HUD-funded programs, and this proposed rule change would only leave transgender and non-binary people less safe and more at risk, especially during a global health crisis.

Funders Together created a joint statement alongside our advocacy partners denouncing the rule, which you can read here.

How Philanthropy Can Take Action

This proposed rule comment period opened Friday, July 24, and will run through September 22, which is the deadline to submit comments on this proposed rule change. HUD is legally required to write a response to each unique comment before they can implement a Final Rule, meaning that the more comments they receive, the longer it will take them to put this dangerous and discriminatory rule into effect. 

Funders Together is working closely with our partners on a campaign to generate as many public comments in opposition of the rule as possible in order to slow down the process in which this proposed rule could become approved. Philanthropy can take action and join in with other leaders to oppose this proposed rule and protect LGBTQ and trans people from shelter and housing discrimination by:

• submitting a public comment. Funders can prepare unique comments and submit them through the Housing Saves Lives comment portal. Funders Together is available to help you strategize and craft comments. Funders should also encourage their grantee partners to submit unique comments.
  
  
• reviewing our funder call on the Equal Access Rule. Funders Together partnered with Funders for LGBTQ Issues for a call on the Equal Access Rule, how to take action, and other ways funders can support and protect the LGBTQ and trans communities. You can view the recording here. 
  
  
• signing up for updates on the Housing Saves Lives website to receive emails about updates to the campaign and additional resources to help you speak up against this proposed rule.
  
  
• utilizing the Housing Saves Lives partner toolkit to get the word out to your network about the proposed rule and its potential impacts.

Remember: Submitting comments to proposed regulatory changes is NOT considered lobbying. Private foundations can provide comments in response to this proposed rule, and public charities, like community foundations, can do so without tracking and reporting it as lobbying on their 990s.

If you have any questions about this proposed rule or submitting public comments, please email Amanda Andere or Lauren Bennett. 

Upcoming Programming

National Alliance to End Homelessness Webinar: A Conversation About the Equal Access Rule and Why It Matters
Wednesday, September 16 | 2pm ET, 11am PT

Additional Resources

Center for American Progress: The Trump Administration’s Latest Attack on Transgender People Facing Homelessness

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: HUD’s Proposed Rule Would Allow Discrimination Against Transgender People

National Alliance to End Homelessness: Changes to HUD’s Equal Access Rule Could Exclude More Transgender People From Shelter

National Alliance to End Homelessness: Transgender Homeless Adults & Unsheltered Homelessness: What the Data Tell Us

True Colors United: Help Stop Trump’s Anti-Trans Rule 

The National Coalition for Housing Justice, of which Funders Together is a part of, sent the following to HUD Secretary Designee Fudge expressing our desire for partnership to achieve racial and housing justice and requesting a meeting to align on priorities. 

Friday, January 22, 2021 | 1:00pm ET / 12:00pm CT / 11:00am MT / 10:00am PT

Co-sponsored by Funders' Committee for Civic Participation

After years of challenges, the 2020 Census headcount is complete. However, the work to ensure a fair and accurate census isn’t over, especially when it comes to making sure people experiencing homelessness are fairly counted and equitably represented as local and state governments engage in resource allocation and redistricting. Given the importance of the count for funding, policy decisions, and redistricting, funders must understand and engage in the post-count processes. to amend the data now and improve the process for future counts.

During this webinar, we will explore what happened during the 2020 Census count, the status of data analyses efforts, and strategies to improve the data, specifically among people experiencing homelessness. We’ll also hear how funders can support operations to impact the quality of the Census data, engage around fair redistricting, and ensure people experiencing homelessness are part of that assessment.

Speakers

• Beth Lynk, Census Counts & The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Meghan Maury, LGBTQ Taskforce
• Stephania Ramirez, California Community Foundation

Registration

Please register for this webinar through the button below. Once confirmed, you’ll receive call-in information directly from Zoom. If you have questions about registration in the hour before the call, please contact Lauren Samblanet, Knowledge Management and Communications Manager.

PLEASE NOTE: Participation in our programming is limited to private funders, including foundations, United Ways, corporate giving programs, individual philanthropists, and philanthropy serving organizations (PSOs). If you have questions about your eligibility to register, please contact Stephanie Chan, Director of Membership and Programs at Funders Together to End Homelessness.  

This webinar will last 75 minutes.

Across the country, communities are working to end homelessness and address housing challenges by shifting policy to transform systems. In order to do that and achieve housing justice, strong political and public will must be built. However, gaining support requires compelling and values-based messaging to make the case. We have heard over and over that we need to “shift the narrative.” But, what does that really mean and what messages work?

Below are resources, past and current research projects, and programming focused on homelessness and housing messaging that can help guide funders as they look to implement narrative and messaging campaigns in the community to build both political and public will to end housing insecurity.

Funders Together Resources

Webinars and Guides

Webinar Recording: Housing and Homelessness Narrative Change: From Research to Action

How to Frame Homelessness Messaging

Narrative Change and Messaging Research Resources

ASO Communications

From It to I to Us: A Language Analysis of Discourse on Housing

No Place Like Home: Cognitive Elicitation Interviews on Housing

Center for Media & Social Impact

Homelessness & Housing Security in U.S. Culture: How Popular Culture & News Depict an American Challenge

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Housing Narrative Research

CZI Housing Narrative Research Overview

Frameworks Institute

Housing Toolkit

Housing Justice Narrative Initiative

Housing Justice Narrative Initiative website

Research

Webinars

Resources and Tools

Homeless Narrative Action Campaign

Project Overview

Invisible People

What America Believes About Homelessness

Progressive Playbook

Housing Messaging Guide

TheCaseMade

Dismantling the Narratives That Constrain Public Support for Fair Housing: the Urgent Need to Reframe the Public Conversation to Build Public Will

How Do Fish See Water? Building Public Will to Advance Inclusive Communities

Making the Case for Systems Change: Tackling the Issues of Gentrification & Displacement 

Who Gets to Live Where, and Why? The Answer May Be Settled By Our Narratives

"You Don't Have to Live Here" Why Housing Messages Are Backfiring and 10 Things We Can Do About It

Funders Together to End Homelessness joins national organizations partner organizations in the efforts to end homelessness to release the following statement:

Last updated: October 19, 2020

Though many of our philanthropic partners focus their work on best grantmaking practices, we thought it important to lift up some of these practices as they relate to COVID-19. During this pandemic, we have seen many funders convert program-restricted grants to general operating support and to reduce the burden of reporting or application requirements. If philanthropy can pivot this quickly during times of need and grantees report being able to focus more on their live-saving work, how can we as a field permanently adopt these changes to always reduce the burden on grantees? 

Responsive Funding and Processes

• Set up a rapid response fund or contribute to a local rapid response fund, and work with other local funders to coordinate grantmaking to reduce redundancies, ensure funding for all needs, and be aware of what other resources are available for grantees.  
• Expedite grantmaking processes, including: eliminating grant applications for existing grantees; aligning RFPs with other funders; waiving or deferring grant reports; and expediting grant payments.  
• Convert restricted grants to general operating support. Keep sponsorships despite canceled or postponed events.   
• Look at whether internal budgets for events or travel can be repurposed into additional grant dollars. 
• Consider additional grants to cover additional needs grantees might have as a result of COVID-19, such as new technology, mental health support for staff, additional capacity needs, etc.   

Examples & Resources:

• The Simmons Foundation in Houston clearly lays out the priorities and practices that they are adopting as a result of COVID-19, which includes: contacting most of the organizations with program support and are making those funds available to be used for operating dollars as needed; adjusting deadlines, reports, and applications; and supporting the healing and health of grant partners and movement leaders.  
• The Polk Bros. Foundation in Chicago also shares their COVID-19 commitment to grantee partners, including: the conversation of most grants to general operating support; simplifying application and reporting processes for at least their next two rounds of grantmaking; and being transparent that they do not anticipate their regular program budgets to be affected by the grants they’re making in response to COVID-19. 
• See Liberty Hill’s COVID-19 response activities, including launching a response fund, accelerating grants, organizing town halls to bring organizers together, and putting together a response page for partners. 
• Raikes Foundation announced a new fund for to Support Homeless Youth in Washington State Through COVID-19 Crisis 
• North Texas Cares is a common application that once submitted is reviewed by a collaboration of funders, including 30 North Texas foundations and United Ways, that have come together to provide support for organizations that work with people and communities most affected by all aspects of COVID-19. 

Grantmaking for Long-Term Change

• Start the process of permanently adopting these best practices to make your grantmaking equitable and best support grantees. 
• Start planning your recovery grantmaking strategy, which should center racial equity and systems-change work. Think about what policy changes are needed to prevent people from becoming homeless in the aftermath of COVID-19 and what will be needed to keep people who were housed during the pandemic from returning to the streets.   
• Begin thinking about how to shift more of your grantmaking dollars and processes to support and include people of color with lived expertise and grassroots organizers.  
• Use this moment to educate senior leadership and foundation boards about structural racism and why addressing it must be core to your grantmaking and mission, especially in the work to prevent and end homelessness. 
•  

Examples & Resources:

• COVID-19 and the Role of Philanthropy: How We Can Become Better Grantmakers – Borealis Philanthropy 
• Joint letter of commitment from several funders in the Washington DC area: The COVID-19 Crisis is a Racial Justice Issue & our Response must Prioritize the Power of Black, Indigenous, Latinx & Other People of Color 

Last updated: January 8, 2021

Throughout the course of the pandemic response, we’ve seen the communities understand the importance of moving people from congregate shelters settings into individual housing options that allow for proper “sheltering at home” and ability to adequately quarantine. The political and public will was built in a short amount of time, but it needs to be sustained and communities must not revert back to previous methods of sheltering and housing people experiencing homelessness and the community must be acutely aware of the large inflow to homelessness that is inevitable if we don’t focus on housing stability and homelessness prevention.  

New recommendations (but not examples) are denoted with *** 

• ***Continue to mobilize scaled-up investments into permanent housing options, including permanent supportive housing as needed to exit people from unsheltered homelessness and from shelters, including from new sheltering options created. (A Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response) 
• ***Push and support the transition from congregate shelter models to permanent housing solutions and enact mechanisms of accountability to ensure communities do not fall back into simply evolving congregate settings, but rather eliminate the model in favor of sustainable permanent solutions. 
• ***Ensure prevention funding is being provided to an array of community-based organizations, including non-traditional partners best able to reach into highly-impacted communities. (A Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response) 

Examples & Resources:

• Project Homekey - State of California:  Administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), $600 million in grant funding will be made available to local public entities, including cities, counties, or other local public entities, including housing authorities or federally recognized tribal governments within California to purchase and rehabilitate housing, including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings, and other buildings and convert them into interim or permanent, long-term housing. Of the $600 million in Homekey grant funds, $550 million is derived from the State's direct allocation of the federal Coronavirus Aid Relief Funds (CRF), and $50 million is derived from the State's General Fund. 
• Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE) 
• Housing Is How We End Homelessness, Not Police Sweeps
• How Philanthropy Can (and Can’t) Help Prevent Evictions during the Pandemic - The Urban Institute
• From Hotel to Home: Key Considerations for States and Local Jurisdictions Exploring Hotel/Motel Acquisitions as a Housing Strategy for People Exiting COVID-19 Shelters  - CSH

Last updated: October 19, 2020

In our response, must understand that the disparities we are seeing are rooted in structural racism and are not about race. The COVID-19 pandemic is not about pre-existing conditions. It’s about pre-existing inequities from stolen Indigenous land and chattel slavery. As Race Forward reminds us, COVID-19 kills, structural racism is its accomplice.  

As stated in our Funders Together to End Homelessness Commitment to Racial Equity, the work to end homelessness must center racial equity to more effectively recognize and meet the needs of people of color experiencing homelessness. Many of us are still developing our racial equity muscles, and during times of crisis, it is especially important to lean into racial equity work and not “put it aside” until a crisis is over. Being intentional now in addressing racial disparities and racist policies will create more equitable systems faster and allow for new ways of working together that live beyond the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In order for response and recovery efforts to be equitable, these questions, shared by the Consumer Health Foundation, should be asked at each step of any design and implementation process, including the philanthropic response:  

1. How does your response, even in the midst of crisis, contribute to long-term systems change?  
2. How are the voices of impacted communities centered?   
3. What data (quantitative or qualitative) are driving resource allocation? And what does that data tell you about the experiences of various racial/ethnic groups? How are women and LGBTQIA people of color particularly impacted?  
4. What are possible unintended consequences of the decisions you might make?  
5. What additional disaggregated demographic data will you collect, track, and evaluate to assess equity impacts in COVID-19 response moving forward, and how will that data inform your future decisions when the crisis is over?  
6. How are the actions you are taking grounded in history? 

New recommendations (but not examples) are denoted with *** 

Funding Priorities and Decisions

• *** Look at where rapid response dollars are going and ensure that: 
  • Organizations led by and serving people of color and LGBTQ people are receiving resources every time dollars and resources are distributed. Because many of our racial equity muscles are still developing, we forget that this type of analysis is more important during crises and cannot be a process that is forgotten or paused until the pandemic is over. 
  • Dollars are flowing to communities affected the worst by COVID-19, job loss, and evictions, which are often neighborhoods that are predominantly BIPOC communities. Are your grant dollars and partnerships focused on those neighborhoods?  
• *** Use available tools, such as CSH’s Racial Disparities and Disproportionality Index (RDDI) and Urban Institute’s Where to prioritize emergency rental assistance to keep renters in their homes map, to focus funding, outreach, and partnership efforts.  
• Prioritize culturally specific organizations that are not historically part of the mainstream systems to ensure they know of and are able to access both public and private funding. Strengthen these relationships and, if not already, fold these organizations into your regular grantmaking portfolio. Resource mainstream organizations to work with culturally specific organizations and vice versa.   
• *** Directly fund grassroots organizers, including ones who are working on racial justice, environmental justice, and housing justice, with unrestricted grants and help amplify their work, resources, and needs. Many grassroots organizers, especially those working for racial justice, truly understand an intersectional approach to supporting communities that includes access to adequate housing and healthcare.  

Examples & Resources:

• Liberty Hill Foundation's COVID-19 response 
• COVID-19 will not Affect Everyone the Same - Consumer Health Foundation 
• Joint letter of commitment from several funders in the Washington DC area: The COVID-19 Crisis is a Racial Justice Issue & our Response must Prioritize the Power of Black, Indigenous, Latinx & Other People of Color 
• North Texas Cares is a common application that once submitted is reviewed by a collaboration of funders, including 30 North Texas foundations and United Ways, that have come together to provide support for organizations that work with people and communities most affected by all aspects of COVID-19. Its social justice funding priority focuses on programs to focus on education to cultivate anti-racism, community organizing and movement building, community, and programs that foster and build leadership for people of color in nonprofit organizations.  
  
  

Supporting People of Color

• *** Make sure that the frontline staff, especially in organizations led by people of color, have access to the mental health and other wellness support systems to combat secondhand trauma.   
• *** Listen to people with lived expertise about the compound impacts the pandemic and structural racism have and what they mean for policy and service priorities.  
• Ensure and support outreach to populations experiencing homelessness or housing instability that may already be distrustful of the government and the medical system. This outreach should be led by people who already have a high degree of trust with those populations or communities. 
• Ensure people experiencing homelessness and housing instability, especially people of color and other marginalized groups, understand policies that are being proposed and hear what kinds of permanent policies would help them in the long run. 
  

Examples & Resources:

• NIS created 10 population-specific briefs to summarize the ideas and recommendations of individuals from ten historically-marginalized communities related to COVID-19 and structural racism: 
  • Priorities from Asian Americans  
  • Priorities from Black People 
  • Priorities from Latinx People 
  • Priorities from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer (LGBQ)/Trans* People 
  • Priorities from Native-Indigenous People 
  • Priorities from Pacific Islanders  
  • Priorities from People with Incarceration Histories 
  • Priorities from People Involved with Public Systems 
  • Priorities from People Living with Disabilities  
  • Top Priorities and Actions Across Communities 
• Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR): Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress: Models and Promising Practices and Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress: Philanthropy’s Role in Fostering Grantee Resilience 
• The Simmons Foundation has been providing wellness resources to their grantees during this pandemic and during the racial justice uprisings. These have included guided meditations, yoga classes, and more. 
• COVID-19 Resources for Partners in Multiple Languages - The California Endowment 
• COVID-19 Action that Centers Black LGBTQ People Can Address Housing Inequities – Urban Institute 
• Tribal Nations and Partners Tackle COVID-19 Inequities – W.K. Kellogg Foundation 

Data, Evaluations, and Systems

• Examine how culturally specific organizations are or are not connected to mainstream organizations and policy tables. Resource both mainstream organizations to work with culturally specific organizations and vice versa.   
• Support research and equitable evaluation efforts that are multi-culturally valid and oriented toward participant ownership to communicate the effects response strategies are having on public health, community well-being, and the systemic drivers of inequity. 
• Create space to learn about authentic collaboration in policy and funding decisions engaging people with lived expertise. Make sure that people with lived expertise have real power at decision-making tables.  
• Analyze how your COVID-19 grantmaking contributes to long-term systems change on top of meeting immediate needs.   

Examples & Resources:  

• An Equitable Systems Transformation Framework for COVID-19 - National Innovation Service (NIS)   
• King County Equity Impact Awareness Tool - King County Office of Equity and Social Justice  
• Race, Homelessness, and COVID-19 - Guidance for Homeless Services Providers - Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio  
• The COVID-19 Crisis is a Racial Justice Issue & our Response must Prioritize the Power of Black, Indigenous, Latinx & Other People of Color – letter of commitment from philanthropic leaders in the DC-metro area  
• Colorado Health Foundation COVID-19 Resource Page: Equity and Justice  
• 3 Principles for an Antiracist, Equitable State Response to COVID-19 – and a Strong Recovery – Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 

Last updated: December 15, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and amplified how the housing and intersecting systems were designed on racist ideas and policies producing inequitable and broken outcomes. While it’s important for philanthropy to take a lead role in the response and recovery efforts, each recommendation that we’ve outlined will only be successful long-term and result in true systemic change if the systems we work within are redesigned and reimagined with a racial justice framework to ensure BIPOC are prioritized. 

Bringing about systems change requires a sector wide approach of engaging in public policy and advocacy at all levels: local, state, and federal. Philanthropy has a pivotal role to play in not just supporting and influencing equitable systems change, but pushing for this change as part of a long-term vision and plan that continually puts racial justice at the forefront. The recommendations in this section call out what can be done in the short-term to set up the conditions for equitable long-term change at the systems level and also how philanthropy can push for accountability and continue the work of community transformation.  

New recommendations (but not examples) are denoted with *** 

Advancing Equitable Public Policy

• ***Support and invest in transformational local and state ballot initiatives to structurally change the budget by reallocating funding from existing locally controlled revenue to community investment, affordable housing, and homelessness prevention for housing justice.  
• Fund the public and political will building capacity and mechanisms that will drive local and state governments to create and support long-term solutions to ensure those who have been housed during the pandemic do not exit back into homelessness.   
• Push for systemic changes to policies that will further protect people experiencing homelessness, such as a ban on encampment sweeps and the decriminalization of homelessness.  
• Fund strategic communications and messaging campaigns to reinforce the importance of a home not just during times of crisis, but as a human right. 
• ***Push your organization’s board or trustees to increase involvement in public policy citing advancements made with relief packages and where those resources are flowing in order to set up the conditions to continue policy engagement within the organization and in concert with community stakeholders.  

Examples & Resources:

• Ballot Initiatives 
  • Measure J in Los Angeles, which is trying to dismantle systemic racism by investing in health, housing, and jobs 
  • Portland, OR voters passed a tax on wealthy households and companies in May 2020 to end chronic homelessness. Meyer Memorial Trust helped support the messaging for the ballot measure. 
    
    
• Narrative Change and Messaging Efforts 
  • National COVID-19 messaging document – from Race Class Narrative Action and Anat Shenker Osorio Communications  
  • Frameworks Institute Guide on Framing COVID-19 
  • Topic #2: Making a Powerful Case for the Role of Government  
  • Topic #6: Talking About the Future 
  • Topics #7: Acting Now on Behalf of Tomorrow 
  • Housing Justice Narrative Initiative - This is a resource is intended for organizers, advocates and community leaders to access tools and research that will allow us all collectively to shift the current discussions and debates around housing to advance a vision of racial justice and homes for all. 
• 
  

Community Assessment and Impact Evaluations

• ***Conduct evaluations and impact analysis of how local and federal COVID-19 resources have been utilized and made a different through mechanisms like rental assistance, moving people from congregate settings to hotels, etc. 
• ***Utilize evaluations and analysis to educate local, state, and federal officials as well as public stakeholders to show impact of large dedicated investments and movement in preventing and ending homelessness as well as addressing housing instability for a healthier community. This can also be used to make the case for permanent federal subsidies and an increase in federal housing and homelessness budgets. 
• ***Assess impact of equity-based decision-making and make mid-course corrections to program design to ensure equitable outcomes. This includes assessing the likely impacts of cessation of eviction moratoria, rent forbearance, unemployment compensation, individual payments, and other policies on homelessness. (A Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response) 
  
  

Transforming Communities Through Systems Change

• Continue to educate local, state, and federal officials about progress being made in the community and also where there are gaps in efforts.   
• Lead and model the process of acknowledging that existing systems are broken and structurally racist. Push community stakeholders to prioritize rebuilding new resilient, anti-racist systems and fund capacity for people with lived expertise to be at the table to make decisions on the rebuilding. 
• Support the long-term strategic planning on emergency shelter configuration to eliminate congregate shelters in favor of shelters with private rooms and bathrooms to address general and long-term public health issues, and to ensure that all shelters are low-barrier and housing-focused. (A Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response) 
• ***Consider critical components to systems change that will contribute to equitable and effective change like congregate shelters, acquiring property, budgets, housing vouchers while also keeping the unintended consequences of systems change at the forefront. The unique opportunity that exist within philanthropy is talking with stakeholders to have these conversations and address the unintended consequences as the long-term work develops. 

Examples & Resources:  

• Empty Hotels Find New Life as Governments House the Homeless, CityLab, Dec. 15, 2020
• PolicyLink: Strategies to Advance Racial Equity in Housing Response and Recovery: A Guide for Cities during the COVID-19 Pandemic 
• HealthSpark Foundation: A Blueprint for Building Back a Better Safety Net System 
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:  3 Principles for an Antiracist, Equitable State Response to COVID-19 – and a Strong Recovery 

Last updated: December 18, 2020

With any disaster response, there will always be immediate and long-term capacity needs. One of the advantages and privileges of philanthropy is the ability to operate at the 30-thousand foot level, and we believe that philanthropy can use this to support communities in connecting dots and scenario planning. In this section, we’ve added to our previous recommendations about identifying and funding capacity needs to be more explicit about philanthropy’s role in helping their communities think about:  

• The homelessness response system, specifically around congregate shelters, given the nature of the COVID-19 virus and the coming winter months. 
• How to bolster policies and services related to eviction prevention, renter protections, and housing vouchers, given a looming eviction crisis once the federal eviction moratorium ends.  
• How to build public and political will and change hearts and minds now to create support for people who will face housing instability and economic hardship even after economic “recovery”, such as Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who have been disproportionally affected.  

New recommendations (but not examples) are denoted with *** 

Capacity of Your Community's Systems

• Identify short and long-term staffing needs, such as front-line staff, emergency response strategists, policy analysts, etc., of grantee partners, lead community organizations, and Continuums of Care (CoCs) and provide needed resources in order to meet those staffing needs.  
• Set priorities for providing repayable "bridge loans” from philanthropy for immediate housing needs based on the financial and time gaps of the CARES Act and subsequent federal funding relief bills. 
• Fund an analysis of the community’s capacity to receive new local, state, and federal resources and focus them on racial equity, marginalized populations, and equitable systems. 
• Assess the capacity needs to continue critical long-term initiatives, such as Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP), Grand Challenges, and projects focused on advancing racial equity in housing.   
• Explore implementing innovative practices, such as cash transfers, to provide flexible funding and support to people and communities that need it most, such as undocumented immigrants. Consider how these practices can become permanent post-coronavirus pandemic. 
• *** Identify and prioritize capacity needs to provide alternatives to congregate shelter models to allow for proper social distancing and isolating as the country enters colder seasons and a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak coupled with influenza season. 
• Support an assessment of homeless service system’s current diversion practices and establish strengthened practices and increased capacity, including tailoring support for households whose support networks have fewer resources. Ensure that prevention funding is being provided to community-based organizations and/or non-traditional partners best able to reach into highly-impacted communities. (A Framework for COVID-19 Homelessness Response) 
• Support scenario planning for several months and years out and begin conversations about permanent system changes, such as moving away from congregate shelter models, creating new public funding streams for affordable housing and homelessness services, and for moving systems towards equity and justice. 

Examples & Resources:

• Supporting immediate capacity needs and rebuilding 
  • San Francisco Emergency Homeless Response System (HRS) Staffing Initiative Overview – Tipping Point Community  
  • Rasmuson Foundation is helping support the initial operations of engagement centers for two years with $3.5M, including the conversion of a sports arena into a COVID-19 navigation center. 
  • HealthSpark Foundation: A Blueprint for Building Back a Better Safety Net System   
  • Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund
    • Phase II Community Letter and Report
  • An event or an era? Resources for social sector decision-making in the context of COVID-19, Monitor Institute - Deloitte
  • County of Los Angeles memo on developing a COVID-19 recovery plan related to people experiencing homelessness
• Diversion 
  • Building Changes – Diversion work in King and Pierce Counties  
  • Funders Together webinar: Scaling Diversion Models to End Homelessness in Your Community 
    
    
• Cash Transfers 
  • Point Source Youth – The Renewed Importance of Direct Cash Transfers [video] 
  • Chapin Hall - The Role of Cash in Empowering Young People Who Experience Homelessness 
  • Tackling Youth Homelessness with Cash During Coronavirus – Chronicle for Social Change
    
  • COVID-19 and Flexible Funding: Redefining Resilience for Survivors

• Creating new funding streams 
  • Portland, OR voters passed a tax on wealthy households and companies in May 2020 to end chronic homelessness. Meyer Memorial Trust helped support the messaging for the ballot measure.  
  • Measure J in Los Angeles, which is trying to dismantle systemic racism by investing in health, housing, and jobs
• 
  

Capacity Needs Related to Policy Changes

• *** Support the assessment of the impact policies will have on homelessness. Examples of policies include: cessation of eviction moratoria, rent forbearance, unemployment compensation, and individual payments.
• *** Fund the research and analysis to determine what kind of eviction prevention policies, interventions, and support are needed. Examples of this include right to counsel and supporting better data and research around informal evictions.  
• *** Provide support in using this research and analysis to creating new policies and interventions, including using your voice as a funder to advocate for these policies.   
• Help create or support creation of evaluation measures to show the impact of response dollars and immediate interventions in order to help communities make mid-course corrections to interventions. 
• *** Fund the capacity for leaders in the community, including grassroots organizers and movement leaders, who have had to focus on crisis response to have time and space for strategic planning, action, and self-care.  

Examples & Resources:  

• Analyses of federal policies and bills 
  • Funders Together statement about CDC eviction moratorium: Philanthropy Cannot Be Expected to “Fill the Gap” in Rental Assistance Need Caused by Lack of Government Support (September 4, 2020) 
  • Housing Instability and Homelessness: CARES Act Suggestions for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Elected Officials  
  • Summary of the Coronavirus Aid Package: What Philanthropy Needs to Know 

• Eviction and rental assistance 
  • Eviction Lab Housing Policy Scorecard: This tool shows what kind of policies each state has enacted related to the three stages of eviction (initiation, court process, and enforcement), as well as policies related to short-term housing supports and tenancy preservation measures. Funders can use this tool to help guide policy and advocacy activities or eviction interventions.  
  • Eviction Lab Eviction Tracking System: Tracking system monitors weekly updates on the number of eviction cases being filed in cities across the United States, broken down by Census track and race/ethnicity.  
  • Urban Institute tool: Where to prioritize emergency rental assistance to keep renters in their homes: The index estimates the level of need in a census tract by measuring the prevalence of low-income renters who are at risk of experiencing housing instability and homelessness. Some communities and CoCs have used this tool to create prioritization of rental assistance or to target outreach (e.g. paid advertisements at bus stops and outreach to community-based organizations) to inform residents about rental assistance.  

• Supporting the capacity of grassroots leaders 
  • Movement 4 Black Lives 
  • Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) has done outreach around eviction protections during COVID and also released a Black New Deal platform that includes housing 
  • National Innovation Service: How to Defund Your Police Department in Six Steps includes housing as part of its rationale for why to defund police departments. 
  • Liberty Hill Foundation participates in Stay Housed LA, a partnership between Los Angeles County and tenant-led community organizations, to promote tenants rights and provide legal services. Liberty Hill has also supported two groups that have been leading Right to Counsel-LA.  

• Philanthropy and advocacy 
  • Funders Together webinar recording: Advancing Housing Justice Through Policy Engagement 
  • 6 ways Congress can fight for recovery from pandemic now – Valley of the Sun United Way 

Last updated: October 19, 2020

A strength of philanthropy is being a trusted convener among community stakeholders and bridging the public and private sectors. In times of disaster relief as the community is overwhelmed with the immediate and response stage, funders can act as a neutral partner to influence and facilitate important relationships that are critical to effective long-term coordination and ensure voices from the community are present and have power at the table. Long-term relationships are an important foundation to ensuring buy-in for successful systemic change to build more equitable communities for all and the recommendation in this section reflect that long-term vision.  

New recommendations (but not examples) are denoted with *** 

Public-Private Partnerships Engagement

• ***Hold local stakeholders accountable by following up and asking questions on how the decisions to use flexible Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars in the CARES Act have been enacted so that we ensure populations most affected are being prioritized and to build a foundation for equitable recovery.   
• ***Monitor possible subsequent relief packages and use public-private partnerships to influence and ensure that homelessness and housing needs are prioritized in coordination with other public agencies. Funders should also work to make sure that homelessness grantee partners have a voice in the implementation of any possible additional funds.  
• ***Identify communities and people who are not being equitably supported during the response and recovery and bring together local government and community stakeholders to ensure these populations are being prioritized. 
• Through public-private partnerships, resource a “Housing Stability Lead” to coordinate state and local action and act as the main point of communication for housing stakeholders, including financial institutions, property owners, renters, housing counselors, and legal aid organizations. Advocate for and resource this position to become long-term to assist during the recovery and rebuilding period. 

Examples & Resources:

• Leadership Structures to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic - Community Solutions  
• Project Homekey - State of California:  Administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), $600 million in grant funding will be made available to local public entities, including cities, counties, or other local public entities, including housing authorities or federally recognized tribal governments within California to purchase and rehabilitate housing, including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings, and other buildings and convert them into interim or permanent, long-term housing. Of the $600 million in Homekey grant funds, $550 million is derived from the State's direct allocation of the federal Coronavirus Aid Relief Funds (CRF), and $50 million is derived from the State's General Fund. 
• Philanthropy Cannot Be Expected to Fill the Gap in Rental Assistance Caused by Lack of Government Support – Funders Together to End Homelessness 
• Heading Home MN funder collaborative: This statewide collaborative believes that a strong public private partnership that is focused and collaborative can effectively end homelessness in Minnesota. But it also requires shared goals by state, local and tribal government, philanthropy, business, faith leaders, and housing and service providers and a plan that is created alongside people with lived experience and those in communities most impacted. 
• In Chicago, a regional Funding Pool is Helping Chronically Homeless Get Off the Street and Into a Permanent Home – Polk Bros Foundation 

Building and Brokering Community Relationships

• Offer your organization and staff as resources of information or identify a partner who can compile, analyze, and communicate best resources and guidance.  
• Be firm and vocal about prioritizing populations that are not typically funded through Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), such as youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.  
• Utilize relationships within the private sector to build support and push for the acquisition and conversion of unused property (like hotels or office buildings) for long-term solutions to replace congregate shelter models.  
• Community foundations, already seen as committed to supporting the betterment of their community, should leverage the relationships they have with local leaders from all sectors to ensure that homelessness and equity are at the forefront of policy and funding decisions. 
• ***Identify and build relationships with new sectors and partners to coalesce and align on new sources of funding for COVID-19 recovery support so that relationships are solidified and healthy for long-term planning and action. 
• Provide a virtual convening space for multi-sector community leaders to think strategically about the recovery process. Ensure people with lived expertise are in decision-making seats at the table and provide resources to compensate for their time and knowledge.  
• ***Find and fund alternative ways to bring people together on a regular basis to keep relationships strong and set up the conditions to coordinate and act quickly when needed. 
• Bring partners and funders from other intersecting systems like health, employment, education, immigration, and legal justice, to do long-term strategy cross-systems work on an on-going basis.  
• ***Start identifying and reaching out to cross-sector partners to design coordination for equitable vaccine distribution, especially to historically marginalized and vulnerable communities like people experiencing homelessness.  

Examples & Resources:  

• Cross-sector Relationship-Building 
  • Momentum Fund – This fund provides grants to 501(c)(3) organizations that manage COVID-19 funds and is working to working to emphasize the importance of positioning grantmakers as equal partners with the nonprofits to which grants are disbursed, and other partners in the respective communities. 
  • Greater Washington Community Foundation Invites Area Residents to Put the Future of the Region “On the Table” - Greater Washington Community Foundation 
  • Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE) 
  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is working to connect the experts with government officials and local health agencies like Public Health Seattle & King County. 
  • Health Pathways Charts a New Course in Care for People Experiencing Homelessness - United Way of Greater Los Angeles 
    
• Community Foundations 
  • COVID-19 LA County Response Fund - California Community Foundation 
  • CF Leads – The Critical Role of Community Foundations 

The Trump Administration's Executive Order (EO) on Banning Racial Equity Training

Last updated October 16, 2020

Background and Analysis

The below analysis is compiled from summaries by our partners at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) and National Innovation Services (NIS).

On September 22, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, which essentially prohibits government contractors and some grantee from hosting or participating in training on race or sex diversity, equity, or inclusion involving 11 “divisive concepts including terms like “critical race theory,” “white privilege,” “intersectionality,” and “systemic racism.” This EO follows the announcement of the 1776 Commission.  

The EO delegates enforcement action and "remedial relief" for violations of the order to Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The EO is applicable to federal contracts beginning November 21, 2020. Meanwhile, grantee partners have some additional time. Key milestones are:

• By October 22, 2020, the Department of Labor is ordered to publicly post and actively seek information from whistleblowers on federal agencies involved in diversity and inclusion workshops and training within 30 days.
• By November 21, 2020, federal agencies must submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that outlines the programs within each agency that need to certify that grantees will not participate in these activities. 
• By December 21, 2020, federal agencies are required to tally and report on the amount of money spent on diversity and inclusion training and workshops in 2020, delineating the contractors that provided each training where applicable. 

Following the release of this EO, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum (M-20-37, the “Second Memo”) which includes steps to implement the EO and also goes beyond what the EO defines as "divisive concepts."The OMB memorandum of September 28 states that training or education programs for a grantee that include the “divisive concepts” may not be billed as an allowable cost under federal grants, unless otherwise allowed by law. The OMB memorandum also clarifies that “cooperative agreements” are subject to the same provisions as grants.

Soon after the EO, the Department of Justice's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) launched a complaint hotline to "receive and investigate complaints" under the Executive Order and "enables employees to file complaints alleging that a Federal contractor “is utilizing training programs in violation of the contractor’s obligations under those orders.”

Banned Concepts and Terms under the EO

This Executive Order (EO) seeks to appropriate the terms “stereotyping” and “scapegoating” to critique anti-racist and feminist frameworks and bans federal agencies, uniformed services, federal contractors, subcontractors, and grantees from promoting or inculcating (teach, instruct, or train) the concepts of anti-racism or anti-sexism, in the name of protecting “American meritocracy.”

The specific concepts banned are:

1. one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; 
2. the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist;
3. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
4. an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex;
5. members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex;
6. an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex;
7. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
8. any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex; or
9. meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by a particular race to oppress another race. The term “divisive concepts” also includes any other form of race or sex-stereotyping or any other form of race or sex scapegoating.

Implications for Homelessness and Housing

All federal agencies and grantees who have focused efforts on mitigating the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color will be disrupted by this Executive Order. Additionally, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's technical assistance initiatives and capacity building efforts will be significantly impacted and limited in their ability to address structural racism as a driver of homelessness and housing instability.

There is concern that this EO and the subsequent OMB memo will result in communities stopping all racial equity trainings due to fear of losing federal resources. In the same vein, many organizations led by people of color who host and lead these trainings are being impacted by trainings and contracts being postponed and canceled. 

How Philanthropy Can Take Action

Funders Together is working closely in coalition with our national partners and racial justice organizations to understand the implications of this EO and what it means for those in the homelessness and housing fields, as well as intersecting sectors. We are committed to providing resources and information that is critical to understanding the depth of this EO and its effects on racial justice efforts. Philanthropy can take action and join in with other leaders to oppose this EO and by:

• disseminating information to your grantee partners to ensure they have an accurate understanding of the EO and what it means for their racial equity and justice efforts. You can use the resources below or reach out to Funders Together for additional information and context.
  
  
• telling Funders Together what you are hearing (or not hearing) from your community. We also encourage you to share any statements you create or resources you find helpful.
  
  
• signing on to this letter as an individual or organization denouncing the EO. You can also encourage communities stakeholders and partners to sign on as well. 
  
  
• utilizing the Race Forward Communications Toolkit and talking points. Email Funders Together for access to these resources.

If you have any questions about the EO and its implications, please email Amanda Andere or Lauren Bennett. 

Important Resources

Administration Documents

The Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

Department of Labor Press Release: U.S. Department of Labor Launches Hotline to Combat Race and Sex Stereotyping by Federal Contractors

Office of Management and Budget Memo: Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

White House Press Release: President Trump is Fighting Harmful Ideologies that Cause Division in Our Federal Workplaces

Partner and Member Resources

Council of NonProfits: The Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping Resource Page

Independent Sector: An Executive Order and a Moment to Get Unstuck

Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Civil Rights Groups and Allies Condemn White House Move to Censor Race and Gender Equity Training

National Alliance to End Homelessness: Summary of 2020 Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

National Law Review: President Trump Issues Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

NonProfit Quarterly: How Nonprofits Can Stop Trump’s Effort to Roll Back Diversity Training

Upcoming Programming

Check back soon!

Across the country, communities are working to end homelessness and address housing challenges by shifting policy to transform systems. In order to do that and achieve housing justice, strong political and public will must be built. However, gaining support requires compelling and values-based messaging to make the case. We have heard over and over that we need to “shift the narrative.” But, what does that really mean and what messages work?

On September 22, Funders Together to End Homelessness submitted a public comment to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) voicing our opposition to its proposed changes to the Equal Access Rule that would allow shelters to discriminate against LGBTQ+, transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals.

On August 11-13, Funders Together to End Homelessness held our first ever virtual Funders Institute and engaged in principled struggle to push for racial and housing justice in our work to end homelessness.

At our 2019 Funders Institute, we started a larger conversation about the role of culturally-specific organizations in ending homelessness by learning about Native homelessness and the work of a Native-led and serving organization in Seattle, WA.

At our 2019 Funders Institute in Washington, D.C., we had a conversation with four foundation leaders to talk about what it means to advance racial equity from the ground up; how funders are centering people with lived expertise; and what funders are doing to support their grantees.

Monday's Funders Institute Only

Use this page to register for only the Funders Institute on July 22. This rate does not include the NAEH conference opening plenary, full NAEH conference, or funder workshops on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Cost of registration

• Full (dues-paying) Members of Funders Together: $250
• Basic (non-dues paying) Members or Non-members of Funders Together: $400

How to register

Register online by clicking the button below. We are only able to process online registration payments through PayPal at this time.

If you are not able to use PayPal or prefer to pay by check, please follow the steps below to register:

1. Email Lauren Samblanet, Membership and Program Coordinator, at lsamblanet@funderstogether.org with the following information for each participant:
   • First and last name, title, email
   • Dietary restrictions
   • Accessibility needs
   • Pronouns
2. Mail a check with “2019 Funders Institute” in the memo line to the address below:

Funders Together to End Homelessness
89 South Street, Suite 803
Boston, MA 02111

Cancellation policy

Registration for the Funders Institute only closes Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 11:59pm EDT.

Cancellation requests made by Wednesday, June 5, 2019 will incur a $50 cancellation fee. Requests made between Thursday, June 6 and Friday, July 5, 2019 will incur a $150 cancellation fee. Cancellations made later than Friday, July 5, 2019 will receive no refund.

To cancel a registration, send a request to Lauren Samblanet, Membership and Program Coordinator. Refunds for paid registrations are subject to approval and a cancellation fee. You will receive an email when your refund has been processed.

Please note this event is exclusively for private funders, including foundations, United Ways, and philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs). If you have questions about registration or your eligibility to participate, please contact Lauren Samblanet, Membership and Program Coordinator, at lsamblanet@funderstogether.org.