Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a broad range of events in our nation’s capital that, once again, confirmed for me that we can and will succeed in our long-term goal of ending homelessness.
July is not a month I would usually choose to leave the Pacific Northwest, where I live and work, and head for Washington, D.C. We have just about the most perfect summers, and there’s little that appeals to me less than floating through 100-degree days. But for me, for Funders Together, and for the movement to end homelessness, the events of the last two weeks made bearing those temperatures well worthwhile.
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a broad range of events in our nation’s capital that, once again, confirmed for me that we can and will succeed in our long-term goal of ending homelessness.
Champions of Change
My D.C. adventure began on Thursday, July 12, when I attended a special ceremony during which 13 Champions of Change were honored at the White House for their efforts to tackle the issues facing homeless youth. From street outreach programs to services targeting LGBTQ kids to supportive housing to innovative philanthropy, there was clear evidence from one end of the nation to the other that we are learning how best to address the needs of this population and how to implement the most promising practices at systems, organizational, and individual levels.
Meetings with Federal Partners
Then, I participated in a series of meetings focused on homelessness with several government agencies. During the meetings―which were convened by Funders Together with representatives from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—FTEH Executive Director Anne Miskey, other board members, and I experienced time and again a level of knowledge, sophistication, and passion for the issues that we’ve rarely – if ever – experienced in the past.
Awareness of the need to act boldly and across the multiple systems that touch people who are homeless is expanding out from the “usual suspects” of targeted homelessness programs to include active participation from other federal agencies with other priorities, including veterans, child welfare-involved families and kids, youth, Medicaid and uninsured populations, and others. Homelessness is no longer being thought of in isolation from the constellation of other problems that can accompany it, and our federal partners are increasingly reaching outside their silos to engage in meaningful conversations with the potential to lead to fundamental systems change.
National Conference on Ending Homelessness
Finally, at the annual conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a record number of more than 1,500 participants gathered to hear the latest on what works, what doesn’t, and what we still need to figure out. I’ve been attending these great conferences for years, and I’ve never before heard so many highly sophisticated presentations, smart questions, and intelligent answers. As a field, we are increasingly willing to challenge what we know, what we have been doing, and how effective and efficient we have been. On the cutting edge of these conversations are the important topics of rapid re-Housing, moving away from the one-size-fits-all approaches of the past, and viewing the solutions to the problems we must solve as needing more than just the brains from our own limited perspectives and disciplines. Bravo!
We also had a strong showing of funders at the conference – from United Ways, foundations and trusts, and corporate donors. Funders are no longer standing on the sidelines, but are actively engaged partners in the systems change process, moving away from funding what is familiar (and sometimes ineffective), to what is innovative and energized with the potential for better solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
Funders Together Honored
The recognition of the role funders can play was highlighted on Tuesday night, July 17, when Funders Together received the Private Sector Achievement Award from NAEH. I had the honor of accepting the award on behalf of all of our members (and our brilliant staff); standing with Anne on stage at the Kennedy Center helped me to realize just how far we have come. We now must make good on the implicit pledge that receiving this award carries with it: to continue to work to end homelessness in America from our unique perch in the philanthropic sector, where we can be both strategic and catalytic to maximize the impact of both our dollars and our efforts.
David Wertheimer is the Deputy Director of the Pacific Northwest Initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, as well as the Board Chair of Funders Together to End Homelessness. Find him at @DavidWSeattle.