NCCEH News and Updates

NCCEH staff and Coalition partners have worked long and hard on McKinney-Vento Reauthorization, working to create legislation that meets the needs of North Carolina’s homeless popluation.  Last Thursday, October 2, the House approved the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. The legislation, H.R. 7221, substantially improves the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program. In the House, the bill has been championed by the late Congresswoman Julia Carson (D-IN), Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Congresswoman Judy Biggert (D-IL), and Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY). If it passes into law, this will be the first reauthorization of HUD’s McKinney programs since 1992. It would provide communities with new resources and better tools to prevent and end homelessness.  NCCEH would like to thank all those in NC for their hard work and support of this bill!  Now on to the Senate…

So what is this bill all about?  

The bill:

• Increases priority on homeless families with children;
• Significantly increases resources to prevent homelessness for people who are at risk of homelessness, doubled up, living in hotels, or in other precarious housing situations;
• Continues to provide incentives for developing permanent supportive housing and provides dedicated funding for permanent housing renewals;
• Provides rural communities greater flexibility in utilizing McKinney funds; and
• Modestly expands the definition of homelessness to include people who are losing their housing in the next 14 days and who lack resources or support networks to obtain housing, as well as families and youth who are persistently unstable and lack independent housing and will continue to do so.

Next Steps
In order for a final bill to pass this year, it must be approved by the full Senate and signed by the President before the end of the 2008 Congressional session. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a lame-duck session for the week of November 17 to finalize pending legislation. The HEARTH Act could be part of the lame duck session. 

by Denise Neunaber, NCCEH executive director

The House passed the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund TODAY! Thanks to everyone who contacted or met with your member of congress to advocate for this bill! Now that it has passed the house, we’ll focus on getting the fund passed in the Senate!

See the Press Release from National Alliance to End Homelessness Below :

U.S. House of Representatives Passes National Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Groundbreaking Act to Produce, Preserve and Rehabilitate 1.5 Million Affordable Homes in 10 Years

Washington, DC- In a dramatic victory for homeless and low income people across the nation, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to produce, preserve and rehabilitate 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. The House voted Wednesday 264-148 to pass H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007.

The Act will allot 75 percent of its federal funding to provide housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30 percent of an area’s median income. (more…)

Last Wednesday, September 19th, the U.S. Senate Banking and Housing Committee marked up S. 1518 Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act, The McKinney Reauthorization Bill. A substitute amendment and manager’s amendment were approved. (A substitute amendment means that another Senator submitted a bill to replace the entirety of the original bill, a manager’s amendment contains changes to to bill from the original sponsor.)

Under this S. 1518, there are many changes to the McKinney program, which funds the Continuum of Care (CoC) and the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Programs.

There was a lot of great work put into the bill. As these changes roll out, we know that there will be a time of transition as we learn the new application and regulations. I hope you’ll see that the changes to McKinney contained in this bill are aimed at helping us to better enable us to put our plans into place. Change is always difficult (all of those new regs to read), but this is a change I am truly excited about!

We’ve seen such a difference in how our programs operate– just in the past few years! This new legislation is more in line with goals of ten-year plans, is centered on evidence-based practices (programs that we know are working), and allows for flexibility in the communities to use more money for prevention and to use the funds for our highest needs.

NCCEH continues to support this bill. Along the way, we have been able to give our input on what will work for North Carolina. I believe the resulting bill is one that will help us take significant strides in ending homelessness across our state. North Carolina’s Senator Dole voted in favor of passage of this bill. A big thank you goes out to all of you who helped to work with Senator Dole’s office to gain her support and understanding for what this bill will me an for North Carolina view other blogs about our advocacy efforts: Advocates Travel to DC, Senator Dole’s Staff Visits Housing and Homelessness Programs Across NC

Under the original bill, there are several needed changes to the program, including: (more…)

One of Senator Dole’s D.C. staffers assigned to housing issues spent this week visiting programs in North Carolina. As part of Ryan’s time here, I set up appointments for him at Hospitality House of Boone, The Salvation Army of Hickory and the Catawba Continuum of Care, CASA, Housing for New Hope, and the Public Housing Authority of Durham. Amy Sawyer(the 10-year Plan to End Homelessness Coordinator for Asheville and Buncombe County) helped to set up appointments to visit with their Continuum of Care, Mountain Housing Opportunities, Homeward Bound, and the Asheville Public Housing Authority. These programs talked with Ryan about housing and service needs for our North Carolinian communities. As Senator Dole is a member of the Senate Banking and Housing committee, her support is key in securing needed changes in our federal programs! Participants of the tour highlighted the impact that McKinney-Vento Reauthorization and the creation of a National Housing Trust Fund would have here in North Carolina.

Many thanks to all of you who were generous enough to spend time to educate Ryan about your programs and the work you are doing to provide affordable housing and end homelessness!

If you’re interested in participating in similar tours with elected officials, please contact me to discuss possibilities!