Role of Funders:
Private and Family Foundations: What is Your Role?
Short-term actions to take now...
...if you are not currently supporting efforts to fight chronic homelessness, start by convening your board to discuss whether this work falls within your mission and reflects your shared values around grantmaking and purpose. To prepare for this discussion:
Register for this site to gain complimentary access to a customized and comprehensive collection of strategies and resources for funding efforts to fight chronic homelessness.
Read and share copies of “Million Dollar Murray,” a New Yorker article by Malcom Gladwell which makes a clear and convincing case for the need to focus primary attention on the chronically homeless, both from a moral and economic perspective.
Review the Melville Charitable Trust’s “Approach to Funding Decisions” for an example of one family’s approach to giving in this area.
Scan the collection of case studies to find examples in the region in which your board funds that they can relate to.
Search existing research, data and trends on chronic homelessness. Start with the publications, “Homelessness: Key Findings and Grantmaking Strategies” and “Public Service Reductions Associated with Placement of Homeless Persons.”
Contact the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Alliance to End Long-term Homelessness to learn more about how they can support your own community’s fight against long-term homelessness.
Join the Partnership today and connect with timely and up-to-date solutions available!
If you are currently supporting one or more efforts to fight homelessness…
Share your story so that we may use it to inform others with an interest in effective strategies and lessons learned in fighting chronic homelessness.
Contact the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Alliance to End Long-term Homelessness to learn more about how they can support your own community’s fight against long-term homelessness.
Search the Partnership’s Knowledge Center to learn of existing research, best practices and case studies in this area. Consider starting with the publications, Why is Homelessness an Important Issue and The Impact of Supportive Housing for Homeless People with Severe Mental Illness.
Join the Partnership today and connect to the most timely and up-to-date solutions available!
Longer-term strategies to pursue...
Review the list of Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness to determine if your community currently has a plan.
- If so, connect with your local Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, and support local programs to fight long-term homelessness, including supportive housing programs and continuum of care providers.
- If no local initiative exists, consider identifying and funding a local continuum of care provider to apply for HUD support to create and initiate a local ten year plan.
Build local networks and collaboratives of funders and organizations with an interest in this area:
- Encourage your local Regional Association of Grantmakers or community foundation to take the lead in bringing together a network of funders for these topics.
- Encourage other colleagues and associates to learn more about this work, by directing them to this website and through site visits to local projects.
- Meet with your local legislator about the issue of homelessness, and the strategies and solutions that currently exist.
Connect with other family foundations
Interested in talking with another family foundation about their approach to fighting chronic homelessness?
Submit your request here and we will be happy to put you in touch with one of our current Partners.
Review profiles of family foundations that are members of PELTH doing important work in this area.
Other questions & answers related to this topic:
Why is chronic homelessness an important issue for funders?
What other networks exist for funders with an interest in causes related to homelessness?
Community Foundations and Regional Funders: What is Your Role?
What types of funding are needed to develop effective and sustainable supportive housing?
What are some tips for funders interested in funding efforts to fight chronic homelessness?
How can I find supportive housing programs and other initiatives to end long-term homelessness in my own community or state?
What other types of support can funders provide to help fight long-term homelessness?