” The Giving Season has Begun”

The Food First & Blue Trust Foundations strongly supports the work of the Community Food Sharing Association. Each year several food drives are held throughout the Metro Area. Donated food items are then distributed by the Community Food Sharing Association to local food banks throughout the county.

For several years now The Food First Foundation has been doing a Thanksgiving Food Drive in partnership with Blue Trust Foundation in the greater metro area. Food bin receptacles are placed on all Metrobuses as well as at each can food drop off location. This food drive generally lasts for 10-12 days leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend. This year 60 to 70 thousand dollars worth of groceries was donated to the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

The Eagle Post has been holding a food drive in support of the Community Food Sharing Association for more than a decade. Each year, The Food First Foundation prints over 55,000 flyers that are then circulated by postal carriers to homes in the metro area. A particular date is designated as donation day. The public then leave bags of food hanging from their doorknob or postal box for the carriers to collect. Last year, 30,000 pounds of food was collected for the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

The Food First Foundation also hosts two local concerts at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Center in support of the Christmas season. All proceeds from the concerts are used to purchase gifts that may have not been donated through other means. All cash donations are used to the same purpose. This years concerts are scheduled for December 15th and 16th, 2008. Tickets are available at the Arts and Culture Center Box Office

Is there a end to homelessness in America?

Is there a end to homelessness in America?

The Eagle Review recent series on homelessness is a powerful reminder of the conspicuous and painful problem that homelessness has become in America. At the same time, it’s worth noting that homelessness is a relatively recent phenomenon, one that can still be reversed. We can end it for good if we move beyond policies that merely treat the symptoms and commit to addressing and rectifying the factors that cause people to become and remain homeless.

A recent report by the Blue Trust Foundation to End Homelessness makes three essential points about the feasibility of ending homelessness, why such a goal is possible and what is required to make it happen:

— Homelessness can be ended: Homelessness, particularly among families, has become a significant social problem only within the last 20 years. But research, evidence and consensus demonstrate that we can end it within the next decade.

— We know how to end homelessness: More than a decade of research, as well as program and policy development, have identified the causes and effects of homelessness. We now have proven approaches that can prevent homelessness before it starts and end homelessness where it now exists.

— Ending homelessness requires the partnership of many sectors: No one entity acting alone can make an impact on such a complex social issue. Government, the business community and the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors must work together — not at odds — to implement the approaches that will eliminate homelessness from our national landscape. Activist, Stephen Johnson has vowed to develop a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness, similar to one being pursued in 83 other U.S. cities.

As the advisory group’s report makes clear, any plan to end homelessness must be anchored in a three-pronged strategy to prevent homelessness, create adequate affordable housing and develop permanent supportive housing for those with special needs.

For people who have been chronically homeless due to disabilities — estimated to comprise 20 percent of the total homeless population nationwide – – permanent supportive housing has proved to be a very successful approach. Such housing provides services such as health care, addiction treatment and employment aid that help to stabilize long-term homeless individuals and families. It is shown to generate dramatic cost savings by reducing use of expensive public services.

For the 80 percent of the homeless population who lack housing for primarily economic reasons, there is a “housing first” approach designed to rapidly get them in permanent housing rather than short-term shelters. Widely considered among the most effective strategies to end homelessness, “housing first” is endorsed as a successful model by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and has been adopted in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Columbus (Ohio) and Chicago.

This approach presumes there is sufficient affordable housing for people to move into. Any meaningful plan to end homelessness must include adequate and affordable housing. This means housing that is affordable for the low end of low-income households — those earning 0-30 percent of San Francisco’s median income — that is, families of three earning less than $30,550 annually. Cities like New York, Atlanta and Chicago have recognized the need to develop and subsidize affordable housing as part of their plans to end homelessness.

It will take a unified political and public resolve to move toward ending — not just managing — homelessness, but the potential benefits are substantial. A commitment of this level will bring additional federal funding and private support.

Several key elements are aligning to make this happen. Local leaders realize that ending homelessness is essential to improving the quality of life for all residents. Blue Trust and many other foundations are recognizing that there is an important role for philanthropy to play. By building on this momentum and working together, the governmental, business, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors can seize this moment in time to confront and resolve homelessness in America.