In July, Funders Together members were joined by three housing justice leaders for a Q&A to discuss the current state of housing and homeless service federal investments in response to COVID-19. Ann Oliva, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Sarah Saadian, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Susan Thomas, President of Melville Charitable Trust, joined Brittani Manzo, a consultant and advisor to Funders Together, in conversation to share insights and recommendations.

The four discussed how philanthropic partners can center housing justice in their support for their communities, particularly as they plan and expend significant recent federal investments in housing and homeless services. The recording of that event is accessible for full members here.

Later in the month, Funders Together hosted an information session about the Partnership for Equitable and Resilient Communities and opportunities for philanthropic partners to invest and support the transformational initiative. To learn more about the Partnership, view the recording here or reach out to the team at Melville to request an information session.

Supporting Authentic Partnerships with the Federal Administration: Philanthropy has a role to play, but it can’t do it alone. On our second call, Susan spoke about a new opportunity for philanthropy to engage with our federal partners and support communities leverage federal resources. The Partnership for Equitable and Resilient Communities is a new and transformational public-private partnership between the Federal government and philanthropic partners.

Transforming strategic planning and partnerships to avoid perpetuating racial inequity: Conducting business as usual and with urgency in our homeless service systems will perpetuate racial inequity. Communities and their partners can encourage each other to shift to equity-based decision-making processes with urgency and commitment to prevent exacerbating racial injustice in our public service systems. Historically marginalized communities and people experiencing homelessness should be positioned as decision makers in system design, service design, and strategy setting.

Moving from risk aversion to bravery: Some communities are perpetuating policies and procedures that were designed through a scarcity lens despite the abundance of resources that have been allocated during the pandemic. Communities and state administrators must find ways to revolutionize access to rental assistance so that these dollars can be used to secure housing for people experiencing homelessness as soon as possible. Philanthropy can help government partners by offering public and political support and encouragement for bold and equity-driven policies and new approaches to program design that remove roadblocks to effective assistance, as well as strengthening connections to supportive service funders and providers.

Read the full article about leveraging federal resources to address homelessness at Funders together to End Homelessness.