CEO Corner: Week of April 13

Hi everyone – I hope you all are enjoying the start of spring (though maybe not the pollen and the sneezing that come with it).

We don’t have any urgent updates this week, but I want to make sure the field is aware of everything we’re tracking here at the Alliance. I know there is a lot on everyone’s plates and a lot of uncertainty. I hope that we can take some of that mental load off by telling you what we’re paying attention to. As always, the Alliance team will communicate when there are specific action items, or things that homeless services providers must know. We want to keep you in the know so that you’re prepared whenever things do change.

Here’s what we’re tracking lately:

Release of 2025 Homelessness Data

We’ve gotten a lot of questions – from providers, from reporters, from various communities – about when the 2025 Point-in-Time data (the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, Part 1) will come out. While we don’t know the answer to that question, we do know that this data is important to us at the national level – and to states and localities – for tracking broad trends over time.

The Alliance will send an update once this data is released.

Continuum of Care Program Renewals for FY25

On March 31, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the FY25 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program renewals for grants that expired in the first quarter of Calendar Year 2026.

Quarter 2 renewals will be non-competitive, as was the case for Quarter 1, and we expect to see those soon. We also hope that recipients are receiving award letters quickly after announcements.

We will continue to keep our members posted as HUD makes renewal awards for Quarters 2, 3, and 4.

Appropriations Advocacy for FY27

The Alliance’s team is starting our work – our analysis, advocacy, organizing, and mobilizing – around homelessness funding in the FY27 budget. For CoC Program renewals, this funding would apply to grants that will expire in 2028.

Here are things you can work on in the meantime:

While there aren’t items that homeless services providers need to take action on right now, there are a handful of things that providers can do to be prepared for the next phase of work, pending federal changes.

Tell your own community’s story.

At the local level, CoCs have access to even richer data than what is reported to HUD (and subsequently included in the AHAR). Share with your community and local media data points like:

• Your local results of the Point-in-Time Count from January 2025
• How many people your community served over the course of the year
• How many people exited homelessness into housing (this one is the most important!)

Ask Congress to urge HUD to move quickly on awarding FY2025 CoC funding.

If you are awaiting a renewal from Quarter 1 or in Quarter 2, make sure your lawmakers—especially those that work on appropriations—are aware of the status of these awards thus far.

FY2026 CoC Program NOFO.

While CoC Program renewals for FY25 are still being processed, Congress has directed HUD to issue the FY26 CoC Program NOFO by June 1. 

• Use this time to engage in local planning conversations. While it is a good idea to start (or continue) having these conversations, hold off on making final decisions or implementing major changes before seeing the published FY2026 NOFO.
• HUD has not yet released the Grant Inventory Worksheet, but communities can start to think about what they might include.