We are one week out from the 2025 National Conference on Ending Homelessness, and I don’t think I have ever felt the need to come together as a field as much as I do this year.
Those of you who have been following along with my weekly CEO Corners know that this year has been a seemingly never-ending series of puzzling and harmful policy changes, proposals, and Executive Orders that directly or indirectly impact our work to end homelessness.
It’s been a lot… for everyone.
It’s time to come together and reconnect. It’s time to draw upon one another’s strengths. And it’s time for some real talk about the challenges our communities are facing. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in person next week to dive into these very topics.
But these conferences are about more than just seeing one another. They are about being in community, recharging, and soaking up as much information as we can to better serve people experiencing homelessness and our communities.
As always, this summer’s conference will feature a variety of sessions addressing innovations in best practices, tips on extending your advocacy, updates on emerging research, information about the current environment for homeless services in federal and state governments, and much, much more. It is our greatest hope that each of you walks away inspired to take action when you return home. Or if you aren’t attending, I hope that you connect with us in another way — I will touch on those opportunities below as well.
A Focus on Convening
Our conference represents one of the Alliance’s key functions: convening the field so that we can collectively benefit from one another’s efforts, establish a consistent baseline for what effective homeless response can look like (no matter where in this country you are from), and how to advocate for what our field needs at all levels of government.
Of course, we also recognize that not everyone has the budget or the time to come to Washington for this conference — especially this year, when so many government employees have lost their jobs due to the Administration’s reckless cuts in personnel and contracts, and so many providers are anticipating threats to desperately needed federal funds.
As always, if you can’t attend, we invite you to watch our plenary sessions from our live stream, which will be simulcast from our LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube accounts.
Making More Connections
We also know that even in “normal” times, it can be hard for people to make the trip. And it always troubles me to hear that some communities don’t feel heard or represented in the national dialogue.
Recently, the Alliance has kicked off a series of virtual convenings with a broad range of states and CoCs. Our goal was to create space for representatives from CoCs, state governments, or statewide coalitions to learn from and support each other. We were intentional in ensuring broad geographic diversity, especially for those communities who don’t have these types of opportunities.
We recently completed the first round of these calls and there were some themes that came through during all of them:
- The field is inundated with uncertainty, disillusionment, and pressure from all angles. But despite capacity limitations, you are creative and resilient, and will persevere on behalf of the people you serve.
- To respond to the evolving federal threats, increased and sustained advocacy is needed for state-level investments and affirmative policies in support of ending homelessness. We need to build bigger coalitions, and communities need more tools and resources to help engage more strategically with lawmakers from all political parties.
- The field is committed to staying true to our values no matter what challenges are thrown our way.
As the Alliance continues hosting this series of virtual convenings through September, we will uplift what we learn along the way.
So, for those of you coming to Washington next week, I can’t wait to see you, and I hope for smooth travels. For those who can’t make it, I hope you’re able to join the live stream.
As always, I appreciate the work that each of you does.
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