CEO Corner: Week of September 22

I want to thank every advocate who participated in the Alliance’s Virtual Capitol Hill Day this past week. Your voices are instrumental at this moment, and I am so grateful for the hundreds of you from around the country who showed up to educate lawmakers and fight for the resources needed in your communities.

But our Virtual Capitol Hill Day is just one day, and I hope you will continue to take part in the Alliance’s advocacy work in the coming days, weeks, and months in order to stop the harmful policy direction of this Administration.

Our collective advocacy can and does make an impact.

Update on the FY2025 CoC Funding Process

With no further communication from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since July regarding the FY2025 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program funding process, we expect that HUD intends to issue a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), despite it now being nearly October. It seems inevitable at this point that FY2025 funding will not be awarded before current funds begin to run out in January.

All indications point to HUD’s likely intent to make major changes to the Continuum of Care program without any notice or opportunity for community planning. HUD will likely also include criteria in the funding opportunity – like they did in the CoC Builds NOFO – that would place existing programs (especially permanent housing programs and programs serving populations like LGBTQ+ people) and funding at risk.

There is still time to make a positive impact. Although HUD may soon release a NOFO for FY2025 funding, there is still an opportunity for Congress to use the FY2026 appropriations process to intervene before it is too late. The fight is not over. We must continue to keep the pressure on.

Urgent Call for Advocacy

Congress is currently negotiating the terms of a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open until a final bill can be agreed upon. House and Senate Republicans and Democrats have each put forward their own short-term CR bills at this point. 

Thanks to YOUR advocacy, the bill put forward by Democratic Leaders and the Appropriations Committee (in both the House and Senate) included a provision that would require HUD to renew all existing Continuum of Care grants expiring during calendar year 2026 for one 12- month period. If included in the CR, this would force HUD to renew eligible grants, regardless of whether a FY2025 NOFO has been released.

Now we need for Democrats to make this provision a top priority in their negotiations, and we need to show Republicans that this no-cost provision is not partisan and benefits their constituencies, too. But this will not happen unless we make significant noise in the days ahead.

Glimmer Report

In an endlessly chaotic news cycle, it can be hard to find glimmers to keep us going.

But as much as we hear about the bad, there is still good happening in our communities: 164 units of affordable housing have been put online in Rochester, NY; Iowa has launched a $1.3 million fund to prevent homelessness; and homelessness has decreased by nearly 3% in Rhode Island.

And this NPR article shows the real spirit of the homeless community and of our field: people who look out for each other and lend a hand and uplift the decency and humanity of our unhoused neighbors.

Last but not least, the Alliance’s very own Albert Townsend, Director of Lived Experience and Innovation, has written an op-ed in USA Today about the administration’s response to homelessness.

I encourage you to look for these glimmers in your own community and uplift them when they happen.

Thank you again for your ongoing advocacy, dedication, and partnership.