Care For the Homeless

The automatic, across-the-board federal funding cuts that became known as “sequestration” took effect on March 1, 2013, cutting $85 billion from spending. Last week the Congress adopted a new “continuing resolution” to authorize fund the government through the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30, 2013. Homeless advocates had hoped that legislation would be an opportunity to restore some of the cuts in vital safety-net programs for homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. In fact, the new continuing funding law actually makes the cuts the “baseline” funding level for the impacted programs, meaning it may be that much harder to restore cuts in the next federal budget. Care for the Homeless consumers and staff recently visited with several New York City area members of Congress in Washington, D.C., to talk about the impact of the cuts. Our consumers explained there is a need for more, not less, services – especially in New York

Both a Care for the Homeless client, and one of its executive administrators, won major national posts with the National Health Care for the Homeless Council at their national conference in Washington, D.C., last week. Philip J. Malebranche, a client of Care for the Homeless who serves on our Customer Advisory Board, was elected to the National Consumer Advisory Board. The National Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) is made up of homeless and formerly homeless people from across the country who are involved in the governance of homeless health care programs, who are elected by consumers. The National CAB is a standing committee of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, with one CAB member serving as a voting member of the Council’s Board of Directors. Mr. Malebranche is a New York native and a graduate of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He has lived in Washington, D.C. and in France, and has written on social issues. He also addressed a public rally at Union

Several Care for the Homeless clients and staff traveled to Washington, D.C., last Friday, to meet with members of the New York Congressional delegation or their staff to ask for support of programs and human services vital to homeless and poor people. These issues hold a special importance right now as the U.S. Senate and House are working on government funding for the remainder of the federal fiscal year, through September 30, 2013.  We were able to meet with New York Representatives or staff in the offices of Representatives Nydia Velazquez, Hakeem Jeffries, Jose Serrano, Charles Rangel, Bill Owens and Nita M. Lowey. Funding cutbacks pose a real and imminent threat to programs homeless and poor people count on including health and human services for homerless people, funding for AIDS testing and services, mental health funding, substance abuse treatment, and virtually every program for housing, tenant assistance and affordable housing. It threatens grants for homeless children

Care for the Homeless Executive Director Bobby Watts brought more than 800 delegates to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council Conference in Washington, D.C., to their feet with a declaration that “Homelessness is evil, and we must end it.”  Watts, in the conference’s keynote address, said, “we have to stop accepting the unacceptable, tolerating the intolerable, and end the evil of homelessness.” “It was public policies that created modern day homelessness,” Watts said, “and we can end homelessness with better public and social policies.” Watts noted that “modern day homelessness” is only about 35 years old, and tracks with federal cutbacks in spending on affordable housing for very-low-income tenants and cutbacks to human service and safety net programs. Watts spoke about asking college classes what they thought the causes of homelessness were, and getting answers including individuals became homelessness because they had mental problems, significant health proble

The Care for the Homeless Health Education team is always busy, but in February, the team had three large-scale initiatives they implemented at many of our service sites.  Teen Dating Violence and Healthy Relationships Workshops were delivered to: •        Increase understanding of teen dating abuse •        Identify and define roles of abuse •        Identify warning signs of an abusive partner •        Explore reasons why people stay in abusive relationships •        Increase help-seeking behavior among teens involved in abusive dating relationships •        Promote healthier approaches to dating relationships and conflicts •        Help teens understand their rights and responsibilities in a relationship. HIV Awareness Workshop delivered to: •        Define what HIV/ AIDS is •        Identify modes of transmission •        How to recognize the symptoms •        Explain prevention methods •        Explain treatment options •        Unders

Care for the Homeless Executive Director Bobby Watts has been chosen to give the annual “Susan L. Neibacher Address”, which is the keynote speech of a breakfast plenary session of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council’s national conference on Thursday, March 14, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill hotel in Washington, D.C. He will speak to several hundred health care administrators, clinicians and homeless advocates from across America about “Homelessness as a Public Health Epidemic." The speech is a particularly meaningful one for Watts because it is named for Susan L. Neibacher who was the founding Executive Director of Care for the Homeless in 1985. Not only was Neibacher an effective and inspirational organizer and administrator, she was also a mentor to Bobby Watts. In addition to being one of New York City’s oldest and largest providers of health care and human services to people experiencing homelessness, Care for the Homeless also operates a 200-bed s