The 2019 National Conference on Ending Homelessness
The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) will host their National Conference on Ending Homelessness on November 4-6, 2019 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The conference program will cover a range of topics in homelessness, designed to support and accelerate the end of homelessness in Canada by equipping participants with the tools and training they need to end homelessness in their communities. Online registration, scholarship applications and presentations are now open for submission.
Learn more here.
Sydney, Australia Joins the A Place to Call Home Campaign
This week, Sydney, Australia announced their participation in the IGH A Place to Call Home Campaign as the tenth vanguard city. Premier of New South Wales, Australia, Gladys Berejiklian, pledged the local government’s commitment to reduce the number of people experiencing street homelessness by 50% by the year 2025. “We are working hard to break the cycle of homelessness with the latest street count showing a significant reduction in the number of rough sleepers in Sydney,” said Berejiklian.
Read more here.
Hospitals House Patients Experiencing Homelessness
“Health systems can’t pay for us to get out of our affordable housing crisis,” said Rachel Solotaroff, MD, president and CEO of Central City Concern – a nonprofit homelessness and substance abuse service agency.
In 2015, The University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago (UI Health) began a three-year pilot project to house 25 frequent emergency department patients, with chronic health conditions, experiencing homelessness. The Chicago Center for Housing and Health provided a case manager, health care coordination, and other support services to participants. Due to the success of the Better Health Through Housing project, UI Health doubled the number of recipients and plans to further expand. The program is one of a growing number of housing initiatives supported by healthcare systems across the United States. In this article, Bridget M. Kuehn of JAMA Network discusses how an overworked healthcare system can become strained and initiatives like these can alleviate it.
Read more here.
UN Working Group Discusses Tackling Street Homelessness Head-on
The United Nations (UN) NGO Working Group to End Homelessness gathered in New York City, New York, USA to brainstorm on proposed long-term goals of UN engagement in ending global street homelessness. The 27-member working group discussed existing efforts and opportunities for homelessness to be addressed in the form of a global goal, starting with achieving a global measurement of the issue. Although the UN agenda doesn’t ignore the need for housing – goal 11 is to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade slums by 2030; the working group is encouraging increased efforts tailored to street homelessness around the world.
Read more here.