HUD Secretary Donovan Talks Homelessness

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-07-30 05:44:00 UTC
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This morning we're hearing remarks by Shaun Donovan, the 15th Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary and Chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

8:35am - Introduction by Nan Roman. Secretary Donovan acknowledges that Nan has influenced five HUD Secretaries... phew.

8:38 - Donovan: "Serving the homeless is hard work even in the best of times. During times like these, it is the work of angels."

8:39 - A civilized society does not allow someone to live on the streets, or die on the streets.

8:39 - Talking about the "myth" that some people want to live on the streets. He said he learned during his time in NYC that

8:40 - "We know that we can end homelessness... ALL homelessness."

8:41 - We've moved on to the costs of homelessness, both in the traditional sense and touchy-feely sense.

8:41 -Thanks to good RESEARCH, we know more about the causes, effects, and solutions of homelessness then ever before. Another call for good research. 8:44 - 56% increase in rural and suburban homelessness, proving that homelessness is not just an urban problem and affects everyone in every type of community.

8:45 - Every homeless person shares one trait: they lack housing they can afford. Before there was a housing crisis, there was an affordable rental housing crisis. Wow - refreshing to hear HUD talking about rental housing for low income people instead of making "home ownership possible."

8:48 - Two great federal updates: HUD FY2010 budget involves capitalizing the Housing Trust Fund for the first time and, just yesterday, they heard that Congress is allocating additional funds to rental vouchers, thus putting some funds behind the promise to prioritize the creation of affordable rental housing.

8:51 - In light of the HPRP funding, and the new focus on prevention and rapid rehousing, Donovan is asking for a comprehensive review of HUD programs (CDBG, etc.) to ensure that they are working towards preventing and ending homelessness.

8:54 - Donovan says they're close to naming an Executive Director for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Who will replace Mangano?

8:55 - "Let me be as clear as I can: We will develop a federal strategy to prevent and END homelessness in the United States."

8:57 - Wow: "There are more homeless Vietnam veterans today than the number of troops who died in that war."

8:59 - No surprise... now we're hearing about the link between homelessness and health care. Comprehensive health care reform will prevent thousands of families from becoming homeless.

9:00 - Creating decent, affordable housing is one of the best strategies for promoting good health.

9:02 - "Simply put - if we want to tackle healthcare reform, if we want to lower costs, we must tackle homelessness." -Donovan

9:04 - He acknowledges that ending homelessness is a question of will. Ending with a nice quote about how ending homelessness is within our reach.

9:06 - "If we can spend billions of dollars on ending homelessness the wrong way... surely we can do it today the right way."

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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