National Coalition for the Homeless Warns HUD’s New NOFO Will Deepen the Homelessness Crisis

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The National Coalition for the Homeless expresses deep concern over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2025 Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The new NOFO abandons decades of evidence-based practice by limiting all permanent housing, including Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Rapid Re-Housing (RRH), and Joint TH-RRH, to just 30% of available funding, forcing communities to cut the housing interventions proven to end homelessness. 

“HUD’s new priorities turn back the clock on everything we know works,” said Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of NCH. “This NOFO will destabilize local homelessness systems and push thousands of people back into crisis. It is a devastating departure from evidence, humanity, and common sense.” 

Independent assessments indicate that up to 171,000 people currently living in permanent supportive housing could lose their homes due to these changes, not because of program failure, but solely because HUD has chosen to defund the most effective solutions. 

Pathologizing Poverty and Ignoring Structural Causes
HUD’s new approach reframes homelessness as a problem of personal behavior, focusing heavily on addiction, mental illness, and treatment compliance. This shift reinforces harmful stereotypes rather than addressing root causes such as the lack of affordable housing, wage stagnation, racial inequities, and the disappearance of low-cost units like SROs. “Most people experiencing homelessness are not dealing with severe mental illness or addiction,” Whitehead emphasized. “They are people who can’t afford rent; workers, parents, seniors, youth, and people priced out by an economy that no longer matches wages to housing costs.” 

Criminalization Is Not a Housing Strategy
The NOFO incentivizes programs that coordinate with law enforcement, enforce camping bans, or require mandatory participation in treatment or employment programs. These tactics echo failed strategies that criminalize homelessness and worsen barriers to stability. “We cannot arrest or coerce our way out of homelessness,” added Whitehead. “Criminalization wastes resources, retraumatizes people, and distracts from the real solution: permanent housing.” 

Permanent Housing Ends Homelessness
For more than two decades, communities across the country have shown that permanent housing paired with voluntary services leads to stability, recovery, and cost savings. HUD’s current direction undermines this proven approach. “Every time we have invested in permanent housing, homelessness has gone down,” Whitehead said. “Every time we withdraw that investment, homelessness rises. The pattern is undeniable.” 

A Call for Federal Leadership Rooted in Justice and Reality
NCH urges the Administration to reconsider the harmful 2025 NOFO and prioritize long-term, evidence-based solutions. “We need leaders who understand that homelessness is a structural crisis, not a moral failing,” Whitehead said. “This nation deserves a federal response grounded in data, dignity, and the lived experiences of the people most affected.” NCH remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing policies that truly end homelessness, and will continue to advocate for federal leadership that prioritizes housing, dignity, and evidence over ideology. 

UPDATES:
Dec. 8, 2025 HUD took down the dangerous Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) ahead of lawsuits
Dec. 10, 2025 Nation’s Mayors Call on Congress to Renew HUD Continuum of Care Grants, Safeguard Housing for Vulnerable Residents

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Everyone deserves the safety and dignity of a home. 

We at the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) find it reprehensible that last week, a newscaster on a major TV network, publicly advocated murdering people who are unhoused and experiencing health crises.

Negative rhetoric directed at people experiencing homelessness not only breeds stigma and discrimination but can also fuel violence and aggression against vulnerable populations. NCH has documented thousands of alarming instances of violence targeting those facing homelessness, a tragic reality that underscores the profound consequences of dehumanizing language. 

Furthermore, the commentators showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the everyday experience of regular people in this country. There is no community in the country that has enough affordable housing or emergency shelter to meet the need. Our health care system is extremely expensive, and treatment is often either too costly, not covered by insurance, or not even available in a community.

When influential platforms propagate misinformation or violent rhetoric, it normalizes harmful attitudes and emboldens those with violent tendencies. We must hold our journalists and media figures to account for the power of their words and the impact they can have on society. 

We demand that FoxNews apologize, and ‘Fox and Friends’ co-host Brian Kilmeade be reprimanded for suggesting that people experiencing homelessness or mental health crises be euthanized. 

We must strive for a society that prioritizes care, compassion, and comprehensive support for everyone. It is vital that we challenge and denounce rhetoric that dehumanizes vulnerable populations. 

Housing ends homelessness, and the country has more than enough resources to ensure we all have a safe home and that our basic human needs are met.

Take Action
2024 National Lived Experience Leadership Conference

Unlocking the Potential of Leaders who have Experienced HomelessnessrnrnConference Workshops will be led by moderators who have experienced homelessness. Our generous sponsors have ensured that at least 100 advocates from across the country who have lived experience can travel to Washington, DC for this important summit.

We’re deeply grateful to everyone who participated, supported, and joined us, whether in person or from afar. Thanks to one of our amazing participants, the entire conference was recorded, and you can now relive the powerful sessions on YouTube. If you couldn’t make it, this is your chance to catch every inspiring moment. Click the link below to watch the full conference on YouTube!

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Homelessness ends when we all have safe, affordable and accessible housing.

But our communities are facing unprecedented challenges to our collective safety and efforts to house all of our neighbors.

This page serves as a resource for those fighting back against occupation in Washington, DC, as well as other communities that have been experiencing militarization and abductions of immigrants, people of color, and people who are unhoused.

 

NCH’s statement on Executive Orders

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DC Info and Resources:

Cities Nationwide – Know-Your-Rights and other Info

Over the past year, the National Coalition for the Homeless made major strides in mobilizing people with lived experience to fight the costly and harmful criminalization of homelessness. On August 8, 2025, we gathered at the Woodmore Country Club to honor advocates, organizations, and sponsors who amplified the voices of the unhoused, including the Western Regional Advocacy Project, Dana Woolfolk, Jeff Olivet, and The Honorable Cori Bush.

Despite federal funding cuts and harmful new policies, our work—and the support of our partners—remained steadfast. The evening, hosted by former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and featuring national recording artist Shelton Cornelius Price, was a celebration of resilience, advocacy, and community. We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended, sponsored, or contributed to our mission.

Over the last year, we made significant progress in mobilizing people with lived experience to combat the costly practice of jailing, fining, and arresting people who were forced to experience unsheltered homelessness due to the lack of shelter.

We celebrated our awardee advocates and organizations who made significant contributions to lifting up the firsthand experience of those who had been unhoused:

  • Western Regional Advocacy Project

  • Dana Woolfolk, former

  • Jeff Olivet, former Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

  • The Honorable Cori Bush, Former U.S. Representative (MO)

Sponsor awardees: The Oak Foundation, Melville Charitable Trust, Progressive Insurance Foundation, NFL Foundation, Newrez

Many nonprofits experienced federal funding cutbacks and uncertainty due to changes that strained resources targeted at combating homelessness. The Executive Order signed a week prior had further disastrous effects on our neighbors forced to sleep outdoors. Our role as the nation’s first homeless advocacy organization was more important than ever.

The 2025 NCH Awards Dinner took place at the Woodmore Country Club, just outside the Capitol Beltway, on August 8, 2025, from 5:30 to 8 PM. Our guest MC was the Honorable Terrence McAuliffe, former Governor of Virginia. Guests enjoyed a special performance by national recording artist Shelton Cornelius Price, and had the opportunity to connect, celebrate, and learn more about the vital work NCH and our partners did to address homelessness nationwide.

Even for those who could not attend, many supported the event by sponsoring or contributing to help a member of our speaker’s bureau or someone experiencing homelessness in their community attend.

Your involvement, in any capacity, amplified our mission and made a tangible impact on the lives of countless individuals. We remain deeply grateful for your support.

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“You can’t arrest yourself out of homelessness,” Donald Whitehead ED @NCH

On CNN, National Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Donald Whitehead delivers an urgent message about the White House’s escalating threats to people experiencing homelessness and the troubling ripple effects now being felt in our nation’s capital.

In this powerful interview, Donald exposes the harmful policies that jeopardize the safety, dignity, and basic human rights of our unhoused neighbors. He calls out both the recent cuts to HUD programs, critical lifelines that fund housing and services, and the growing push, seen in DC’s new ordinance, to forcibly clear encampments and funnel people into institutions against their will.

This is not just a political issue. It is a fight for human lives. The choices made will determine whether we build a society rooted in compassion or one that criminalizes poverty. Watch the video now and share it widely. Our voices matter, and together we can demand housing, dignity, and justice for all.

Trump signs two executive orders aimed at “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” that will actually make our cities more dangerous for residents who are poor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 24, 2025 – Today, the Trump administration issued two executive orders that fundamentally misrepresent homelessness as a criminal issue rather than a societal challenge requiring compassionate and systemic solutions. The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), dedicated to addressing the root causes of homelessness since the 1980s, strongly condemns these directives as ineffective, wasteful, and a grave violation of civil rights.

The first executive order threatens to withhold Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding from states that protect individuals from involuntary commitment to institutional care. The second order, contradictory to the first, proposes allowing Medicaid funding for mental health treatment.

“Everyone deserves a safe place to live,” stated Donald Whitehead, Jr., NCH Executive Director. “These executive orders ignore decades of evidence-based housing and support services in practice. They represent a punitive approach that has consistently failed to resolve homelessness and instead exacerbates the challenges faced by vulnerable individuals.”

This administration has a concerning record of disregarding civil rights and due process, as evidenced by recent actions concerning immigrants. These executive orders direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge existing judicial precedents and consent decrees in communities where the civil rights of people experiencing homelessness or mental health crises have been violated.

The assertion that the majority of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness are “addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both” is inaccurate. Furthermore, it disregards the reality that many individuals develop mental health or substance abuse issues after prolonged periods of homelessness due to the lack of safe and affordable housing.

As the executive order itself acknowledges, the Supreme Court has established due process protections that safeguard individuals from involuntary confinement in psychiatric hospitals. Historical attempts at mass institutionalization proved destructive to individuals’ lives and financially unsustainable for states. The original intent of deinstitutionalization in the 1970s was to accompany community re-integration with comprehensive housing and support services—a commitment that, tragically, remains underfunded and unfulfilled, both then and now.

The National Coalition for the Homeless reiterates that the definitive solution to homelessness is housing. Ensuring safe places to live and access to support services is not only a moral imperative but also the most effective strategy for building safer and more equitable communities.

Inviting one and all to the Annual NCH Awards Dinner and Auction – celebrating achievements in advocacy for our unhoused neighbors and raising funds to keep doing the work!

Over the last year, we have made significant progress in mobilizing people with lived experience to combat the costly practice of jailing, fining, and arresting people who are forced to experience unsheltered homelessness due to the lack of shelter.

Come celebrate our awardee advocates and organizations who have made significant contributions to lifting up the first hand experience of those who have been unhoused:

Many nonprofits are experiencing federal funding cutbacks and uncertainty due to changes that strain resources targeted at combating homelessness. The Executive Order signed a week ago will have further disastrous affects for our neighbors forced to sleep outdoors. Our role as the nation’s first homeless advocacy organization is more important than ever.

Please help support our critical work at the upcoming NCH Awards Dinner, which will take place at the Woodmore Country Club, just outside the Capitol beltway, on August 8, 2025, from 5:30 to 8 PM. Our guest MC will be the Honorable Terrence McAuliffe, former Governor of Virginia. Come to hear national recording artist, Shelton Cornelius Price, and enjoy the opportunity to connect, celebrate, and learn more about the vital work NCH and our partners do to address homelessness nationwide.

If you cannot attend, we encourage you to sponsor the event or contribute to helping a member of our speaker’s bureau or someone experiencing homelessness in your community attend. Tickets can be purchased by following this link: https://bit.ly/NCHawards.

Your involvement, in any capacity, will help amplify our mission and make a tangible impact on the lives of countless individuals. We look forward to seeing you there!

A special thanks to our generous sponsors: