Held annually on the winter solstice and longest night of the year, National Homeless Persons’ Memorial day is an opportunity to remember those we have lost too early due to the violence and effects of homelessness. Communities take part with solemn services and stern advocacy for an end to homelessness.
Join our monthly Town Hall series, held virtually the 3rd Thursday of each month at 3pm EST/ 2pm Central/ 1pm Mountain/ Noon PST.
Come to learn, to share, to connect and speak up. Special guests to be announced.
https://nationalhomeless.zoom.us/j/95379584765
Join our monthly Town Hall series, held virtually the 3rd Thursday of each month at 3pm EST/ 2pm Central/ 1pm Mountain/ Noon PST.
Come to learn, to share, to connect and speak up. Special guests to be announced.
https://nationalhomeless.zoom.us/j/95379584765
The Lived Experience Training Academy (LETA) is a virtual (fully online) and inclusive professional development program initiated by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH).
Created by people who have experienced homelessness, LETA is designed to address your specific needs. The program offers 12 to 16 hours of professional development that will have you certified and so much more!
LETA is a vehicle to help the growing silenced, unhoused population seeking justice, equality, and freedom. We equip you with the tools and resources you need to make your voice the centerpiece of strategy and advocacy.
Email Leta@nationalhomeless.org to request information.
LETA builds on the knowledge and skills of diverse people with lived experience and focuses on systemic change to ensure housing is a human right. The program includes a thoughtfully designed curriculum with six core themes and several interconnected themes that emerged through a series of focus group interviews conducted with people around the nation who are currently or formerly experiencing homelessness.
Topics covered in the LETA program include, but are not limited to, the following:
LETA formation and oversight is led by the Executive Director of NCH Donald Whitehead, who holds more than twenty years of experience serving and advocating for persons experiencing homelessness. The creative development and implementation is led and directed by LETA co-visionary, Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown, an internationally renowned Professor and Distinguished Chair of Social Justice Education at Stetson University and the President of the National Coalition for the Homeless Board. LETA logistical support is led by the Attorney and the Founder of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity, David Peery.
The National Coalition for the Homeless is an inclusive membership-led organization. We don’t just work for people who have lived experience but work alongside them on every level. We offer platforms that allow unhoused individuals to share their stories, so they may become the centerpiece of advocacy, policy, and strategy to ending homelessness.
Even if you are staying in a shelter or other temporary housing situation, homelessness is tough. Daily survival is often one’s top concern.
CAREbags provide daily necessities for people experiencing homelessness.
We know that compassion combined with action will end homelessness. We need everyone to CARE (click here to see what we mean):
C – Contribute (food drives, money, etc.,)
A – Advocate
R – Reach Out (volunteering)
E – Educate
Many concerned community members provide CAREbags, as a means to help unhoused folks meet their daily needs. CAREbags often include toiletries, clothing items, food, or other survival items. Below are listed items for CAREbags that have been suggested by people who have experienced homelessness.
Click here to purchase some of these items from our Amazon Wish List.
Clothing items:
Hygiene or Personal Care items:
Food items:
Other gear (many for outdoor encampments):
Other items requested (we are all humans :-):
What is Bring America Home NOW (BAHN)? Spearheaded by the National Coalition for the Homeless, Bring America Home NOW (BAHN) is a Comprehensive Grassroots Campaign to End Homelessness in the United States. Led by people who have lived experiences with homelessness, BAHN focuses on the passage of federal legislation aimed at addressing the interconnected solutions to the decades-long epidemic of homelessness in the U.S.
What Is The Focus? BAHN has 6 major policy pillars that focus our movement’s fight to end homelessness. Each of these pillars have short term and long term policy focuses. As our movement progresses, BAHN will be updating and adding to our political focus areas as we push legislation on a national and local level.
Housing
Housing is a basic human right that should be available to all Americans.
Health
Health and homelessness are inextricably linked: a safe, stable home is the prerequisite of health and well-being. Adequate income is essential to maintain housing. To end homelessness, we must ensure livable wages and basic income for all Americans and link income to the local cost of housing.
Livable Income
Adequate income is essential to maintain housing. To end homelessness, we must ensure livable wages and basic income for all Americans and link income to the local cost of housing.
Education/Training
Education and training play a critical role for many children, youth, and adults towards equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed for economic stability.
Civil Rights
Homelessness is a civil rights issue. People experiencing homelessness are too often victims of hate crimes. Homelessness disproportionately impacts people of color and LGBTQ people, who face more discrimination and barriers to jobs and housing than their counterparts.
Racial Equity
Homelessness is inextricably linked to systemic racism. Racial equity must be prioritized in our work to end and prevent homelessness.
Our national partners are advocates from all around the country, sharing insight on state and citywide struggles that heavily influence our national political pillar focuses. As a movement, we incorporate local struggles into the national discussion as a comprehensive grassroots movement to end homelessness.
We are reaching out to the public and partners to join us in our campaign to end homelessness through a comprehensive, multifaceted push for increased public awareness and successful legislation. We especially seek involvement from organizations led by people who have themselves experienced homelessness. Sign On: https://p2a.co/v3r4bsh
In addition to our six policy focus, the Bring America Home NOW Campaign is advancing its campaign goals by employing direct action and public mobilization strategies that are deep rooted in the civil rights movement. Civil disobedience (peaceful) and impactful.
Bring America Home NOW: 2024-2025 Campaign Direct Actions Needing Your Involvement
Johnson V. Grants Pass (Supreme Court Of The United States Case)
What?: SCOTUS Case- Push the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the right
When?: Apr 22, 2024
Where?: Nationwide (with focus in DC at the Supreme Court)
Why?: To push the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the rights of people forced to live outdoors. “Communities are safer and stronger when everyone is housed.” Crimiali
Partners: National Homelessness Law Center and More
Links: https://johnsonvgrantspass.com/ .
Take Off The Boards Campaign
What?: Take Off The Boards
When?: May 1, 2024(Michael Stoops Day of Action) tentatively
Where?: Nationwide- At least 50 communities across the nation in blue and red states hold local actions.
Why?: Get people housed by identifying and using existing vacant buildings.
Partners: Homeless Union, Homeless Army/PPEHRC
Links: Take Over: The DocumentaryIn-Depth Action Planning Document
National Sleep-Out Campaign
What?: National Sleep-Out
When?: Week of July 28, 2024
Where?: Nationwide- At least 50 communities across the nation in blue and red states will hold local actions (Mayor office, city hall, state parks…)
Why?: Independence from unsheltered homelessness. We must use all McKinney-Vento Funds for people experiencing homelessness now. Move PSH renewals to mainstream Section 8/voucher programs
Partners: BAHN Partners and NCH Members
Links:https://www.bringamericahomenow.org/
National Homeless Army March On Conventions
What?: March On RNC and DNC Conventions
When?: RNC Rally July 15, 2024 and DNC Rally August 19, 2024
Where?: Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL
Why?: Rallies at Democratic and Republican National Conventions, March between Milwaukee and Chicago to put a spotlight on homelessness crisis in America.
Partners: Poor People’s Army
Links:https://www.poorpeoplesarmymarch.com/
Election Prep-Scorecard & Get Out The Vote
What?: Ongoing actions related to 2024 Election
When?: September 2024, Week of September 23, 2024, November 5, 2024
Where?: Nationwide
Why?: Ensure true representation of the community of people who are marginalized by poverty, race, or homelessness. Publish a scorecard on elected officials actions around ending homelessness. Hold registration events, assist voters in casting their votes on or before election day.
Partners: BAHN Partners and NCH Members
Links:https://www.bringamericahomenow.org/
National Homelessness Leadership Conference
What?: Leadership Conference
When?: November 2024, Week between elections and Hunger & Homelessness Memorial Week
Where?: Northern CA, likely San Jose area
Why?: Opportunity to hear from people with lived experience and those experiencing homelessness.Bringing the movement together. We held a conference in DC and now we want to hold an event that will be more accessible to advocates nearer to the West coast.
Partners: Destination Home
Links:Destination Home’s Website
National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week
What?: Fundraising Gatherings
When?: November 16-24, 2024
Where?: Nationwide
Why?: Inform community members,advocates and providers about BAHN and that BAHN provides a framework to prevent and end homelessness.
Partners: BAHN Partners and NCH Members
Links:Hunger & Homelessness Week Website
National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day
What?: Annual Memorial event
When?: December 21, 2024
Where?: Nationwide (Virtually)
Why?: To remember people who lost their lives because of homelessness and to put the spotlight on the urgent need to address the broken system that leads to homelessness and death.
Partners: National Healthcare for the Homeless Council
Links:NCH Memorial Day Webpage 2020 Video of Names
National March In DC
What?: Mass Demonstration to Bring America Home NOW
When?: May 2025
Where?: Washington, DC
Why?: Create impact within the first 100 days of the new administration and Congress by demanding an end to Homelessness. Ensure equity in housing resources for people with limited incomes as homeowners.
Partners: Homeless Union, Poor People’s Army, BAHN Partners and NCH Members
Links:https://www.bringamericahomenow.org/
This grassroots campaign is fueled by the belief that together, we can enact real change. By becoming a partner in this vital endeavor, you’ll be joining forces with a community dedicated to making a meaningful difference. Sign up today and stand with us in our mission to Bring America Home NOW. Together, we possess the power to create a brighter future for all. Sign On: https://p2a.co/v3r4bsh
Login here to manage your membership with the National Coalition for the Homeless!
By logging in you can:
I am entering my third year in my second tenure as Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, and I have great optimism.
My optimism is driven by the reality that the rest of the advocacy world and the federal agencies have finally caught up with NCH’s philosophy of involving people with lived experience at all levels. We have witnessed a transformation at all levels to an imperfect inclusiveness that holds great potential for a more efficient and effective service delivery system.
I am also profoundly moved by the advocacy in local communities to push back against a well-organized and well-funded group of lobbyists traveling the country spreading harmful misinformation using hedge fund dollars. The Cicero Institute is circulating model legislation to force people experiencing homelessness into jails and institutions. Study after study and voluminous research has disproved the theory that incarceration or forced institutionalization has any benefit for people experiencing homelessness. In fact, research on homelessness indicates that incarceration has multiple negative impacts.
Conversely, and as we experience a cold snap across the country, I am confronted with the harsh realities that people experiencing homelessness face daily. The headlines are nearly surreal.
The headlines in my news feed tell of a serial killer targeting people forced to live outdoors due to unregulated housing increases in Los Angeles. I have visited Skid Row multiple times, leaving with sadness and urgency.
In the same news feed, a community in Phoenix applauds the raiding of an encampment of 800 people. All 800 had been removed from the community’s safety to only God knows where. In my experience, only a handful are housed at the end of the day, and most are pushed to parts unknown.
People should be able to live in safe, stable housing, not parks, cars, or abandoned buildings.
For decades, we have waited for the market to fix our severe lack of affordable housing to no avail. We have begged, pleaded, and educated elected officials to exhaustion. Our mission to end homelessness can sometimes appear intractable.
But homelessness in the United States is not inevitable, or intractable, or hopeless. I fundamentally believe that for a full restoration of justice for marginalized people, we must demand it.
I believe the time is right for Direct Action. The homeless advocacy movement has been silent since the creation of McKinney Vento. People experiencing homelessness have relinquished leadership to providers, many of whom have compassion and good intentions but are beholden to funders, like HUD. People with lived experience have been exploited, tokenized, and devoid of any genuine voice in their own lives.
We must organize a force led by people with lived experience that demands housing justice, economic justice, and civil and racial justice.
We often hear nothing for us without us. This is a clever statement but hollow without a demand for this direction. We demand to be creators and not evaluators, and our expertise will be compensated.
This kind of organizing is not new. It has changed the course of history multiple times in multiple places worldwide, from American chattel Slavery to the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa. The intractable has been possible and then invisible.
I hope in reading this; you are overwhelmed with the fierce urgency of now that not one more person must die in the isolation of the sea of despair called homelessness. I know that many have moved on, not willing to relive the trauma of homelessness. However, we need your voice, your story, your triumph.
We need people to understand that your situation was not your destiny and that even though life dealt you a bad hand, you were satisfied. We need you to join the Bring America Home Now Campaign. We cannot afford to wait; people are dying everywhere in the richest countries in the world.
Authored by Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of NCH (National Coalition for the Homeless).
The Bring America Home NOW campaign, spearheaded by the National Coalition for the Homelessn is excited to announce this forward thinking and youth inclusive partnership with Junior State of America (JSA) as they join to co- spearhead the Youths for Bring America Home NOW campaign.
Junior State of America’s unwavering commitment to ensure active participation in democracy and learning through various activism experiences perfectly aligns with NCH and BAHN’s unwavering dedication and commitment to ensuring that youth are on the decision making table not merely as participants; but as equal partners and contributors in our Housing movement and democracy.
In alignment with JSA’s commitment to students “ setting the tone”, the National Coalition for the Homelessness and the Bring America Home NOW campaign believe that there is no group more powerful than organized and motivated youths standing up for a cause that is greater than one individual and that requires all of us in unity and collaborative spirit.
This partnership enables both the National Coalition for the Homeless through the Bring America Home NOW campaign and Junior State of America to continue providing opportunities for students and youths to collaborate , volunteer, be activist, and “ gain valuable citizenship skills and experience by organizing events, participating in and moderating thought talks and debates, activism initiatives…, ” and running campaigns actions at local, region, state, and national levels while elevating women’s leadership.
Junior State of America’s compelling curriculum centered on civic responsibility, media literacy, and women’s leadership, combined with the national platform provided by the Bring America Home NOW campaign is critical to ensure intergenerational working and leadership.
As I often say, there is no real social or policy change without organized public pressure; especially young people who are the strongest force for any social justice and structural change movement.
Francis Kalombo Ngoy
National Director- Bring America Home NOW Campaign
National Coalition for the Homeless
We are deeply concerned about the recent findings presented in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The report reveals a disturbing 12% overall increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness across the nation from 2022 to 2023. This data highlights the pressing need for immediate action to ensure the protection of the human right to housing.
According to AHAR report findings, the number of people experiencing homelessness is the highest since the reporting began in 2007, painting a bleak picture of the current housing crisis. These stark developments are a somber reminder of the inaction and lack of prioritization when it comes to addressing the root causes of homelessness in our country.
We firmly believe that housing is a fundamental human right and cannot overlook the fact that these findings reflect an urgent need for more comprehensive and proactive measures to combat the growing crisis of homelessness in our communities.
As the AHAR report underlines the gravity of the situation, we at NCH urge all stakeholders including government agencies, policymakers, and community leaders to collaborate and redouble their efforts to proactively address homelessness. We call for the immediate allocation of resources and the implementation of long-term solutions that prioritize access to safe and affordable housing for all.
To underscore the need for swift access to housing, communities across the country will commemorate Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day this week (December 21), remembering thousands of neighbors, family members and friends who have passed away prematurely due to lack of permanent and safe housing.
| Today, join the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and the National Consumer Advisory Board to remember the lives of those we have lost this year and continue our fight to end homelessness. NHCHC CEO Bobby Watts and NCH Executive Director Donald Whitehead will speak, along with Reverend Dr. Elizabeth Theoharis from the Poor People’s Campaign; Warren Magee, NCAB Steering Committee member and Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board at Boston Health Care for the Homeless; Dr. Catherine Crosland, Director of Homeless Outreach Development at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C.; and Madalyn Karban, Bhavana Akula, and Ishaan Akula from NCH’s National Youth Division, Bring America Home NOW.The program will also feature art by artist and advocate Tammy De Grouchy Grubbs and an original spoken word performance from Charlotte A. Garner, Regional Representative, NCAB Board Steering Committee, Chair of the Ellen Dailey Advocacy Committee, and Chair of the Healthcare for the Homeless Houston Change Committee. If your community is hosting a memorial, please register your event here. |
| On this day, we come together as a community to mourn and remember those we have lost due to homelessness. It is a solemn occasion that reminds us of the dire consequences posed by the lack of stable, secure housing for our most vulnerable neighbors. Together, let us reaffirm our commitment to upholding the right to housing and work towards a future where homelessness is eradicated, and every individual has a place to call home. |
| Join us for HPMD |
