Back On Their Feet

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Spur Local

By Jill Carmichael, Neighbors First Division Director
Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place

The day our staff found out that the Department of Veterans Affairs chose Friendship Place as a recipient of a $1 million Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant, the excitement in our office was off the charts. As the director of our Veterans First program, I of course am thrilled about our newly expanded grant to work with Veterans and their families. It’s so gratifying to think about how many people we will be able to help get back on their feet.

We launched our Veterans First program at Friendship Place about nine months ago, and in that time our staff learned invaluable information about working with this population. We now know what homeless Veterans’ unique needs are, and we’re using that information to tailor our expanded Veterans First program to be as effective and efficient as possible.

I’m particularly looking forward to rolling out our new specialist positions. Our Housing Specialist, for instance, will be fully trained in tenant rights and will create partnerships with landlords throughout the DC Metro Area. This will allow us to rapidly rehouse the people we?re working with while serving as a liaison between client and landlord.

The VA wants us to do our best to move our clients into housing with employment opportunities on the horizon. Our Employment Specialist will continue to expand upon the great employment services that Friendship Place already provides. This position will focus on job development as well as marketing to potential employers the special skills that Veterans bring to the table. We’re also creating specialist positions in benefits and outreach/intake.

Above all, we want to make a lasting impact on Veteran homelessness in DC. We are dedicated to working to prevent homelessness and to house those experiencing homelessness. This grant couldn’t have come at a better time — when the need for services continues to rise in our community. But in my eyes, seeing the dedication of my staff and the willingness of places like the VA to fund these efforts, I truly believe that we’re getting one step closer to ending homelessness every day.

In The News …

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Julia Cain

Investing in Education, Workforce Development, and the Safety Net Will Close the Income Gap (Give It Some Thought: Community Foundation blog): “[…] while our region’s economy has led to economic growth and prosperity for many on the middle and higher rungs of the ladder, residents on the bottom of the income scale largely are being left behind […] Our philanthropic efforts take on a new urgency as local and state governments are grappling with budget cuts that would have a devastating effect on low-income residents already hit hard by the recession.” CFNCR President Terri Lee Freeman advises focused investment in “three key areas: education, workforce development and the safety net.” You can learn more about Catalogue Education nonprofits here, and those with a job training-based mission here.

High Proportion of Veterans Live in Rural Areas Less Served by Philanthropic Efforts (Nonprofit Quarterly): “[The Daily Yonder’s Bill] “Bishop points out that 30.6 percent of US military veterans live in rural and exurban counties that house only 25.9 percent of the nation’s over-18 population […] Veterans in Washington, DC — near the Pentagon, Fort Myer, Fort Meade, and Fort Belvoir — account for only 6.9 percent of the adult population in the area.” In other words, veteran populations tend not to be as concentrated in metropolitan areas, which are often the areas with the greatest philanthropic resources to help out. And overall, “if foundations aren’t paying sufficient attention to rural America, they are likely to be underfunding rural communities — communities with disproportionately high numbers of military veterans.”

Prince George’s County April home prices rise (Washington Post): “While local markets vary significantly from neighborhood to neighborhood, almost all of the 22 jurisdictions in the Washington region have seen some price growth over the past year. The notable exception has been Prince George’s County. But in April — for the first time since they started to plummet in early 2007 — home prices in Prince George’s County are up.” The average detached home price in the County peaked in 2006 and then fell by nearly 50% by 2012 (from $400,000 to $185,000); the foreclosure crisis also had a profound affect on Prince George’s. But this month, the average price has risen to $207,000.

In The News …

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Julia Cain

Gap between best and worst DC schools growing (Washington Examiner): “The gap between the District’s best- and worst-performing schools has been growing amid the most intense school reform in the city’s history […] The American Institutes for Research found that, if two students have the same test scores in 2010, but one attends a wealthy, high-performing school and the other attends the opposite, the student at the wealthy school likely would have outpaced the latter student substantially in 2011, even though they were on equal footing the year before.” For example, on average, students in Ward 3 schools demonstrated a 70.8% two-year growth percentile, while students in Ward 8 received a 46% growth score.

State Of The World’s Mothers Report 2012 (Huffington Post): This year, Save the Children ranked Norway, Iceland, and Sweden as the best places to be a mother. “In addition to its annual ranking, the 2012 report focuses specifically on the issue of children’s nutrition. One in four of the world’s children are chronically malnourished or stunted […] malnutrition kills as many as 2.6 million children and 100,000 mothers every year. Millions of others are left struggling with the physical and mental impairments of stunting.” Over half of the world’s children do not have access to vitamin A, zinc, and water and sanitation — universal access to these perhaps could save as many as 680,000 lives.

Battered and Bruised Minds Lead to Homelessness (TIME: Battleland): “The Department of Veterans Affairs first-ever large-scale study of homeless vets shows that the vast majority of homeless vets have mental disorders […] Dealing with veterans’ mental health may be just as important in preventing homelessness among vets as dealing with their lack of housing;” the study shows that “78?83 percent of the newly homeless diagnosed with mental disorders at the end of the study, were diagnosed before they became homeless.” Additionally, the “Homeless Incidence and Risk Factors for Becoming Homeless in Veterans” report also followed 300,000 veterans who left active duty between July 2005 and September 2006 until October 2010; while none of these particular veterans had been homeless before, more than 4% became homeless at some point during that period.

7 Questions – Mark E. Robbins (Yellow Ribbon Fund)

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Julia Cain

This week, we’re getting to know … Mark E. Robbins, Executive Director of the Yellow Ribbon Fund. The philosophy of the Fund is simple: wounded servicemen and women deserve first-class care as they recover. And their families deserve the same. With the help of over 1,200 volunteers, Yellow Ribbon Fund supplies the personal services that government programs just don’t cover.

1. What was your most interesting recent project, initiative, partnership, or event?

We are launching a new initiative to stay in touch with the injured service members we helped while they were being treated at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital after they return to their hometowns. Many of these young men and women have a good support system at home and have goals of getting a job or going to college. But many do not have this safety net and we are reaching out to see how we can help.

2. What else are you up to?

We are starting to build a network of attorneys who can do pro bono work on behalf of veterans with legal needs. We are getting close to launching this effort and believe that this will be a very important service. Continue reading →

Quote for Tuesday

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Julia Cain

“On this day, we memorialize them all. We memorialize our first patriots, blacksmiths, farmers, slaves and freed men who never knew the independence they won with their lives. We memorialize the armies of men — and women disguised as men — black and white, who fell in apple orchards and corn fields in a war that saved our union. […]

“The patriots we memorialize today sacrificed not only all they had but all they would ever know. They gave of themselves until they had nothing more to give. […]

“We remember that the blessings we enjoy as Americans came at a dear cost. Our presence in a free society bears testimony to their enduring legacy. Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must. We must honor it in our own lives by holding their memories close to our hearts, and heeding the example they set.”

President Obama

Memorial Day, May 30, 2011

Arlington National Cemetery

Memorial Day

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Julia Cain

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to our country. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. […] By the late 1800s, many more cities and communities had begun to observe Memorial Day, and after World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who had died in all America’s wars.

— “A Day of Reflection,” PBS.com

If you’re looking to support our servicemen and women and families, today and throughout the year, do check out Operation Homefront DC and the Yellow Ribbon Fund of Bethesda.