January 2001 | |||
Community Builders Convene Monthly Nationwide Conference Call on Homeless Issues For the past 12 months, HUD Community Builders have coordinated a monthly nationwide conference call on homeless continuum of care issues. The calls have addressed a wide variety of homeless issues including education of homeless children, serving homeless veterans, military base reuses to serve homeless, coordinating with public housing authorities, and connecting supportive services for the homeless with a mental illness, HIV/AIDS or substance abuse issue. The discussions have included a number of prominent guest speakers including Pete Dougherty, Veteran Administration’s homeless director, Fran Randolph of the U.S. HHS, Mary Jean Le Tendre of the U.S. Department of Education, and local experts from around the United States. Since the inception of these calls, community builders have consistently been supported by Community Planning and Development, particularly Deputy Assistant Secretary Fred Karnas and John Garrity, Director of the Specials Needs Assistance Programs with technical expertise and problem solving. Recently, participation has increased to include an average of 45 HUD offices across the nation. CB’s are encouraged to invite PTO colleagues and external partners such as homeless providers, continuum of care coordinators, etc., to participate in the call. It is estimated that more than 500 persons are participating in the conference calls each month. The calls frequently involve discussions of best practices from local experts who have been directly involved with the implementation of homeless programs and projects. The calls encourage follow-up networking with HUD staff and community providers The conference calls are scheduled for the first Thursday of each month from 1:00p.m.-2:30pm Eastern Standard Time. The calls are hosted by Ken Einbinder, Community Builder in the Arizona State Office, who is responsible for coordinating each month’s agenda. He can be reached by e-mail at Kenneth_A._Einbinder@hud.gov or by phone at 602-379-4434x7272. | |||
