HUD Senior Advisor Jennifer Ho Talks Housing for the Homeless in Memphis

(l-r) Katie Kitchin, Director of Community Alliance for the Homeless (Memphis COC), Jennifer Ho, HUD Senior Adviser; Beanie Self, Constituent Services Director for Congressman Steve Cohen (D-9); and John Gemmill, HUD Memphis Field office Director.

The Memphis homeless and affordable housing communities gathered recently at the Kroc Center in Midtown Memphis along with Memphis Mayor AC Wharton (www.acwharton.com/), Katie Kitchin (www.communityallianceforthehomeless.com/), executive director of the Community Alliance for the Homeless and John Gemmill, HUD Memphis Field Officer Director to meet with Jennifer Ho, Senior Adviser to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan on Housing and Services. Ms. Ho discussed the connections between HUD-assisted housing and the health, human and job training services that residents need.

Ho told the local providers that the emerging and continuing federal philosophy is immediate shelter first for the homeless, then a focus on the myriad of larger issues from a sudden loss of a job to drug addiction that could have caused the problem.

She added "I know what it's like to be a nonprofit director managing 13 HUD grants and Medicaid and not be able to find money for dry cleaning to help somebody out," [Ho] told those now directing similar nonprofit efforts called on to address a wide range of issues that vary from person to person. Housing is a necessary starting point for the effective delivery of a range of health, human and employment-oriented services.

"We are here because we all know that providing shelter only begins to address the problems of our clients", said Gemmill. Gemmill introduced the meeting by pointing out the attention Memphis has paid to the linkages between housing and services in in the areas of fighting homelessness, addressing the needs of relocated public housing residents and in bringing services to tenants in privately owned apartments.

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