As 2007 draws to a close, I want to remember both what we've accomplished in the past year -- together with many partners -- and what still remains to be done. This year,

• We won a court order requiring FEMA to stop its unlawful termination of housing assistance to tens of thousands of low-income individuals made homeless by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• For the thousands who are still without permanent housing or are homeless, we helped create a coalition to advocate for the human right to housing in the Gulf Coast.
• We won enactment of new protections for homeless toddlers in the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, to increase their access to this critical program.
• We won legislation in Washington, D.C. and in Massachusetts to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape or stalking from eviction and housing discrimination - to prevent them from becoming homeless.
• We helped groups around the country obtain free military and other surplus federal property under two federal programs. To date, 143 homeless assistance organizations have applied to convert at least 45 unused military bases to housing and services for homeless people.

So much remains to be done and the need is so great. No one should be homeless in the richest country on earth. Yet each year millions are -- and tens of millions more teeter on the edge. We know that solutions exist: in communities across the country, organizations and people of good will are working to help their fellow human beings overcome their challenges. Some are also are working to create systemic reform to address the causes of the crisis. Many of you are our partners in advocacy. Some are volunteers, some are donors. All are absolutely essential to everything we do.

Please continue your work and -- in whatever way you can -- please support NLCHP as we move forward in our national advocacy. Your online, tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated. Your comments, suggestions and partnership are always welcome.

Homeless persons and their advocates lost an important ally last week. Representative Julia Carson (D-IN) passed away on December 15, 2007 as a result of lung cancer. First elected to Congress in 1996, Congresswoman Carson represented the 7th District of Indiana. Representative Carson was a strong supporter of addressing the underlying causes of homelessness, and she and her staff worked tirelessly on behalf of homeless persons.

Representative Carson introduced two important bills in the 110th Congress that would increase and improve resources for homelessness. Rep. Carson was the primary sponsor of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition from Homelessness (HEARTH) Act (H.R.840), as well as the Homeless Access to Recovery through Treatment (HART) Act (H.R.4129). The HEARTH Act would reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and make a number of significant improvements, including increasing authorized funding for the programs, expanding the HUD definition of homelessness to include doubled up persons, protecting the civil rights of homeless persons, and expanding eligible prevention and permanent housing activities under the programs. The HART Act would expand and improve homeless persons' access to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs administered by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In addition to her work in the current Congress, Representative Carson was a primary sponsor of the Bringing American Home Act (BAHA) in prior Congresses. If enacted, BAHA would provide comprehensive solutions to homelessness through measures such as the establishment of a National Housing Trust Fund, establishment of a living wage, enforcement of the civil rights of homeless persons, and improvements to federal housing, income, and social services programs that provide assistance to homeless persons. Rep. Carson had planned to reintroduce BAHA in the 110th Congress, but was not able to complete changes to the bill before her passing. In the upcoming months, NLCHP and the National Coalition for the Homeless will be working to identify a new Congressional champion for the bill.

Representative Carson was a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable men, women, and children in her constituency and in this country. She will be missed.

Working in conjunction with the law firm Sidley Austin LLP, NLCHP filed an amicus brief on November 13 in a U.S. Supreme Court case challenging voter photo identification requirements to protect the voting rights of homeless Americans. Six other national advocacy organizations signed on to the brief: the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness.

The case, William Crawford et al. v. Marion County Election Board et al. and Indiana Democratic Party et al. v. Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State et al., involves a challenge to an Indiana law that requires voters to present photo identification in order to be able to cast a regular ballot.

In order to obtain the photo identification card required under Indiana law, persons must present proof of a current address-documentation that is difficult if not impossible for unsheltered homeless people to provide. Persons who cannot provide the photo identification card may cast a provisional ballot, but then must jump through other procedural hurdles in order to have election officials count the provisional ballot.

NLCHP's amicus brief in support of the Petitioners argues that Indiana's photo identification requirement imposes a substantial and unnecessary burden on homeless people living either in emergency shelter or in public places in their effort to exercise their right to vote. The Court is expected to hear oral argument in the case in early 2008.

Click here to read NLCHP's amicus brief.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, a coalition of more than 50 housing and human rights organizations, coordinated by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP), charged the U.S. with discrimination against racial minorities by denying equal access to adequate housing. The groups submitted a "shadow" report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) detailing the discrepancies in how the right to housing is enjoyed in the U.S.

Next February, CERD will review U.S. compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). The U.S. signed and ratified the treaty in 1994; the U.S. State Department issued its present report to CERD this April.

The U.S. report failed to address the fact that a disproportionate number of minority groups experience homelessness and housing difficulties. Under human rights law, a policy counts as discrimination if the impact is discriminatory - even if that impact was unintentional. NLCHP's report points to the lack of funding for affordable housing and laws that criminalize homelessness as examples of such discriminatory practices.

NLCHP's report was part of a larger report, coordinated by the US Human Rights Network, which covered discrimination across civil, political, economic, and social rights.

NLCHP will lead a delegation of housing experts, activists, and those directly affected by lack of affordable housing to Geneva in February to testify before CERD and ensure the U.S. is held accountable to these human rights standards.

NLCHP would like to thank the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and the U.S. Human Rights Fund for their support of the Human Rights Program.

Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill this week providing funding for Fiscal Year 2008 for federal agencies. Programs for homeless persons will receive level funding or small increases under the bill.

NLCHP worked during the Congressional session to increase funding for McKinney-Vento programs as well as funding to reduce the length of time it takes Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claimants to get approved for disability benefits. Most recently, NLCHP sent a letter, co-signed by 66 organizations, asking appropriators to keep $150 million in funding above President Bush' request, in order to hire more Administrative Law Judges to reduce the backlog in appeals for SSI benefits. In an important victory, that provision was included in the final bill.

The bill represents a compromise between Congress and President Bush. The President vetoed earlier appropriations bills because they provided more funding for federal agencies than he had requested. As a result of the vetoes, Congress significantly scaled back the funding requests and folded the various appropriations bills into a single, omnibus bill that fits within the President's overall budget caps.

The McKinney-Vento programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will be increased to $1.586 billion, from $1.4 billion. Several other homeless assistance programs - including the Health Care for the Homeless Program, and the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program - will also receive increases. Other programs, such as the McKinney-Vento PATH program, were level funded.

Despite having to significantly scale back proposed appropriations to meet the President's budget caps, Congress managed to avoid cuts and even add new funding for many programs that serve low-income people. Congress provided enough funding to maintain all current Housing Choice Vouchers. In addition, the omnibus bill will provide $75 million in new funding for housing vouchers for veterans. Congress achieved these increases and avoided the need for deeper cuts in many programs by shifting approximately $3.5 billion in funds from the Department of Defense, as well as $2.2 billion from State-Foreign Operations appropriations.

The federal Fiscal Year 2008 began on October 1, 2007. Because appropriations for most federal agencies were not enacted as of that date, funding for the federal government had been provided through temporary Continuing Resolutions and funding was about to expire. The omnibus bill will now go to the President, who is expected to sign it.

A full analysis will be available on NLCHP's website shortly.

In 2005, NLCHP led a local coalition to help pass the Washington, DC Protection from Discriminatory Eviction for Victims of Domestic Violence Amendment Act. Nationally, landlords often refuse to rent to survivors of domestic violence, or evict survivors because an incident of domestic violence occurred in the home. The Act, which extends the federal housing protections in the Violence Against Women Act to all public and private housing, protects survivors of domestic violence against these discriminatory evictions or denials for housing applications. It also amends the DC Human Rights Act to include victims of intrafamily violence as a protected class with respect to housing. These important provisions provide several venues to challenge discrimination against survivors.

NLCHP is now working to ensure the successful implementation of the law. Together with the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the District Alliance for Safe Housing and the Equal Rights Center, NLCHP will be conducting trainings for advocates, attorneys, property managers, landlords and tenant organizations over the next six months.

In addition, NLCHP is developing Know Your Rights materials to distribute to community organizations. NLCHP hopes to use the DC law and implementation process as a model for other cities working to protect domestic violence survivors.

For more information on the DC law, the upcoming trainings or Know Your Rights Materials, please contact: Kathy Zeisel, Domestic Violence Program Staff Attorney at kzeisel@nlchp.org.

NLCHP would like to thank the Freddie Mac Foundation and the Waitt Foundation for their support of the Domestic Violence Program.

NLCHP is proud to welcome Simpson Thacher Bartlett LLP to the Lawyers' Executive Advisory Partners (LEAP) program.

"We are delighted to have Simpson Thacher join LEAP," said Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of NLCHP, "and we are grateful to NLCHP supporter Bruce Rosenblum, Managing Director at the Carlyle Group, for making the connection with the firm."

Simpson Thacher's pro bono work is a defining feature of the firm. Working on a wide range of pro bono matters, Simpson attorneys, associates, and summer associates donated more than 50,000 hours in 2006 alone.

The firm's recent pro bono work includes counseling micro-enterpreneurs, representing refugees seeking asylum in America, and representing prison inmates, including in Guantanamo Bay. Most notable was the firm's victory on behalf of New York City school children, winning $5.6 billion in operating aid.

NLCHP has had a busy and productive 12 months! Take a look at our year in review here.

Also, NLCHP's 2006 Annual Report is now available online! Click here to read.

Visit our website at www.nlchp.org! Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at network@nlchp.org