Homelessness is skyrocketing across the country, as more and more people lose their homes to foreclosures and their jobs to the recession. Reports are coming in from around the country:

1. Massachusetts has witnessed a 33% increase in the number of families living in shelters.
2. Hennepin County, MN (which includes Minneapolis), reports a 20% increase in families living in shelters in the past year.
3. In San Francisco a shelter has seen a 300% increase in requests for emergency assistance from people who have been laid off or had trouble getting enough work to pay the rent.

We are tracking the reports on our new Wiki and fact sheet. Please help us document what's happening in your community by adding to the Wiki.

More important, we have worked to get additional federal funds included in the stimulus bill to help prevent these increases in homelessness.

These additional funds-over $1.5 billion for the Emergency Shelter Grant program, to be used for prevention activities-are significant, and they will make a big difference to people on the brink of homelessness.

Additional funds in the stimulus will help homeless children and domestic violence survivors, and increase access to food stamps.

We have much work to do to make housing a human right for all. These funds are an important step forward. Now we have to make sure the funds go out quickly and are used effectively. Please help us make it happen.

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director

Thanks to all who made calls on behalf of those hit hardest by the economic downturn! The provisions to aid homeless and low-income Americans in the stimulus package are now available as follows:

Homeless Prevention
· $1.5 billion to the HUD Emergency Shelter Grant Program
· $100 million to the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Grant Program

Food Assistance
· Food stamp benefits will increase by approximately 13%. This increase will phase out over time.
· $100 million for formula grants to states for elderly nutrition services, including Meals on Wheels
· $150 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to purchase commodities for food banks

Education
· $70 million for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program

Disability Payments
· Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries and veterans receiving disability benefits or pensions from the VA will receive a one-time payment of $250.

Unemployment Benefits
· Increases unemployment benefits by $25 per week
· Continues the extended unemployment benefits program until December 2009 (the program was due to expire in March 2009). The extended unemployment benefits program provides up to 33 weeks of extended benefits.

Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit
· Provides additional tax credit to families with three or more children and decreases the marriage penalty for the tax credit
· Decreases the annual income required to claim the Child Tax Credit from $8,000 to $3,000

Assistance to Persons Fleeing Domestic Violence
· $50 million to the transitional housing program authorized by the Violence Against Women Act to assist individuals and families fleeing from domestic violence

Thanks to everyone whose support helped make this possible! NLCHP will be releasing further specific information as soon as it is available and will hold an audio training in March with more information about the stimulus funding and how groups can use it. Details will be available in the near future. We will also be working with the federal agencies on guidance for new funding, and we welcome your input. Please contact Laurel Weir, Policy Director, lweir@nlchp.org, for more information.

In a victory for NLCHP and human rights advocates in the Gulf Coast, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 23rd that it would hold a field hearing in New Orleans on the dangers of formaldehyde in housing.

The EPA had scheduled a number of field hearings on the dangers of formaldehyde, which came to national attention through the devastating health effects on those living in FEMA trailers put up after Hurricane Katrina. Surprisingly, none of the hearings were to take place in the Gulf Coast region. The Katrina Housing Group, a coalition of national and Gulf Coast organizations including NLCHP, drafted a letter to the EPA calling for hearings in the Gulf Coast. This letter cited the 2008 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which called on the government "to ensure genuine consultation and participation of persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina in the design and implementation of all decisions affecting them."

The inclusion of the Gulf Coast field hearing is great news for local advocates who will ensure that EPA officials hear from directly affected victims of the violations of their right to housing and to health in the trailers. The hearings are currently scheduled for March 4, 2009, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, 500 Canal St. NLCHP will continue to work with local advocates to ensure that the violations of their human rights are remedied.

In a small, but necessary victory for homeless children, at least $66 million has been included as part of the economic stimulus package.

Federal McKinney-Vento funding is used by states and school districts to provide required services to homeless children and youth. This includes transportation from a homeless child's temporary living place back to his or her school of origin, as well as tutoring and school supplies.

The 2008 appropriation of $66 million, however, only reached 6% of school districts. Even those districts receiving funds found them woefully inadequate. In addition, reports indicate that the foreclosure and economic crises are increasing the number of homeless students even as local schools find their budgets tight due to decreased property tax revenue and shrinking state budgets.

At the time this article was written, $66 million had been included in the House stimulus bill, and $70 million had been included in the Senate version. This funding would help hundreds of thousands of homeless students maintain some stability in their education throughout the duration of their homelessness. NLCHP will continue to advocate for these and additional funds, and work to ensure that school districts receive and utilize the money for which they are eligible, in order to meet the needs of all homeless children and youth.

On February 25, 2:00 - 3:00 pm ET, NLCHP will hold a free audio training entitled Housing is a Human Right: Human Rights Framing for Housing & Homeless Advocates. We will be using webinar software for this training, and we will make materials available on our website.

The human rights system provides an important framework for connecting civil rights issues with economic and social justice. As part of the movement to reframe the crisis in affordable and public housing as a violation of the right to housing, NLCHP is helping to coordinate regional Congressional field hearings in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and New York City. In this webinar, we will share basic information about the human rights framework and how to frame domestic issues of affordable housing and homelessness in human rights terms.

To register for the training click here!

NLCHP would like to thank the Herb Block Foundation for its award of a $25,000 grant designated for general operating support.

NLCHP is pleased to welcome Dechert LLP to its Lawyers' Executive Advisory Partners (LEAP) program. The American Lawyer ranked Dechert No. 8 in its 2008 pro bono survey and on the magazine's Pro Bono Honor Roll. Dechert is a founding member of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project, and a signatory to the United Kingdom's Joint Protocol for Pro Bono Legal Work.

NLCHP is a 501(c)(3) organization. Visit our website at www.nlchp.org! Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at nlchp@nlchp.org