The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has reached significant milestones over the last six months. NCH has been planning the Lived Experience Training Academy for four years. Our dream has been to equip people with the lived experience of homelessness to have a significant, genuine, and measurable impact on their communities, organizations, and, most importantly, their lives. LETA was created by people with lived experience and included focus groups from others throughout the United States. The LETA team has completed three pilots and is launching live training; the goal is to train 300 new advocates and employees dedicated to ending homelessness.
NCH is deeply troubled by the recent increase in the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness. Multiple cities have introduced harmful measures that codify criminalization practices, including encampment raids. The encampment raids have numerous negative impacts on those unable to access housing. The encampments are a last resort for people who have not been able to access housing. The most important thing to remember is that these practices which include raiding an encampment and dispersing the residents to unknown destinations, do Not Solve Homelessness, nor will forced institutionalization. Over six months, NCH will operationalize a bus tour traveling to communities across the US to highlight humanity's struggles and the power of people experiencing homelessness.
NCH will support and amplify the actions and activities of local homeless organizers working to decriminalize homelessness while working to end homelessness. NCH will culminate this bus tour by creating and facilitating a national movement in DC in September that will demand federal policymakers prioritize decriminalizing homelessness and increasing federal policy and resources to end homelessness.
The tour aims to shift the national narrative on homelessness in America to embrace a "human right to housing" approach, encourage compassionate, solution-oriented discussions, and discourage apathy and tolerance for criminalization.
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Since the National Coalition of the Homeless's (NCH) launch of Bring America Home Now launch in November 2021, we have been able to get so much progress completed toward our goal of ending Homelessness. In the past 4 months we have partnered with faith based leaders, and the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation across the nation to create a serious dialouge discusssion series around the injustice of housing and what we as citizens, advocates, leaders, and people with lived experience of homelessness can do to put an end to it. We will deeply focus on the matter on why it imperative for the faith based commuity to take action. If more people are interested in joining our next conversation please tune in here on November 10th, 7pm EST.
NCH also attended the Democratic National Committee Poverty Council meeting this year, hosted at the Gaylord Hotel and Conference Center at the National Harbor Location. During this year's meeting not only did Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of NCH speak, but NCH's Speakers from the Speakers Bureau were invited and had a chance to speak as well. This was a phenomenal and important moment for NCH, DNC Poverty Council, and all individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness across America. NCH and speakers were able to authenticly elaborate on why it is important to end homelessness for all, provide solutions on how we can achieve this goals, and why we must act now.
Currently, NCH is focusing on their upcoming event "Leadership Summit 2022" to honor Hunger and Homelessness Week. For this event NCH and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness will be partnering together and standing in unity to help push and promote awareness and importance around Hunger and Homelessness in America. The summit will focus on “Fighting to End Homelessness: Strategizing and Building Power to Eliminate Homelessness Once and For All” and will include diverse topics, powerful speakers, and expert panelists – and opportunities for critical dialogue. This event will take place on Saturday, November 12, 2022, 11:30 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time (8:30 AM to 3:00 PM Pacific Time).
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The National Coalition (NCH) has had a very eventual last three months. NCH partnered with the Poor People Campaign during the launch of the March on Washington. NCH helped to plan the community meal and the Memorial Service sponsored by the campaign. Nch also held an all-night Vigil to raise awareness about the growing criminalization of people experiencing homelessness across the United States. NCH also held a very successful Congressional briefing which included multiple members of congress and several major national groups including the National Organization for Women (NOW) LULAC\, and The National Low-Income Housing Coalition among others. among others,
NCH completed planning for the Lived Experience Training Academy (LETA) is a virtual (*fully online) and inclusive professional development program initiated by the National Coalition for the Homeless (, a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to prevent and end homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met and their civil rights protected. The LETA program includes 12 hours of professional development, which leads to certification if successfully completed. It is created by People with Lived Experience and Expertise (PLEE) who have been unhoused in the United States. The mission of LETA is to: Equip people with lived experience of homelessness to embrace leadership roles and transform public policy to be more inclusive.” The development and implementation of the LETA program is led and directed by internationally renowned Professor and Endowed Chair of Social Justice Education at Stetson University and the Vice President of the National Coalition for the Homeless Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown, and Attorney and the Founder of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity David Peery, along with oversight by the Executive Director of the NCH Donald Whitehead. Additionally, the LETA team includes 9 diverse steering committee members (PLEE). The LETA program includes a thoughtfully designed curriculum with six core themes and several interconnected themes that emerged through a series of focus group interviews conducted with people around the nation who are currently or formerly experiencing homelessness; the LETA focus groups were led by Dr. Shankar-Brown, the current U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Jeff Olivet, and the NCH Grants Manager Michelle Bush. Topics covered in the LETA program include, but are not limited to, the following: technology literacy, wellness and self-care, history of homelessness, public policy contextualization, communication, coalition building, conflict resolution, financial wellbeing, organizing and advocacy, and inclusive leadership. LETA builds on the knowledge and skills of diverse people with lived experience and focuses on systemic change to ensure housing is a human right
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The Bring America Home Campaign launched in November and brought on staff in January. Joel Segal longtime congressional staff member was brought on to Direct the Campaign. The campaign now has over 121 regional and national partners. Partners include NOW, LULAC, NAACP, and many others The Campaign will host an ecumenical Faith-Based Launch featuring Grammy Winning Vocalist John P. Kee among others.
In March, a Family and Children launch at Stetson University in Florida in June and will hold launches in 16 cities in the coming months. The campaign policy team is currently analyzing all previous legislation aimed at ending homeless to package together legislation that results in the structural changes necessary to end homeless.
In addition to the amazing work of the campaign, NCH has been working to put an end to a growing number of encampment sweeps across the country. NCH is fundamentally opposed to sweeps that have dotted the headlines lately, including the subway sweeps in New York and vigilante sweeps in southern California. NCH is continuing its push to pass the Build Back Better Plan and HUD appropriations. In this period NCH proudly launched the LivedExperience Training Academy (LETA). LETA is a curriculum designed by people with lived experience to assist individuals considering advocacy and board involvement. The first cohort will be conducted in April and the plan is to do 12 training this year. NCH has also expanded its TA work and is not assisting HUD with providing Lived Expertise in several communities.
Finally, NCH has started the process of opening its second field office which will be located in Los Angeles California considered the epicenter of homelessness in America. The goal of the field offices is to strengthen local advocacy campaigns and mobilize people with Lived Experience to advocate on their own behalf to address issues directly affecting them in their communities
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Over the last year, the National Coalition for the Homeless(NCH) has made tremendous strides in the fight to end NCH has adjusted to the limitations created by the Pandemic. If you supported NCH, you help save countless lives by allowing us to partner with the Ford Fund to deliver life-saving masks all across the country to people experiencing homeless. The partnership distributed over 2.8 million masks. Your contribution helped NCH create a Technical Assistance Project for people with lived experience. The TA providers provided valuable insight to HUD, The CDC, and other federal agencies.
The support thsat NCH received has helped to launch LETA. LETA is the first of its kind training academy for formerly homeless individuals. The training is designed to assist people experiencing homelessness with the skills necessary fo to have meaningful participation in the planning processes and meaningful behavior, T
Nch was able to launch and staff the Bring Americas Home Now Campaign. The Bring America Home Campaign is a comprehensive campaign that will mobilize individuals across the country to create structural changes. NCH hired Joel Segal as a one-time congressional aide and advocate. Joel Segal is an amazing leader in the homeless movent nationally.
In the early part of next year, NCH will begin a landmark universal guaranteed income program. NCH hopes to enroll 400 individuals,
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