We waited by the phone, expecting it to ring. After all, we had something to say.
In late June, more than 70 media outlets in San Francisco coordinated coverage on the causes and solutions of homelessness in the city. The calls from reporters didn’t come, so we started making our own. We called and emailed reporters letting them know about viable solutions and resources geared toward ending homelessness.
As grant makers, we experience this a lot. People don’t think to ask us about solutions to issues affecting our nation’s communities. But they should.
People mistakenly think that foundations provide only money. The reality is that we spend a lot of time researching solutions, listening to nonprofits and local governments, visiting communities, seeing programs in action, and collaborating with all. We are experts at understanding problems and solutions, and since we work with so many nonprofits and communities, we have a different perspective on what efforts are working. Being entrusted with money means we need to make wise investments that deliver tangible results.
Calculated Risks
At Funders Together to End Homelessness, our members are focused on preventing and ending homelessness through innovative and effective solutions that work. Philanthropy has come together in powerful ways across the nation to share what works best as well as to pool resources and influence to support proven solutions. And when grant makers collaborate, incredible things happen.
Good examples of this include Funders Together Los Angeles and Heading Home Minnesota. Funders Together Los Angeles has more than 30 members from across Los Angeles County who meet quarterly to learn about and discuss new solutions to homelessness. Many of the members are also part of Los Angeles County’s Home for Good Funders Collaborative, led by the local United Way.
Heading Home Minnesota is a statewide collaborative that allows private grant makers to play a critical role in catalyzing coordination among public systems. In this case, 19 of Minnesota’s most recognized foundations have committed to preventing and ending homelessness in partnership with the state.
These collaboratives of grant makers provide a resource to attract public investments and also bring private resources together to fund efforts that the government cannot. By taking calculated risks, these grant makers can innovate and try new ideas for serving people who are homeless. By pooling investments, collaborative members intensify the work of government agencies and business and philanthropy to bolster housing stability.
It’s working. With Heading Home’s help, Minnesota has developed a strong plan and saw a 10 percent decrease in all homelessness in 2015 over the year before and a 17 percent decrease in homelessness among families.
From 2012 to 2015, the Los Angeles collaborative put more than $650 million in public and philanthropic resources toward permanent solutions to homelessness, resulting in housing nearly 13,000 individuals who were chronically homeless and over 15,700 veterans who lacked shelter. Other grant makers are coming together and taking the charge in areas like Houston, Washington’s King County, and San Diego.
Working Together
Grant makers are working nationwide to ensure philanthropy is part of the solution. According to the Foundation Center, grant makers awarded over 5,000 grants in 2012, totaling more than $305 million to projects to help the homeless. This money fills government funding gaps, provides flexible dollars, and gives hope to organizations doing the groundwork to serve and ensure that homeless individuals and families are finding the support they need.
But, as powerful as it is, philanthropy cannot do it alone. While $305 million is a remarkable amount, it is small compared to government funding. To ensure efforts to fight homelessness are successful, there needs to be a strong partnership between people in the public and private spheres to share knowledge, attract new funds, and spread their influence to peers.
Solutions work because of support from the community, businesses, philanthropy, and government alike. This is true on both a local and national level. When all players work together from the start, those partnerships hold the power to tackle homelessness head on with the understanding that everyone has a stake and that when the plan succeeds, everyone wins.
Homelessness is a symptom of a larger problem, and ending it is the responsibility of all of us. Philanthropy is making its mark, but it will take more coalitions like Funders Together Los Angeles and Heading Home to influence true change. Collaboration is the most powerful and effective way that communities can work to end homelessness.
That’s why we will no longer wait for the phone to ring. Instead, we will raise our voices to tell stories about solutions that work.
Amanda Andere is chief executive of Funders Together to End Homelessness.
