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| Homelessness Action Group | |
|---|---|
| Name | Homelessness Action Group |
| Type | Nonprofit coalition |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Region served | International |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
| Leader name | Maria Santos |
Homelessness Action Group is a coalition of service providers, advocacy organizations, researchers, and civic institutions working to prevent and end homelessness through coordinated programs, policy advocacy, and research. Founded in 2003 in New York City, the coalition brings together actors from municipal agencies, philanthropic foundations, academic centers, faith-based organizations, and community development corporations to implement evidence-based interventions and influence public policy. Its work spans street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing, data systems, and legal services across urban, suburban, and rural contexts.
The coalition was launched after a series of convenings attended by representatives of United Way, Shelter Partnership, Coalition for the Homeless, National Alliance to End Homelessness, and university research centers such as the Columbia University Mailman School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Early funders included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Robin Hood Foundation. The Group built on precedents set by programs like Housing First and drew on evaluations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and pilot models from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Toronto. Over time the coalition established partnerships with municipal agencies such as the New York City Department of Homeless Services, state authorities like the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and international bodies including UN-Habitat and World Health Organization advisors.
The coalition's mission centers on reducing unsheltered homelessness and improving housing stability, combining direct services with systemic reform. Objectives include scaling permanent supportive housing modeled on examples like the Pathways to Housing program, expanding rental assistance programs similar to Section 8, improving coordinated entry systems influenced by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and promoting data-driven decision-making akin to Homeless Management Information System implementations. Other aims are to influence legislation such as McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act-related funding, advance public health integration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, and align outcomes with standards used by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The coalition is structured as a membership network with a small central staff, a board comprised of leaders from philanthropic organizations, academic institutions, municipal agencies, and nonprofit providers, and working groups focused on practice areas. Members include large nonprofits like Salvation Army, United Way Worldwide, Catholic Charities USA, research partners such as Brookings Institution and Urban Institute, law centers like the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, and advocacy groups including National Coalition for the Homeless and Human Rights Watch. Academic affiliates include faculty from Yale School of Medicine, University of California, Berkeley, London School of Economics, and think tanks such as the RAND Corporation. The governance model reflects multi-stakeholder practices used by bodies like the Global Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation advisory boards.
Programmatic work covers coordinated street outreach modeled on Street Outreach Program pilots, emergency shelter innovations inspired by Project Home, rapid rehousing initiatives drawing on Denver's Supportive Housing examples, and employment programs linked to Department of Labor partnerships. Service delivery includes mental health collaborations with academic medical centers such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, substance-use treatment linkages with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and legal aid provided in coordination with clinics at Harvard Law School and NYU School of Law. The Group also operates training academies for direct service staff using curricula informed by SAMHSA and evaluation frameworks employed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Advocacy efforts focus on local, state, and federal policy reform, including campaigns to increase funding through programs modeled on McKinney–Vento Act expansions, push for trauma-informed care standards drawn from American Psychological Association recommendations, and promote tenant protections similar to ordinances in Berkeley, California and Seattle. The coalition engages in litigation support with partners like the American Civil Liberties Union on right-to-shelter and anti-criminalization cases, lobbies legislatures in coordination with groups such as National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and participates in international policy dialogues with UN-Habitat and the World Bank.
Funding sources mix unrestricted grants from foundations such as the Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation, government contracts with agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and project-specific support from corporate donors and local philanthropy including Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Skoll Foundation. Strategic partnerships include municipal pilot programs with the City of Los Angeles and City of Toronto, research collaborations with Princeton University and University College London, and service delivery alliances with networks such as Healthcare for the Homeless and Continuum of Care consortia.
The coalition assesses impact through metrics aligned with national dashboards used by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and academic evaluation methods published in journals like The Lancet and American Journal of Public Health. Reported outcomes include reductions in chronic homelessness in targeted jurisdictions, cost-offset analyses comparable to studies by the Urban Institute and National Bureau of Economic Research, and improved health outcomes documented in evaluations with Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University. Independent audits have been conducted by firms like Deloitte and evaluation partners including the Institute for Community Health.
Category:Non-profit organizations Category:Homelessness