Chambers and Homelessness Initiatives

Award-Winning Chamber Samples

Portland Business Alliance's (Ore.) Portland Can Do Better Campaign - 2017 ACE Grand Award; Best in Show

Chamber Examples

The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce (N.C.) has a Business Walk Survey that gauges the local business climate. This past year, homelessness was one of the main issues that emerged in the survey and became part of their lobbying agenda.

Business Walk 2013 Survey Results

Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce (Ore.) Home Runs for Homeless Youth - The 2012 Leadership Beaverton class hosted a fund-raising kickball tournament to bring the issue of homeless youth to light. Proceeds will help HomePlate Youth Services establish a drop-in night for Beaverton.
Chico Chamber of Commerce (Calif.) - Chico and particularly Downtown Chico faced the challenges of increased homelessness and transients. Through a multi-organization collaborative of service providers and businesses, the Clean & Safe initiative launched the Generosity campaign encouraging the community to give to service providers not panhandlers.
The Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce (Fla.) and the Homeless Leadership Board partnered with the Art Institute of Tampa to change public understanding of homelessness through a social marketing campaign.
Douglas County Chamber of Commerce (Ga.) - The City of Douglasville is seeking community-minded businesses who will be part of the United Way and its program to remove people “from the woods” and place them in housing where they can receive support services of a transitional nature.
The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce set out to curb Miami-Dade County’s growing number of homeless individuals by forming a Homeless Committee with the purpose of creating a long-term solution for eliminating homelessness. That committee, established in 1993, ultimately evolved to become Carrfour Supportive Housing, which is now Florida’s largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing.

Watch Carrfour's video on Building a Better Future for Miami's Liberty City

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (Ca.) Land Use, Construction & Housing Advocacy Council addresses the homelessness crisis in a statement to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2016

Explore Los Angeles Chamber homelessness and affordable housing samples

The Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce (Fla.) and the Central Florida Partnership launched a major homelessness initiative in 2008, Ten to End, with the ambitious goal of eliminating homelessness in Central Florida within ten years.

Watch the 2016 video update on Orlando's homeless initiative: Rethink Homelessness
Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce President serves on 2017-18 Board of Directors of Rethink Homelessness

The Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce (Calif.), in collaboration with other local business associations, administered the 2013 Santa Cruz County Business Climate Survey which asked Santa Cruz respondents to rank possible actions to improve public safety. The highest ranked efforts were law enforcement to address gangs and drugs with positive support for social services focused on gang involvement and social and health services for the mentally ill. Social services for homeless and transient populations and to reduce drug dependence were at the bottom of the rankings.

Municipal Initiative Examples

Denver homeless initiative would be latest to tap social impact bonds - by Jon Murray, The Denver Post (January 2015). Discusses a new option for state and local government to pay for social service programs.
City and the County of Los Angeles Propose Plans to End Homelessness - Los Angeles Area Chamber's Business Perspective summarizes two plans that were presented at public meetings.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce urges support for Measure H - This quarter cent sales tax will create a dedicated stream of revenue to provide an array of services, including outreach, housing, mental health care and job training, to the 47,000 homeless individuals in the LA region.

Take Me Home nonprofit agency in Sarasota, FL - by Emily Le Coz, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (January 2016). Describes the new nonprofit startup to alleviate homelessness in Sarasota, chaired by philanthropy specialist Bob Carter (January 2016).

Reports

2017 How Sustainable Communities Create Resilient People, Annual Report - by Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) – The 2017 PAHRC Report examines the ways in which housing can shape resiliency and boost sustainability for individuals and the communities in which they live. It finds that investment in federal housing programs leverage dollars to combat poverty, promote economic mobility for low-income families, save money for communities, and stimulate economic growth.
2016 Housing Agency Waiting Lists and the Demand for Housing Assistance, Research Spotlight Report by Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) - Federal programs provide homes for about 5 million families nationwide, but that’s only a fraction of the people who are trying to receive assistance according to this report and demonstrates the need for greater resources for housing across the nation.
The Best Way to End Homelessness, by Alana Semuels, The Atlantic (July 2015) - The first-ever large-scale study on the topic finds that permanent, stable housing can be more cost-effective than shelters.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Report on Hunger and Homelessness: A Status Report on Homelessness and Hunger in America’s Cities, December 2016 - This is the first year the U.S. Conference of Mayors is working with the National Alliance to End Homelessness on the Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities.
Rethink Homelessness Report from November 2013: A Survey of Best Practices with communities making a difference across the country - Several examples of chambers of commerce working with their communities as leading drivers to change homelessness.
Home for Good 2015 Update - This report outlines the achievements of the Home For Good plan -- a partnership between the United Way of Greater L.A. and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce to end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Merced County 2017 Homeless Count and Survey - The primary purpose of this report is to answer the following question "How many homeless people are there in the County of Merced on a given day?" Comparisons with the 2016 report are given.