National Coalition for the Homeless

ABOUT THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS

The National Coalition for the Homeless, founded in 1982, is 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 a single mission. That mission, our common bond, is to end homelessness. We are committed to creating the systemic and attitudinal changes necessary to prevent and end homelessness. At the same time, we work to meet the immediate needs of people who are currently experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of doing so. We take as our first principle of practice that people who are currently experiencing homelessness or have formerly experienced homelessness must be actively involved in all of our work.

Staff

Kara Bane
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Daytona Beach, FL)

Phillip Banze
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Macon, GA)

Tiffany Barclay
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Atlanta, GA)

Jonathan Bell
Homeless Challenge Director

Annie Bittick
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Macon, GA)

Charles Bontrager
Policy Advocate

Joshua Castro
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Jacksonville, FL)

Tracey Crocker
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Tampa, FL)

Joan Davis
Administrative Assistant

Margaret Djekovic
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Tampa, FL)

Carolyn Douglas
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Ocala, FL)

Jacqueline Dowd
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Orlando, FL)

Hugo Esquival
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Oviedo, FL)

Allison Estes
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Orlando, FL)

Linda Gaines
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Bradenton, FL)

Laura Guerry
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Atlanta, GA)

Megan Hustings
Development Director

Travis Kass
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Pensacola, FL)

Steve Kever
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Caitlin Kilgallin
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Daytona Beach, FL)

Michelle Lee
Webmaster/Graphic Designer

Daniel “Kevin” May
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Key West, FL)

Ronald “Preston” Montes
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Florida)

Michael O’Neill
Director, Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau

Jessica Randolph
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Athens, GA)

Bob Reeg
Public Policy Director

Jacob Reiter
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Talahassee, FL)

Emily Richburg
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Miami, FL)

R. Dawn Riley
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Atlanta, GA)

G.W. Rolle
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Pinellas Park, FL)

Taloria Rush
Administrative Assistant

Michael Stoops
Executive Director

Crystell Sullivan
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Christina Swanson
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Sarasota, FL)

Christina Tudhope
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Oviedo, FL)

Samuel Waite
AmeriCorps*VISTA (DC)

Stephany Whitaker
Congressional Hunger Fellow

Janis Wilson
AmeriCorps*VISTA (Pensacola, FL)

Patrick Wright
AmeriCorps*VISTA (New Port Richey, FL)

Board Members

Barbara Anderson, EC
Board Secretary
Haven House Services
Jeffersonville, IN

Anita Beaty, EC
Executive Director, Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless
Atlanta, GA

Ed Bell
Operation Get Down
Detroit, MI

Ben Burton, EC
Executive Director, Miami Coalition for the Homeless
Miami, FL

Michael Chesser, EC
Development Committee Chair
Executive Director, Upstate Homeless Coalition of South Carolina
Greenville, SC

Michael Dahl
Public Policy Director
Homeline
Minneapolis, MN

Brian Davis, EC
Board Vice President
Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless
Cleveland, OH

Sherrie Downing, EC
Montana Council on Homelessness
Helena, MT

Bill Duncan
VP of Marketing and Sales, Homewood Suites by Hilton
Memphis, TN

Grace Dyrness
Interim Director
LA Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness
Los Angeles, CA

Bob Erlenbusch, EC
Sacramento, CA

Diana V. Figueroa
Primavera Foundation
Tucson, AZ

Hugh Grogan
Minnehaha County Department of Human Services
Sioux Falls, SD

Jeremy Haile
Lawyer
Washington, DC

Laura Hansen
C.E.O., Coalition to End Homelessness
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Rey Lopez
President, The King’s Outreach
Cabot, AR

Patrick Markee
Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.
New York, New York

Phoebe Nelson
Executive Director, Women’s Resource Center of North Central Washington
Wenatchee, WA

Gordon Packard
Honorary Board Member
Primavera Foundation
Tucson, AZ

Phillip Pappas, EC
Pittsburgh, PA

John Parvensky, EC
Board President
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Denver, CO

Glorin Ruiz Pastush
La Fondita de Jesus
San Juan, PR

Sue Watlov Phillips
Board Treasurer
Elim Transitional Housing, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN

David Pirtle
Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau
Washington, DC

Greg Sileo
Baltimore Homeless Services
Baltimore, MD

Louisa Stark
Honorary Board Member
Phoenix Consortium for the Homeless
Phoenix, AZ

Sandy Swank
Inter-Faith Ministries
Wichita, KS

Richard Troxell, EC
President, House the Homeless, Inc.
Austin, TX

Matias J. Vega
Honorary Board Member
Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless
Albuquerque, NM

Dana Woolfolk
Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau
Washington, DC

John Zirker
Nashville Homeless Power Project
Nashville, TN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Coalition for the Homeless

The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) thanks all of its advocates, service providers, and homeless individuals for providing information for the report. We are extremely grateful for the time and efforts of our volunteers, interns, and staff who have assisted in the publication.

The following individuals and organizations assisted in the publication of this report:

Sean Cononie, Lois Cross, and Mark Targett are homeless activists with the Homeless Voice/COSAC Foundation, located in Hollywood, Florida. All three have dedicated tremendous time and energy to stop hate crimes/violence against homeless people. Cononie’s organization is the most active local organization nationwide doing work on the hate crimes/violence issue. He is viewed as both a local and national expert/spokesperson on this issue. Targett is best known for video broadcast work of the news to advocates across the United States on vicious attacks to the homeless by using the latest technology in multimedia means. Cross does all the media/public relations on this issue for both Helping People in America and assists the National Coalition for the Homeless in getting the word out to the media.

Michelle Lee, Webmaster/Graphic Designer, did the final editing and layout.

Brian Levin, director, Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, served as an advisor for the report.

Michael O’Neill, director of Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau. He speaks on hate crimes and violence issues to thousands of young people across the country annually.

Adam C. Sloane, an attorney with Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, provided pro bono legal assistance for this 2008 report, plus the nine previous reports published from 1999 through 2007.

Michael Stoops, executive director of NCH, provides ongoing staffing support for the Civil Rights Work Group/Grassroots Organizing Committee, a nationwide network of homeless advocates committed to documenting and stopping civil rights violations of homeless individuals plus documenting hate crimes/violence against homeless people. He is also the project director for NCH’s National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NCHROP). He has served as the overall editor of this 2008 report and the nine previous hate crimes/violence reports published from 1999 through 2007.

The following NCH interns: Tony Taylor, American University, Aaron Gaide, Dartmouth College, and Sam Bowhay, Grinnell College, provided necessary research, editing, and lobbying assistance.

Stephany Whitaker, Emerson National Hunger Fellow of the Congressional Hunger Center, did research, writing, and editing.

NCH would like to also thank the numerous named and unnamed interns and volunteers who have worked on this report throughout 2008 and the first half of 2009.

Special gratitude is also extended to members of NCH’s Civil Rights Work Group/Grassroots Organizing Committee for their news reports, continued dialogue, and tireless work and dedication to preventing and stopping hate crimes/violence against people experiencing homelessness.

The National Coalition for the Homeless also extends its appreciation to the following funding sources: Presbyterian Church (USA)/Small Church and Community Ministry and the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust.