WANTED: $2.4 billion for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants in FY 2011

Please join the NJANEH and other national advocacy groups (NAEH, CSH) in writing letters to Senator Menendez and Lautenberg and your local Representative (see contact list at end of this post) to ask them to support a funding level of $2.4 billion for Homelessness Assistance Grants this year.

Last year Congress made big improvements to the McKinney program by passing the HEARTH Act.  Because of the legislation, a funding level of $2.4 billion will provide more resources for prevention and assistance to families experiencing homelessness.  Without this funding level we could get less funding for new projects in FY 2011 – we need YOUR help!

What you can do:

Write a letter and ask your clients and colleagues to write letters. Please click here for a sample letter.

Fax the letter (Include Congressional office fax number), or email it to the e-mail address listed below to Senator Menendez and Lautenberg as well as your  Representative’s office.

Thank you for acting quickly on this alert. Please remember to notify Alison Recca-Ryan [Email address: alison.recca-ryan #AT# njaneh.org - replace #AT# with @ ] once you have contacted your Senators and Representative. Forward us a copy of the letter by (February 22nd) – this is very important for tracking progress.

Why is this important? When should you act?

To make the greatest impact, the NAEH wants everyone to send letters at the same time, from Feb 1 through Feb 22.  Congress just began making decisions about funding levels for federal programs, so now is the time to start influencing your Members of Congress.  They need to hear from constituents EARLY in this process, so we can be sure that they prioritize funding for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs.

Letters from constituents do make an impact—last year, Washington State’s letters convinced Senator Murray (Chair of the Subcommittee that funds HUD)to increase the Senate’s McKinney appropriation in the FINAL stages of the HUD appropriations bill…so let’s get writing!

Related posts

• Reception is only a month away! (0)
• President Signs HEARTH Bill (1)
• Policy Federal (0)
• Our Senators Support Funding to End Homelessness (0)
• Momentum for Reception Grows! (0)

Tagged as: CSH, Mckinney-Vento, New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness