The Veterans Collective’s Post

A year ago, much of our downtown was covered by encampments. People on the streets were sick and tired of being moved along with no place to go, and neighborhoods were eager for solutions. Today, we are one of the only growing cities in the nation without large encampments in our downtown and we have emerged as a national leader in the fight to end unsheltered homelessness by treating people living in encampments with the respect and dignity that we all deserve. This morning we released a one-year report highlighting the progress we’ve made together over the last year. Here are some of the highlights from the report: -1673 people moved indoors from unsheltered homelessness in 12 months -583 people moved into permanent housing from unsheltered homelessness -More than 300 blocks of our city permanently closed to encampments -0 large encampments remaining in downtown Denver There is still plenty of work to do, but I’m grateful to be able to step back and celebrate the amazing progress we have made together in 12 months time. Onwards. Report Link: https://lnkd.in/gBqP357A

Day 4 of a #sharednarrative for #Plymouth: A city at the edge. We believe that viewing Plymouth as a city on the edge allows us to embrace our past, bringing it forward in a positive manner and tapping into the potential found in the transitional #liminal spaces - amidst our dialogue, between people, and between organisations. Exciting! At the edge geographically, at the edge of the ocean, the edge of the county, in the far south west of the country. Practically, at the edge of power and on the edge (including the forefront) of practice. At the edge of intersecting communities, it holds the strengths and tensions and benefits of being a military, university, and working class city all at once. Historically, it has been a valued friend to #power (see its naval history), a neglected friend (see the Plymouth blitz and its silencing) and also a rebellious enemy (see the Siege of Plymouth) of power. A city of many neighbourhoods, it hosts both prosperity and deprivation in differing forms - indeed, where there may not be material wealth there is often community wealth. Welcomeness, civic action, determination, grit and mutual support are a key part of the city’s social character. This is seen in POP’s membership of 380 active and diverse groups and that 26% of adult residents in Plymouth volunteer at least once per month. Full Plymouth Octopus(POP) narrative: https://buff.ly/4dQZbD1 POP learning and thinking: https://buff.ly/4fZAcPG Dark Matter Labs @Annette https://buff.ly/3YSF4Ac Sky Space Team Development Cic @Jen https://buff.ly/3yMsPK #BEMOREPLYMOUTH #fairer #greener #futurism #regenerativefutures #learning #sharednarrative #plymouth #systemconvening #community #grassroots #funding #grantmaking #collaboration

In this episode, we delve into how Perry Williams works to make a difference in his community.🏘️🌳 We all have different skills and talents that can be used to make our neighborhoods a better and safer place to live, work, and play. 🙌🏾 For Perry, that’s using his breadth of construction and maintenance experience to help his neighbors find housing or help perform much-needed maintenance and updates to their existing homes. 🛠️ What talents do you have that can help make your community a better place? Share them with us in the comments! 💬 #NeighborUp #fuelingpeoplepower #cle #NeighborUpCle #NUP #NeighborhoodNarratives #NUPStorytelling #PerryWilliams

Ever questioned why people are being priced out of their own neighborhoods? Or why more than three unrelated people can’t live together? Or why it feels like you need a car to get where you want to go? The answer might be unexpected - usually, it has a lot to do with zoning laws! On Sunday, October 13, we’re launching our Bad Zoning is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Campaign. This public forum, hosted by Connections for the Homeless & Joining Forces for Affordable Housing, Evanston Community Foundation, and Evanston Cradle to Career, will lay out how important good zoning reform is in making our community stronger. Joining Forces will be releasing an Equitable Zoning Report with recommendations for zoning reform based on two years of research, along with a toolkit and calendar of workshops that cover zoning basics and how they affect the ways we live. Join us and help prepare Evanston for the future! RSVP here: qrco.de/nicethings #evanston #evanstonzoning #zoningreform

At Covenant House New Jersey (CHNJ), fostering a supportive community is fundamental to our mission of aiding youth facing homelessness. We provide safe spaces where young individuals can rebuild their lives and strive for a better future through various housing options like emergency shelter and transitional housing. These programs offer not just essentials like food and clothing but also vital services like education support, counseling, and job training through the Dove Learning Center (DLC). Staff are dedicated to cultivating a sense of belonging, encouraging residents to uplift each other as they journey towards stability and independence. Despite empowering youth with essential skills, securing affordable housing remains a significant challenge due to limited availability and systemic barriers. High rental costs and landlord reluctance pose hurdles, compounded by discrimination based on age, race, or source of income (e.g., rent voucher). CHNJ actively works to address these issues, applying for government vouchers and forging partnerships with landlords to expand housing options. Even after leaving CHNJ, ongoing support is crucial to prevent setbacks, emphasizing the importance of community in sustaining stable housing for youth navigating adult life for the first time.   CHNJ remains steadfast in our commitment to building community as a cornerstone of securing safe and stable housing for youth. Through collaboration with partners and ongoing support, we strive to empower young individuals, ensuring they have the resources and assistance needed to thrive beyond our programs. To learn more about our efforts, click here to watch Kenny Greer, Associate Housing Director, discuss our work in detail. You can also learn more about how the current real estate market is impacting our ability to provide housing options to our youth here.

All levels of housing are needed in rural and urban communities all across Kansas. The process of resolving that need is complex. The solution can only come from citizens becoming engaged in the process. There is so much to learn (acronyms for acronyms), but we all must recognize major problems require a major lift. I learned much from my first Kansas Housing Resource Corporation conference. Homework begins here: #KSHOUSING #FHRC

Did you know the last residential school closed in 1996? This history is hardly in the past. It's impacts continue to carry on today as the legacy weighs on all Indigenous people including the survivors, families, communities, and the memories of those lost. These schools took over 150,000 Indigenous children, many who never returned home. During this month there will be a surge of information flooding our timelines. While it is important to learn and reflect, remember to recognize the impacts of this on those who are healing 🧡 As this is only a condensed timeline, we encourage you to explore further about this history and what you can do today. #everychildmatters #nationaldayoftruthandreconciliation #NDTR2024

We must invest in quality

My wife and I are closing on a house next week. Our current home is very close to being sold. Moving is an interesting thing. There is so much to reflect on. We've had three of our four kids in this little house. We know the neighbors. We've tilled the soil, planted things, ate fruits from the trees on the property. We've painted the walls, decorated, repaired. We've hosted reading groups, after-Mass brunches, birthdays and Christmases in this little house. We've outgrown it physically, yes. But we find ourselves attached to it. We should deeply love our home, our soil, our neighborhood, our town. We are only moving four minutes down the road, so we are hardly uprooting. But we should think deeply about this. People are from a place; they should be rooted. We should be very hesitant to uproot and move around the country and the world. We are not meant to live like that. We are meant to be where we are from, to stay there, to intentionally become more and more rooted in a community. It's hard to renew a society, a culture, when people don't put down roots. Of course people have good reasons to move (duty like military service, as well as when people from two different places get married). But uprooting should be the exception, not the norm. #home #local #community

Great progress in the implementation of the #TulsaHousingStrategy.