So. Ohio HART - Homeless Advocacy Response Team

06/23/2026

National Homelessness Law Center supporters,

This month, we’re starting off with some exciting news! Earlier this week, the Law Center and our partners took legal action to stop the Trump-Vance administration’s attack on proven solutions to homelessness. This extreme, ideological, and unlawful rewriting of funding priorities would force at least 97,000 people back into homelessness. The Law Center is proud to represent our partners, the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and to work alongside Democracy Forward, Public Rights Project, the ACLU Foundation of Rhode Island, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island as co-counsel in this important case.

Click here to read our full statement https://homelesslaw.org/6222026statement/
and click here to read a joint statement of all involved parties. https://democracyforward.org/news/press-releases/quotes-coalition-challenges-latest-efforts-to-politicize-homelessness-funding-grants/

This Pride Month, take action to protect LGBTQ+ rights!

The Equal Access Rule helps ensure that everyone can access the housing, shelter, and services they need regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. Right now, the Trump administration is trying to destroy the Equal Access Rule, which will create even more barriers for LGBTQ+ people trying to access the resources they need. But there is still time to fight back: until June 29th, you can submit a comment opposing this change online or by mail. Click here to learn how you can help incorporate Equal Access Rule advocacy into Pride events in your community!

Protect LGBTQ+ housing rights!

Local and national advocates disrupt Cicero Institute’s conference, confronting the billionaire-backed think tank that stands to profit from anti-homeless laws.

The Law Center released first-of-its-kind research revealing the connections between the Cicero Institute’s leaders and industries set to profit from the same anti-homeless policies Cicero’s lobbyists push. Cicero’s leaders and backers have deep ties to private prisons, investments in surveillance and fear-profiteering, and even lobbying relationships with defense contractors. Click here to read the full report.
https://democracyforward.org/news/press-releases/quotes-coalition-challenges-latest-efforts-to-politicize-homelessness-funding-grants/

In response, as the Cicero Institute hosted its first-ever conference on homelessness, 75+ advocates gathered outside to tell the truth: we need housing, not handcuffs! We blocked the doors and made our voices heard, sharing the harm Cicero has caused to people experiencing homelessness in communities across the country. We came together and demanded housing and support instead of jails, forced treatment facilities, and detention camps.

________________________________________

Onward,

The National Homelessness Law Center

Providence, R.I. – A broad coalition of local governments and nonprofit organizations have challenged the Trump-Vance administration’s latest attempt to disrupt federal funding for people trying to…

06/19/2026

This insanity has to stop. You can't take away homeless funding, you can't cut vouchers that house people or create rules that will cause over 97000 currently housed people to lose their vouchers and housing, then turn around and make alternative housing illegal. For Too many now, this is their only choice to have some sense of safety and personal space. To maintain a sense of dignity.
Flipside
For MANY this is a choice..a nomadic way of life that harms no one. Most vanlifers create a lot of revenue in small towns that have attractions that draw travelers.
For God's sake can we bring some sanity and humanity back to the room???

06/18/2026

From the article: National Alliance to End Homelessness
How Mental Health Care Gaps Make Homelessness Worse
One of the greatest barriers to care is the shortage of mental health providers. This is not unique to people experiencing homelessness; you may have experienced this too if you ever attempted to find a therapist or a healthcare specialist. Per the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), 154 million people live in a Mental Health Professionals Shortage Area. This is greater than the gap in primary care and dental health service providers per population. They estimate that nationally, the United States needs an additional 7,680 health professional providers to meet the mental health needs.

We also know that these shortages may be greater depending on where you live.

New Jersey comes the closest to meeting the need for mental health providers, but it barely meets half (52.3 percent) of its population’s needs. Rural states like West Virginia, Alaska, Maine, South Dakota, and Kentucky have less than 20 percent of the needs met. Likewise, California barely scratches 24 percent of the provider needs met for the state.

For people experiencing homelessness, combatting stigma while trying to coordinate services can be challenging in this dearth of providers, even when there are population specific programs that exist. This task is made even more difficult because most people experiencing homelessness rely on Medicaid for coverage, which also limits their choices for providers.

What People Experiencing Homelessness Actually Need from the Healthcare System
These shortages are happening at the same time as lawmakers are increasingly calling for outdated and poorly-conceived strategies for addressing the mental health needs of unhoused individuals. Whether it comes in the form of Executive Orders calling for forced institutionalization, reshaping guardianship models and directing them at people experiencing homelessness with limited results, or the “campus model” that was recently dismissed by the state of Utah for being exorbitantly expensive and ineffective, we are seeing a troubling assumption that our nation has more mental health resources than it has, and that people experiencing homelessness require a vastly different level of care than other people with mental health needs have.

People experiencing homelessness do not need healthcare systems to reinvent the wheel to create accessible pathways to treatment and care. While individuals experiencing homelessness may require additional and creative outreach that meets them where they are, providers who build trust, and of course, access to housing solutions, they also need the same things that everyone in the nation needs: more investment in community based care, more investment in psychiatric professionals, and easier access to the help that they want and need.

Executive Orders, expanding guardianship, and state “campus” plans that redirect funding from evidence-based community care will not solve the provider shortage, nor will they help everyone achieve their mental wellbeing goals. Innovations and programs being piloted by Healthcare for the Homeless programs, provider outreach teams, psychiatric and substance use providers, federally qualified health centers, and certified community behavioral health centers should be funded to scale when the evidence shows that they work. This Mental Health Awareness month, we can all focus on proven solutions to achieve accessible care.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States.

06/18/2026

Christian Bale has quietly dedicated 16 years to creating a $22 million foster care village in Palmdale, California, designed to address one of the system’s biggest gaps: keeping siblings together. The village, called Together California, will feature 12 family-style homes, studio apartments for teens aging out of foster care, and a 7,000-square-foot community center offering educational programs, mentorship, and emotional support.
DISCOVER MORE: https://factsdot.net/13-reasons-christian-bales-foster-care-village-is-inspiring-families-everywhere/

06/18/2026

06/17/2026

Changes to HUD Policy Threaten Efforts to End Homelessness: At Least 97,000 People Could Lose Housing

The Alliance estimates a loss of at least $1.23 billion in available funding to house formerly homeless people due to recent HUD action. Simultaneously, the agency announced a resource rebalancing that would disadvantage some major cities and other communities with high per capita rates of homelessness.

Put simply, this approach will not advance nationwide progress on ending homelessness. Nearly every state and CoC will lose out – albeit to different degrees.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States.

06/16/2026

HNH from the National Homelessness Law Center

Hello Housing Not Handcuffs supporters,
Last week, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed one of the cruelest anti-homeless bills in the country into law. HB 211 will make it a crime to sleep outside in Louisiana, punishing homeless people with extreme fines and draconian jail sentences, while also setting the stage for forced treatment and even forced labor.

Read our joint statement with 10+ Louisiana organizations

https://homelesslaw.org/statement06152026/

This bill did not come out of nowhere. Across the country, we’re seeing a coordinated effort – led by the Palantir-funded, billionaire-backed Cicero Institute and taken up by the Trump administration – to arrest and jail people simply because they can’t afford the rent. Cicero has praised and supported this horrific version of its copy-paste legislation, and Gov. Landry, a supporter of the president, has cited Trump’s anti-homeless policies to justify his support for this bill.

Learn about how Cicero's backers stand to profit from anti-homeless laws

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GYYQsd9ZdViJjCPgKJpp933vCJLn7PCB/view?usp=sharing

While billionaires and right-wing politicians were clearly against us, our side spoke up strongly to advocate for housing, not handcuffs. Over 700 people in Louisiana contacted their representatives urging them to oppose this bill, and dozens showed up to committee hearings to voice their outrage at this ineffective and cruel bill. Our powerful advocacy changed the landscape: we turned this bill’s success from a foregone conclusion into a controversial fight – because most people know that forcing someone to work without pay just because they are homeless is far too extreme.
Regardless, we know this bill will have a devastating impact on Louisiana. Louisiana is already the incarceration capital of the world and one of the poorest states in the country, with nearly one in five residents unable to make ends meet. Instead of helping people living in poverty get the housing and support they need, Louisiana will funnel homeless people into its already infamous and overcrowded jails. And with homelessness disproportionately affecting Black Louisianians, this bill is strongly reminiscent of the state’s history with chain gangs, debtors' prisons, and convict leasing.
The fight for housing, not handcuffs, is far from over. Together, we will continue building the power needed to defeat this cruel agenda and win a future where everyone has a safe place to call home, from Louisiana to everywhere across America.

If you would like to help make a difference, consider joining the Housing Not Handcuffs campaign and donating to help the mission>

https://housingnothandcuffs.org/donate/

Send a message to learn more

06/11/2026

New research exposed the Cicero Institute's ties to private prisons

We also released groundbreaking research revealing the connections between Cicero Institute leaders and industries set to profit from the policies Cicero lobbyists push. These industries include private prisons, surveillance companies, and even defense contractors. We’ve always learned about who is hurt by Cicero laws – our neighbors who have no choice but to live outside – but now we finally know who stands to benefit.

Read the full report https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ik24gU5l6ZdE3aWcml6BeCwN2pikiqTW/view?usp=sharing

This fight is far from over. We will continue our efforts to expose this right-wing, billionaire-backed network for what it is and, more importantly, to ensure that everyone has a safe place to call home and the support they want and need to thrive. Please join us in that fight by joining the Housing Not Handcuffs campaign today.

06/10/2026

At 4:48pm yesterday, we received official notice that the Ohio Senate General Government Committee will hold a hearing on a brand new 121-page substitute version of House Bill 472. While the original bill simply waived fees for birth certificates and ID for homeless individuals, the new bill adds confusing language to create a photo ID verification portal for absentee ballot requests and/or require voters to submit a photocopy of their drivers license to vote by mail.

🚨We need you to call your representatives now!

What Can You Do?
Refuse to be silenced by their attempt to rush this process and drown us in sloppy procedure. The committee hearing is at 2pm today, and we need your Senators to hear from you before this comes to floor tomorrow.

Call your Ohio Senator - Call your Ohio Senator and tell them to reject this hasty attempt to block people from using vote by mail.
https://ohiosenate.gov/?link_id=1&can_id=e07a61ff642779b5507fb7665bb93e50&source=email-urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm-4&email_referrer=email_3274372&email_subject=urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm&&

Call your Ohio Representative - Members of the Ohio House need to hear from you now to help stop this bill. https://www.ohiohouse.gov/?link_id=2&can_id=e07a61ff642779b5507fb7665bb93e50&source=email-urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm-4&email_referrer=email_3274372&email_subject=urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm&&

Call the Committee Members - Call Senate General Government Committee Chair Roegner and committee members and tell them not to build a rushed and insecure online system that puts Ohioans at risk, and burdens our Boards of Elections with more unfunded mandates.
https://www.senate.gov/?link_id=3&can_id=e07a61ff642779b5507fb7665bb93e50&source=email-urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm-4&email_referrer=email_3274372&email_subject=urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm&&

Join the OVRC biweekly call this Friday at noon for an update on the bill.
https://commoncause-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwof-2przsiGty3h4FPM5HrofftG7WFObz1?link_id=5&can_id=d7afe5c2b4fa1e6cb142bc72cd944d2e&source=email-ovrc-friday-call-cancelled-this-friday-april-3rd&email_referrer=email_3176307&email_subject=ovrc-friday-call-cancelled-today-april-3rd&&link_id=4&can_id=e07a61ff642779b5507fb7665bb93e50&email_referrer=email_3274372&&&email_subject=urgent-action-alert-ohio-senate-hears-mail-ballot-photo-id-sub-hb472-today-at-2pm #/registration

Consider these Talking Points:

Many populations, particularly elderly Ohioans, are likely to find this technology challenging and some don’t have access to the internet.

Nothing in the bill explains how our private data (including “a short video of the applicant’s face”) will be protected, who will have access to it, or how it will be kept.

This creates another unfunded mandate for our boards of elections, straining their resources even further as the state asks them to do more with less.

Many Ohioans would need special technology to scan and upload their photo ID or print it off and mail it.

Most would have to provide additional credentials even if they upload photo ID and face videos to a new portal.

There are no cost estimates for these new electronic systems/portal, the maintenance, training, security features, voter education, or data retention.

Until today, HB472 was a bipartisan bill that would waive ID and birth certificate fees for homeless Ohioans.

We deserve a better functioning democracy! But until then, we thank you for taking action to preserve accessible voting for all Ohioans!

Thank you for caring about Ohio Voters.
Catherine Turcer, on behalf of Ohio Voter Rights Coalition

Thank you for your interest in joining the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition (OVRC) Friday general membership meetings. We are a non-partisan network of local, state, and national voting advocates committed to modernizing our elections, ensuring that our elections are secure, and improving voter access fo...

06/09/2026

National Center for Housing and Health, which works to advance strategies connecting affordable housing and healthcare services to improve outcomes for individuals and communities.

The National Center for Housing + Health works to align affordable housing and health by elevating proven approaches, practical tools, and cross-sector partnerships.