Feel Good Friday - National Alliance to End Homelessness

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, Feel Good Friday is focusing on things you can be thankful for and feel good about, like having a roof over your head, and how to extend these privileges to more people.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a Washington, DC based organization that "works toward ending homelessness by improving homelessness policy, building on-the-ground capacity, and educating opinion leaders."

The Alliance focuses their work on four specific groups that experience homelessness: families, youth, veterans and chronic homeless. A blog entry from their website, 10 New Facts About Sheltered Homelessness in America, shares information from the Housing and Urban Development 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, including the following:

• In 2014, 1,488, 465 people used homeless shelters in America.
• 70 percent of people in shelter were in major cities.
• Nearly 9 percent (131,697 people) who used shelter last year were identified as veterans.

Solutions offered by the Alliance range from focusing on providing housing first, then other needed services, to intervention and family reunification programs for homeless youth. You can read about all their solutions focus areas, ten year plan and local progress on the "Solutions" page of their website. You can also learn more about their work by watching videos on YouTube.

If you'd like to get more involved, visit "What You Can Do" and keep yourself informed by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @naehomelessness