National Center on Family Homelessness

CONTACT:

181 Wells Ave.
Newton Center, MA 02459
617-964-3834 x14
familyhomelessness.org

Ellen Bassuk, President

DESCRIPTION:

The National Center on Family Homelessness (NCoFH) is a national charity focusing on helping homeless families. It was founded as "The Better Homes Fund" in 1988 by David Jordan, then editor-in-chief of Better Homes and Gardens, and Dr. Ellen Bassuk of the Harvard Medical School. Jordan was alarmed by reports from his staff nationwide concerning families with no homes; Bassuk had studied the devastating effects of homelessness on mothers and children. They joined forces to find long-term solutions to this emerging and growing national problem.

NCoFH convenes the best minds to study the problem and examine solutions; supports promising local programs that are effective, affordable, and replicable; provides training, technical assistance and program evaluation to caregivers; designs and tests new programs, and disseminates results to policymakers and the public.

Their research has shown that homeless people and service agencies don't know how to find each other, and that 40% of the homeless are single parents with young children; NCoFH launched a KIDSTART program in 1990, which seeks out kids who are falling through the cracks, and gets them the help they need; 25 programs are now working in 17 states and DC, saving many times what it costs in taxpayer dollars.

(1998: HUMAN SERVICES: Well-Being)