Homelessness czar calls stimulus 'manna from heaven'

[kpete]

Source: The Hill

Homelessness czar calls stimulus 'manna from heaven'
By Bridget Johnson
Posted: 03/18/09 07:35 AM

The nation's homelessness czar called President Obama's economic stimulus package "manna from heaven" Tuesday and stressed that he and the White House were on the same strategic page.

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness executive director Philip Mangano, who was in Washington to address the National League of Cities' Congressional City Conference, also sees a smooth transition to the Obama White House from the policy forged after his 2002 appointment in the Bush administration.

Mangano said the administration's plans mirror the goals of homelessness advocates such as himself: concentrating on a two-point strategy of preventing homelessness and rapidly re-housing those who fall into the trap. This is key to recovery, he said, as the U.S. faces the "double trouble" of foreclosures and job losses that can lead to homelessness.

Prevention and intervention, Mangano told The Hill, "should have been our policy for the last 25 years," instead of "managing" the problem by shuffling the homeless around or providing short-term fixes.

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/homelessness-czar-calls-stimulus-manna-from-heaven-2009-03-18.html