January 31, 2005

As mayors of cities across our country, we have committed ourselves and our cities, in partnership with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, to end chronic homelessness in the United States within ten years. In our local communities, we have invited a diverse array of stakeholders including the public, private, non-profit, and faith-based sectors, and homeless people themselves, to collaborate with us and one another to create plans to achieve this urgent goal.

Now, as leaders in this national initiative to end chronic homelessness, we declare our intention to collaborate with one another in this effort. As a group of cities varying in size and geography, we will explore and implement strategies that will create a visible, measurable, and quantifiable reduction of chronic homelessness on our streets and in our shelters with the intent of ending this national disgrace.

Our objective is to hasten the achievement of our collective goal by establishing successful, replicable practices that lead to ending chronic homelessness nationwide.

Initially, we will pursue in common efforts to reduce chronic street homelessness in our cities.

• We will be guided by research and data, results and performance.
• We will seek the most innovative initiatives in cities across our country and the world, including those in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and London, to achieve this goal.
• We will serve as leaders for other cities that seek to follow our example.
• We will commit to creating strategies to reduce deaths of homeless people on the streets of our cities.
• We will ensure that homeless veterans are prioritized in our individual and collective efforts.

To advance these efforts, we covenant with one another:

• To design a common methodology for conducting repetitive counts of street homelessness, to establish a baseline number, to monitor results, and to share that information with each other;
• To advance productive partnerships that establish in each of our communities a central, cross'agency record of persons experiencing chronic homelessness, their involvement with public and private agencies, and the resources that can assist with their housing placement;
• To share with one another on a regular basis our progress in placing persons experiencing chronic homelessness into housing;
• To develop and maintain mental health, substance abuse, life skills, and other resources that engage and support individuals and end chronic homelessness;
• To test and advance new messages to reframe the issue of homelessness in our communities through a coordinated public education/communications campaign; and
• To meet regularly to review our progress in achieving our goal and to study together the latest developments that will support our direction and commitment.

We further covenant to assist each other in implementing these measures; to report openly on our learning and progress; to explore other complementary and replicable strategies to prevent and end chronic homelessness; and to welcome additional cities into our collaboration.

We commit together to end chronic homelessness.