I Apologize for My Inartful Language but Not for My Proposal to Address Homelessness

To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing Amanda Andere’s thoughtful response to my recent op-ed, “Foundations Should Unleash Their Biggest Asset to Solve the Homelessness Crisis: Their Endowments” (March 9).

Andere, CEO of Funders Together to End Homelessness, rightfully questions some of the language I used in my piece. Notably, she describes the following line as offensive: “Grant makers could have far more impact if they viewed every unhoused person as an investment opportunity.”

I understand how these words play into a broader narrative that dehumanizes people experiencing homelessness, and I apologize for them. I applaud Funders Together for its Homelessness and Housing Narrative Change efforts and will work to embrace the recommendations in my work going forward. Further, I encourage others to take advantage of the resources the project offers.

But I am not apologetic about my underlying argument — namely, that charitable foundations, incorporated for the public benefit, can and must deploy significantly more of their assets toward solving unacceptable crises such as homelessness.

I am arguing for what philanthropy author Edgar Villanueva calls the “decolonization of wealth.” One of the most expedient ways to achieve that goal is to encourage the chief financial officers, chief investment officers, and investment committees of charitable foundations, who manage an estimated $1 trillion in assets nationwide, to invest in solutions to homelessness and other endemic issues.

Given the fiduciary role trustees and others play in the oversight of foundation assets,, they must make returns on investments part of the equation. Without being extractive, those foundations can earn acceptable returns while making serious headway toward solving a humanitarian crisis playing out on our streets. This strategy is squarely focused on equity, especially considering that Black people are overrepresented among the nation’s homeless population by three times their percentage in the general population — a stark reminder of enduring structural racism.

Despite my admittedly pointed language, that was and is the goal of my proposal.

I look forward to further discussions with groups such as Funders Together to work toward what I know is possible: changing the energy of money away from extraction toward regeneration.

Daniel Heimpel
Executive Editor

The Giving List