For Release: IMMEDIATE
Date: May 11, 2006

State homeless panel welcomes four members

RALEIGH – Four members were sworn recently to the N.C. Interagency Council for Homeless Programs, an advisory panel on issues affecting people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Neil Miller Belenky of Greensboro, Glenn E. Silver of Whitakers, Lawrence Wilson of Raleigh and Pamela S. Kilpatrick of Apex took the oath of office administered by Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson of the N.C. Supreme Court during a meeting of the council in Raleigh on May 1. Council member appointments are for three-year terms. The council has 29 members.

“These new members bring valued skills to the table as we continue our work to identify and implement strategies to prevent homelessness in our state,” said Linda Povlich, chairman of the council.

Belenky is president of United Way of Greater Greensboro, a post he has held since 1990. With United Way’s support, agencies in Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County are partnering to form a task force to develop a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Guilford County. Guilford is among a dozen communities across North Carolina either in process to adopt, or that has adopted 10-year plans to end homelessness.

Silver is a housing coordinator for the Best Practice Team of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. He provides technical assistance and leadership in the planning, development and expansion of affordable supportive housing for people receiving MH/DD/SAS services.

Wilson is director of the N.C. Office of Economic Opportunity, part of the state Department of Health and Human Services. He is responsible for the Emergency Shelter Grants, the Community Services Block Grant, and Weatherization Assistance programs.

Kilpatrick is an analyst for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of State Budget and Management where she works with senior leadership to manage budget and program management issues.

The Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs advises the governor and the secretary of DHHS on issues affecting people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The council provides recommendations for joint and cooperative efforts to better meet the needs of the homeless residents of North Carolina.

Research by the council has documented that homelessness is a substantial issue in North Carolina, identifying more than 11,000 homeless people in a one-day count across the state in January 2005. Of those, more than 2,300 were children.

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