Addressing the tragedy of homelessness has become a national priority. Through income transfer and m-kind programs that offer basic assistance, the Federal government has traditionally provided aid to low-income persons, more recently, Federal funds have been directly targeted to the homeless through the Stewart B. McKinney Act. However, it 18 the local communities of the Nation that for many years have been dealing firsthand with the problem of homelessness. Collectively, their policies and practices provide the core of the Nation's response, and it is to their experiences that we must h1rn to understand better what 18 being done and, consequently, what remains to be done.