Eight years in the making

Eight years in the making, today marked the launch of the final report from the evaluation of the Supportive Housing and Managed Care Pilot, one of the most comprehensive analyses of supportive housing, its effectiveness at ending homelessness and its impact on the spending of scarce public resources.

This report is, I hope, a testament to this Pilot, readable and multifaceted for all of its policy-wonkery, and also a tribute to the people involved, and the effort they put into it:

• an incredible amount of work by the evaluators and all the people they worked with in assembling data;
• the funders who took a risk on providing resources to such an ambitious study, and stuck with it as set-backs and obstacles were encountered, and overcome;
• case managers and social service organizations, who put their hearts and souls into their important work; and
• most of all, the people who worked so hard to free themselves from homelessness, and who allowed their story to be told.

Being a part of this undertaking has been one of the most profound, challenging and gratifying experiences of my life, and certainly of my career.

In other words, extra, extra, read all about it!

When I was eight

When I was eight years old, I met Carl Sagan for the first time, via public television. It is no exaggeration to say that this event -- the first broadcast of his series Cosmos -- changed the course of my life, and ignited in me the wondrous fascination that he seemed to bring to any topic. His curiosity, enthusiasm and deep appreciation for the subtlety of truth inspired me, and challenged me to find these qualities within myself.

Cosmos is nearly thirty, and although the series wears its age a bit, it retains surprising power. A power which eclipses nostalgia. From the opening credits, Sagan's oft lampooned cadence, the precision of his speech and his mastery at exposition still recall those first moments of being exposed to what a vast, strange, mysterious but yet knowable universe we inhabit.

Now, thanks to the wonders of Hulu, you can experience the show for the first time or all over again. The entire series -- 13 episodes, plus epilogues recorded before Dr. Sagan's untimely death, updating the original content -- is available for viewing.



I've often hoped that I'd be able to say thanks, somehow, to this man, for the effect he had on me (and many others). At least, I hope you get a chance to experience what I did, as a second grader, nearly thirty years ago.

T minus three months!

March has arrived, and with it, the countdown to our departure seems
only to accelerate. My current stack of reading material might give
you a clue about how I'm investing my free time...