Meet the Homelessness Experts

categories: Action, Advocacy, Education, People doing good things, Stories from the Streets

Published October 21, 2009 @ 05:39PM PT

The best way to learn about homelessness is to listen to the experts. That is, those who have had the experience of living without a permanent home. Thanks to the National Coalition for the Homeless' project, Faces of Homeless, formerly homeless individuals from coast to coast are debunking myths about life on the streets while bravely sharing their stories with thousands of people.

Whether you're learning about homelessness for the first time, or a policy wonk with years of experience in the field of homelessness services, you are poised to gain something from listening to the story of a formerly homeless person. Sure - it's important to know the high-level policy debates about an issue. It's important to examine the strengths and weaknesses of programs. It's necessary to constantly brainstorm new and innovative ways of creating affordable housing. But the best way to improve the delivery of services is to open our ears and listen to those who have experienced it for themselves. To understand their plight from housed to the streets. To know what roadblocks they faced while trying to regain financial independence.

In other words, we must always remember who the experts really are.

If you're looking to hear some expert commentary on homelessness in your neighborhood, check out the list of upcoming presentations after the jump (to learn more about attending one of these talks, go here). If you're interested in bringing a Faces of Homelessness speaker to your neck of the woods, visit the National Coalition for the Homeless.

October 20: Saint Paul Catholic Church in Damascus, MD
October 21: National Young Leaders Conference in Chevy Chase, MD
October 22: Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, MD
October 22: UNC-Chapel Hill in Washington, DC
October 22: Maret School in Washington, DC
October 23: Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, MD
October 23: Georgetown University "Just One Day" in Washington, DC
October 23: UNC Chapel Hill students in Washington, DC
October 23: St Andrew's Lutheran Church in Memphis, MI
October 24: Steinbruck Center in Washington, DC
October 24: St Andrew's Lutheran Church in Memphis, MI (Box-Out Event)
October 27: Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition in Silver Spring, MD
October 27: Martin Luther King Jr Library in Washington, DC
October 29: Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC
November 2: BBYO Board of Directors in Washington, DC
November 2: Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT
November 3: Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, MA
November 3: Clark University in Worcester, MA
November 4: UCONN-Stoors in Stoors, CT
November 4: National Young Leaders Conference in Chevy Chase, MD
November 6: St Bernadette School in Silver Spring, MD
November 6; Health and Human Service Collaborative of the Eastern Panhandle in Martinsburg, WV
November 6-8: National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness Conference in Chicago, IL
November 8: Sligo Dennis Avenue Park in Silver Spring, MD
November 8: George Washington University in Washington, DC
November 9: Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH
November 10: Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH
November 10: PANIM in Washington, DC
November 10: University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH
November 10: Messiah College in Grantham, PA
November 11: Sidwell Friends Upper School in Washington, DC
November 11: National Young Leaders Conference in Chevy Chase, MD
November 12: Penn State University in University Park, PA

Image from NCH

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Comments (8)

Note: nothing listed here is from the West coast.

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Posted by James Brouillette on 10/22/2009 @ 09:20AM PT
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If you're looking to hear some expert commentary on homelessness in your neighborhood, check out the list of upcoming presentations after the jump (to learn more about attending one of these talks, go here).

Posted by Aaron Shaw on 10/22/2009 @ 09:39AM PT
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I'd be glad when the movement comes back to Florida once again. I seemed to have missed the two annual events that had took place in the central Florida area that I was supposed to attend.

Posted by Aaron Shaw on 10/22/2009 @ 09:41AM PT
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The NCH Speakers' Bureau is in DC....groups from around the country come to DC to do community service, many youth groups, leadership conferences, high schools, colleges etc...we often provide panels for them. We do travel wherever people want to bring us. There are Speakers' Bureau's in other states. Seattle, Washington Portland, OR Chicago, IL Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus OH, Puerto Rico etc...are some other speakers bureau. NCH has established 16 speakers bureaus in the state of Florida since November 2007, 6 in Georgia, 2 in South Carolina. There is a big movement in Florida. Monday and Tuesday Oct 26th and 27th the State-Wide Conference organized by the Florida Coalition for the Homeless is taking place in Clearwater, FL. Contact NCH...info@nationalhomeless.org for more information or contact me at moneill@nationalhomeless.org

Posted by michael oneill on 10/22/2009 @ 02:40PM PT
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What happen with the rest of Pennsylvania, and what about New Jersey (north and south) ? Why is it always assumed that other than the white race has experienced homelessness?

Posted by Marie Myers on 10/25/2009 @ 11:28AM PT
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I can't understand why this country can afford to give billions of dollars to help other countries, but we can't afford to help our own people! I want this country to fix it's problems, the homeless, the uneducated, the slaves or just abused people, those with no medical help, no job, and the rest of the people struggling to survive, they are our responsibility first. Let's fix America first! Then we will be strong enough for all of us to help the rest of the world.

Posted by Linda Truax on 10/26/2009 @ 11:41AM PT
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Linda, when you say "they are our responsibility first." I think about what the government told me and many others of my peers years ago.

If you will help fight this war and get hurt we will keep care of you for the rest of your life.

RIGHT that's why so many of our vet are homeless and/or sick with no help in sight.

I have a drinking problem that started while in the army and have been homeless for no less then 10 years. I am now in a VA dom. and after this next month they want 1201 dollars, one thousand two hundred and one dollars, to stay here each and every month.

Is the help they said they would give us, I think not. Any if they treat the vets this why would they treat anyone else different?

Posted by James Brouillette on 10/26/2009 @ 12:27PM PT
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Oh yes I got out of the army in 1965 and have never received the help that is needed

Posted by James Brouillette on 10/26/2009 @ 12:29PM PT
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Author

Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.