- I'm really excited about this panel that we're going to be hearing from today. These are folks who are
- in our community, have a specific perspective. As Tatiana talked about earlier today, a perspective
- is really helpful to inform the work that we're all doing to build housing security and strengthen our
- community and our region.
- I will start out by introducing the panelist moderator, Erin Reynolds Nyland, who is Heading Home's
- Housing Solutions Director. Let's give it up for Erin. Erin will be introducing the panelists.
- Hi everybody, thank you so much for being here today. I have the distinct pleasure of moderating this
- panel and getting to elevate the voices of people who have experienced the most extreme housing crisis.
- So without further ado, I would like to invite Mandy New, William Corbin, and Angie Reed up to the stage
- with me today.
- All righty, so I mean, I think we've heard it a bunch today already, and most of us, I think, know and
- believe that and apply it to our practice is that we're the experts in our own lives. Nobody knows us
- and the path that we've been on better than ourselves. And so when experiencing a whole housing crisis
- like homelessness, unless you've lived it, you don't know what it's like. So we need to make sure that
- our policies and how we practice are informing what the real life
- experiences of people experiencing homelessness or are in a housing crisis. So we have three community
- members here with us today to help us understand what kind of perspectives need to be involved in our
- housing policies. So if each of you would like to take a moment to describe your experience and handling
- your housing crisis,
- In terms of that, what do you wish more people understood about those facing a housing crisis?
- First of all, thank you all for coming. We appreciate everything that you do. It's easy to look at this
- as numbers on a ledger instead of seeing us as people. And I thank you for the opportunity to see us
- as people.
- For the outreach program caseworkers who are out there in the field, they're the ones that are the true
- soldiers. They're the ones who inspire us, kick us in the rear when we need it, and basically there
- for our support. So I'd like to thank them specifically.
- I think that becoming unhoused is not something that anybody ever dreams that could happen. And being
- that I camped the entire time that I was unhoused for two and a half years. And the resources were there,
- but they weren't always easily accessible. Because not having a vehicle or transportation and not having a phone
- or not having the ability to get to the places that I needed to get to to gain the knowledge and the
- attention to detail the things that I needed to know to become housed again. It was really hard. And
- I think that if you've never been unhoused,
- It's something that a lot of people take for granted, that you know you're going to have electricity.
- You know you're going to have a bed. You know you're going to have food in your refrigerator and food
- in your belly. But for people that are in the house, we don't have that. We don't know where our next
- meal is going to come from. We don't know where our next shower is going to come from. We don't know
- if we're going to be warm or if we're going to be cold. And it makes it really hard.
- We have community members that look down upon us because we don't have that or because we aren't able
- to obtain it as easily. It makes it really, really hard. But with being able to get to where I'm at
- now, it's given me a lot of grace and made me a lot more humble than where I was before.
- I'm hearing not knowing is a huge, whether resources or what the next couple hours are gonna look like.
- Yeah, Mandy, what about you? Just because you see an unhoused person doesn't necessarily mean they're
- a bad person and that they're not willing or wanting or deserving of a change or a home.
- Like she said, maybe they just don't know how to put certain steps into action or how to begin. And
- so they just need a little guidance. Housing is hard. Housing is hard to navigate. And you just need
- someone, even one, to show you the way. Absolutely. So in terms of finding the way and when things start
- coming to fruition, what kinds of supports made a meaningful difference in your journey to becoming
- housed? It's the person that gives you the support, not just the knowledge, but actually emotionally
- connects with the person they're trying to help. Again, they see me as a person.
- And I haven't felt that for a long time. And this is my way of saying thank you to all of you, because
- without you, our lives would be a lot worse off. And is there more that can be done? Yes. But showing
- up here, that's half of the battle right there. Yeah. Thank you.
- I have one situation that's a little different than my fellow panelists. I'm a veteran. So my resources
- seem to extend a little bit farther than what they had available to them. But I still, I totally forgot
- what the question was. Sorry. What kinds of support made a meaningful difference to you?
- having case managers on your side, having community members that were willing to step up when you're
- having a really bad day and somebody sees that and they're like, hey, here's 20 bucks, go get you some
- food or they bring you a meal or they just are willing to sit down and chat with you and talk you through
- maybe one of the hardest times of your life. The community doesn't realize what
- an impact they can have on someone in the hardest time of their life. We don't realize that people reach
- out without really reaching out. And when a kind word is given or a hug is given or a simple gesture
- of just being acknowledged
- that we're not invisible, that we're actually seen, makes all the difference in the world. I'm hearing
- so far a theme is people. Yeah. Anything you'd like to add, Wendy? Definitely people. My situation,
- yeah, was different too. I was overcoming addiction as well as
- Oh, I was sorry. I was overcoming addiction as well as homelessness. My support was one person that
- constantly and consistently showed up for me and belief. That person believed in me even when I didn't
- believe in myself. And that gave me the confidence in myself to keep moving forward. Human connection
- is extremely powerful.
- It doesn't matter if you know them. It's acknowledging their existence, because we're all people.
- Thank you, guys. Yeah. So I'm curious. I mean, we're sitting here, and you guys are
- You're experts. And we all have strengths. And we have built teams based on each other's strengths.
- And we get through things based off of what we have internal to ourselves. So what did you rely on?
- What kind of strengths did you rely on that people might not have seen? What were you working with that
- you knew you had going?
- My situation is a bit differently. I always thought I was doing the right thing, preparing for the worst,
- hoping for the best. But it took just one bad day, followed by one bad decision. And then I realized
- everybody's in that position. I'm still a work in progress.
- I don't use the word normality anymore because they keep changing the goalpost on that. I prefer stability.
- And thanks to organizations such as yours, I'm getting to that point where I can stand on my own. It's
- just reaching out and helping.
- and knowing when to reach out and acknowledge that, you know, I can't do this by myself and I need some
- extra, I need some knowledge. I don't know what to do. Like, that's asking for help is, you know, I
- think people always say that is the hardest part, right? Yes. I know for me that I have failed at many,
- many, many attempts to get sober and clean, which I've finally succeeded at. It's taken a long time
- for me to,
- overcome bad decisions and bad choices doesn't mean I'm a bad person. It just means I made decisions
- that led me down a really dark path. And with the support of certain people like Allison and people
- from my church and people from other organizations, they have
- made such a huge difference in my life that I'm finally able to stand on my own two feet again and be
- stronger than I was three years ago when I became homeless and leaving situations of abuse and a lot
- of self doubt and a lot of self hatred. And I'm finally able to say, hey, I like myself again and learning
- to love myself again. And that way I can make a difference in somebody else's life.
- Like, you all are making a difference by being here today, because it shows that you care, which means
- more than you know. Yeah, like he said, reaching out for help was hard for me. But when I finally did
- admit I needed help and reached out, help was there.
- paying it forward for me. When people reach out, it's my strength. That's how I give back. That's how
- I stay strong now, both in my sobriety and in my community. I think it's a common theme.
- I'm really good at that. Who can say? I am the best of the best, and I've made it, and I've done all
- the things. I think patting ourselves on the back is very hard. But I think the fact that you guys are
- here today. Resilience plays a big part. Resilience is, yeah. So I don't know if you guys heard that.
- Angie said resilience plays a huge part in being able to wake up and show up and do it all over again, not
- Maybe knowing what, if it's going to play out the same way, or the unknown is really hard, and you have
- to be resilient within that unknown. Amazing. So was there a moment when you felt like things started
- to feel positive again, or possible again? What led to that moment of feeling things are coming around?
- Things are like, I can.
- I can achieve this. I can be housed. I can do this. When did that feel possible? Well, I was homeless
- for four years. And it took what she said, resilience. You have to have that. I always tried to keep
- in my lane.
- I knew things were possible. I knew the organizations were out there to render aid. I just didn't know
- how to make contact with them. Fortunately, I went to an event affair that was held over at the switchyard.
- And I met a caseworker from heading home. Can I mention her by name? Sure. Rosalind Doyle. She's my angel.
- She didn't put up with any of my gruff. She encouraged me and motivated me and at times said, you got
- to do this. But I needed that. And she knew that I needed that. That's when I realized what the possibilities
- were. I think for me, being able to reconnect with my family.
- and reconnect with my children and my grandchildren. Once I became housed temporarily, I became housed
- in an apartment that, and being able to be more active in their life made me want to move ahead farther
- and farther. And being now that I'm able to be a part of their life, and I have two new grandbabies
- that are due one due in May and one due in August, and I get to be a part of their life.
- and continuing. And, you know, I want that. I want, I don't want to have that, that faded, you know,
- be in the faded background of that life. And I want to be a part of my parents' life and be there for
- them as they get older and know that they can rely on me. And I don't want them to feel like, well,
- we can't rely on her because she's not stable. So those are things that help keep me grounded in my
- day to day now that allow me to,
- keep that aha moment of, yes, I'm finally in a place where, yes, I can improve, but so can everybody
- in their life. But I'm comfortable with where I'm at. And I'm just going to keep striving to keep moving
- forward. Thanks for me. There was kind of a moment where things finally started
- to feel like they were paying off and gaining momentum. It was when a very patient and kind case manager
- that I had at New Hope sat with me like at the ready at section eight open time and clicked repeatedly apply and
- I was finally accepted for the Section 8 waiting list and then accepted onto Section 8. And everything
- started kind of moving forward after that. And it felt doable after that. And everything kind of felt
- like this is what all of this was for. This is what I was doing all of this for. And since then, it
- was like everything started moving towards a positive direction, being housed.
- Having my own place and just everything after that. Taking care of my own yard, even though I grumble
- about it sometimes. All of the things, all of the things, since that moment have just been great. So
- that was my moment. I'm just sitting with that for a second.
- I'm hearing a lot of connection. And I'm also hearing opportunity. And those opportunities aren't just
- stumbled upon if you're not aware of what, like we said, the resources are. If we don't know where to
- start, there's always opportunity. But how do we know how to capitalize on it? And it takes encouragement.
- And it takes people to encourage you.
- don't feel like you want to, or you just need the extra push. We talk all the time. My case managers
- and I, I think just in general, we talk about how relationships are so important, because we don't do
- anything by ourselves. I mean, if you live by yourself, you still have a community of people that you
- use to charge your battery and your social battery.
- and connect with. None of us do anything alone. We are social people. And I think that we need to recognize
- we all do things in support of one another and with that encouragement, because we're just social people.
- And we really rely on the support of others. And it's great to be independent and say that I did the
- whole thing myself, but what does that
- What does that really get us? Curious about what are some ways you feel like community members can show
- up as better supporters and allies for people who are experiencing a housing crisis? Form a connection
- with somebody. You normally wouldn't. Get to know them. Get to know us. Ask us how our day is.
- how we're feeling. Engage. That's the best thing you can do to start off with. Just engage with someone.
- You normally wouldn't. I think that being open-minded and knowing that everybody's situation is different
- what your situation may be might be different than my situation, what your situation may be is going
- to be different than my situation. And knowing that going into meeting somebody or trying to help somebody,
- you can't be close minded and be judgmental because if you're that way, then you're going to push that
- other person away or you're going to push possibilities away that could help both of you in the long run.
- or even in short term. So just being open-minded and being empathetic and compassionate to knowing that
- there's going to be setbacks. But with each setback comes progress. Even regardless how small it is,
- even the smallest steps, it's still progress. And change will come and you'll see a smile
- on that person's face. And just knowing that you can make even the smallest difference is, it warms
- your heart. I think kind of building on what both of them said, reach out to someone. And just because
- they don't necessarily want to talk to you today, it doesn't mean that they won't want to talk to you
- tomorrow. Or just because they say, I don't need your help,
- today doesn't mean that tomorrow they won't. Just be patient. Be patient with people. And practice gratitude
- in your own life. Very well said. Thank you, guys. From your perspective, what systems, health care,
- housing, businesses, those kind of systems, what's working well right now?
- Me personally, I want to get off the assistance. I want to get to, I know I need it now, but I'm looking
- forward to the day when I can contribute more than I'm taking. I'm glad that they're there. Could the
- systems run a little bit smoother? Yeah, but every system can be said about that. As far as healthcare,
- every three months I get a letter that says we need to re-examine your application for healthcare.
- Usually it hasn't changed, but fortunately I am now employed and hopefully my employer will have that
- problem. But it's getting to the point where I'm getting more stable and more on my own feet. So the
- systems are there. You just, like I said, you have to know how to work with them and let them know you
- don't want to be on it forever.
- For me, I have the VA, and Health Net has been my biggest supporter besides the VA. Allison has been
- in my quarter since day one that I met her. She has given me rides. She has pushed me to do things that
- I'm not comfortable with and helped me make changes in my life that have been much needed and much
- they're deserved for the things that I've done. And sometimes it feels like I'm just pushing against
- myself to get where I need to be and I'm my own worst enemy. But with the organizations and with the
- community that has been helping, I wouldn't be where I am today without you guys. And I wouldn't be
- able to sit here and speak about my experience so openly if I hadn't gone through the trials and tribulations
- that I had. So as much as I want to say I wish I had never been through them, I'm grateful I have because
- hopefully if there's somebody else down the road that's going through this, maybe I can help them and
- maybe it won't be as hard or as long for them because of the people that I've had help me.
- From my point of view, something that I think that is going well is meeting people where they are. Like
- she said, giving people rides to appointments, to interviews, to doctor's appointments. That affords
- them the ability to have access to health care, mental health care, a job, or just anywhere really.
- a housing appointment with BHA or for a walkthrough for an appointment, it makes a difference. So I
- think that that is something that has made a large difference. The flexibility within those systems
- of the frontline staff, to what extent are they able to support? And to what you said, William, everybody
- we can all be doing a little better. I mean, the bar is high. We set the bar high for ourselves. But
- I think the fact that we're all in the room together and we're talking about these things, it means
- that we acknowledge that and we want to be a part of the solution. So I'm curious, a little rogue question,
- area of opportunities within our system. Where do we feel like maybe something's just almost there?
- And it just needs to happen? Or are there other areas of opportunity within these systems that are all
- working within each other? Where could we see some improvement? Where are some areas of opportunity?
- I think it comes as no surprise that many of the homeless suffer from mental illness. Health Net is
- great at helping the body
- But there are people out there who need better help with their mental issues. They're not going to come
- seeking help, most of them, because they found a solution out on the streets through self-medication.
- And instead of solving their issues, they're merely masking them. So if there was better drive for mental health,
- You'd see a lot of the side issues getting solved as well. Crime rate will lower, drug use will be lowered.
- And the people who are even a mild elevation in their lifestyle can change their entire life. So mental
- advocacy is one area I think could be worked on.
- to go along with what William said, peer-to-peer counseling is a huge opportunity that you don't have
- to have a certification for. Just by being there for somebody, being compassionate enough to say, hey,
- I see you're having a hard time, maybe we can work through this together. But there are programs where
- you can do and get certification for peer-to-peer counseling.
- This is one Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. I know that they're doing a program with peer-to-peer counseling.
- The reason I know that is my dad's done it. And my dad's now one of their counselors. And it's not a
- degree, it's just certification. And if we are able to start more counseling programs throughout the
- city or the county, maybe that might reduce
- you know, self harm, harm reduction, the level of crime and just bring up more positive aura to our
- town, to our city or to our county and just to people's attitudes and open their minds and hearts a
- little bit better to seeing that, yes, mental health is a huge problem here.
- And maybe by tackling it a little more head on and not just throwing away the key by putting people
- in jail or throwing them in a psychiatric hospital, but doing groundwork of building up from there,
- it might work a little bit better. I think,
- Something that could be improved upon is communication between the agencies. I think we're getting there,
- but it could use more work. One thing that I got frustrated with a lot when I was unhoused was having
- to repeat myself so many times for each person that I had to interact with. And it's tiring. It's super
- frustrating.
- is traumatic in and of itself to have to rehash everything that you've gone through with each provider.
- We use HMIS, which has a little bit of some of your barriers. So we have that, but it could be better.
- You know what I mean? It's traumatic enough that you have to relive it once, but to have to do that
- with each and every provider is frustrating. So I think that could be improved upon.
- hearing mental health outreach specifically. I think that was a great point about people who are currently
- in their reality are not gonna seek out support they don't think they need and building those relationships
- and getting to knowing what counseling opportunities there are. I mean, we talk about peer-to-peer counseling
- and those start with conversations like this with people who you can't be a peer
- if you haven't had that specific experience. So it's really important to have those opportunities and
- totally about communication. I agree that I think it's getting better. We're finding out how we can,
- as agencies, better communicate with each other with the discretion of ROIs and things like that. We
- don't want to be spilling everybody's beans.
- At least on their well-being, currently. How is this person doing? Yeah, that's an important thing that
- you said, Mandy, about every time that you tell a story or your story. That's that many more times.
- What is defining you in that moment? And you just have to keep repeating it. And that can get very,
- that weighs a lot.
- What is that? It feels like it's being overlooked. Overlooked? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys
- for answering that real question. Because I think it's always great to talk about what things are working
- well. But we always know things can be improved upon as well. So what is giving you hope right now?
- Or what's something that's bringing you joy this season?
- about what we're here about for, what in this season of life are you really joyful about? For me, it's
- seeing the progress. It's all good and fine to say, I want to do this, but getting it done, that gives
- you so much satisfaction. You have no idea how we all feel about, yay,
- We got a place to stay. We're comfortable. We're safe. It has changed our lives. And I'm sure these
- two will agree with me. If it hadn't been for guys like you doing what you do behind the scenes and
- the caseworkers who see the front line, we wouldn't be in this situation. We'd still be out there. So
- thank you.
- Springtime is a season of birth and renewal. And so, I mean, this summit being held right now is the
- perfect time because we're getting a chance to see flowers bloom and grass grow and our trees grow leaves
- and we're seeing animals come out after a long, hard winter with their newborn, their babies.
- we're able to take in that joy and the fresh air and just kind of exhale and take a deep breath and
- just be for a bit. We don't have to worry about, oh, when's that snowstorm going to come in? Or when
- are we going to have to plow our driveway so we can park our cars? We can just take a step back and
- just be grateful for what we've been given and to be able to
- see that and know that I'm in a place in time right now that I feel like I can help others maybe. I
- hold on to that hope that I can make as much difference as people have made in my life. I can make a
- difference in somebody else's life or in people's lives. So I'm grateful for everything. I'm grateful
- to be upright and breathing.
- and being able to speak on a panel like this, because without this type of opportunity, who knows what
- you all may have heard down the road or today. You wouldn't have learned things that you may be learning
- today. But we're grateful that you've given us this opportunity. So thank you. What gives me hope is
- seeing firsthand
- all the people who are succeeding in getting housing and getting mental and physical health care of
- their own, and not just getting it, but keeping it. Yeah, that makes me happy. Finding sustainable housing,
- that's great. I think the theme here to this question is sustainability. Yes.
- not being in survival mode and... Living. Yeah, and... Yeah, they enjoy living, and they get to see,
- oh my gosh, let's sit with that for a second. That there's stability and safety, and they enjoy living
- again, you know? Like, oh, my goodness.
- A lot comes from that. And you can enjoy the spring. And you can enjoy seeing the tulips and everything
- pop up and begin anew. I think that was beautiful. And I think that that really puts it into my perspective,
- right? Because it's different maybe when you're not living in the spring.
- If an organization would like to seek the expertise of people with lived experience of homelessness
- in their program or policy design, how can they do so in a meaningful way? Go up to one of us on the
- streets. Make a connection. Some of us don't bite.
- Just the show of concern and learning about what our story is. Each of us has a story to be told. My
- mother always said, you should listen twice as much as you speak. And I have been listening to each
- and every one of you today, having conversations at your tables, showing concern for each other,
- for us. You keep doing that.
- You don't have to have 100% of the solution. If 100 people have 1% of the solution, there's no problem
- that can't be fixed. I think that if there was an organization, and this probably sounds a little extreme,
- If there were people that were willing to take a step and live in our shoes for, say, a week, find out
- what it's truly like to be homeless, because you go from having everything to giving up everything for
- a week, to seeing what it's like to actually live and breathe being homeless, and then coming up, pulling
- together, coming up with ideas that might be not
- I think coming to, you know, to maybe my mind to put forth as an idea to try and create sustainability
- for somebody. Those, I think that would be something that would be worthwhile and it might create more
- compassion for people that have a harder time understanding why people do become unhoused because there
- are people that make that by choice and then there's others that don't.
- I think that for me, that's always been something that I would love to see happen is people live that
- way for just a short amount of time to gain a little more compassion and empathy and understanding of
- maybe a breakthrough ideas to come help end it. I think just active listening and
- compassion and the understanding that every situation, like they said, is different. Every person is
- different. And what works for one person isn't going to work for every person. He is different. She's
- different. I'm different. And so a cover-all solution isn't going to be effective. You have to be flexible.
- You have to be
- understanding that you're going to have to come up with different ways all the time to keep things moving,
- to be able to make things work for each individual. That's how we're going to be successful. I feel
- like rarely ever one size fits all is just not a thing anymore. And it shouldn't be in policy. It shouldn't
- be in how we interact and encourage and motivate just as
- All of us up here are different. Every single one of you are different. So I think it'd be crazy to
- think, how would a policy that applies to somebody with different circumstances, how would that affect
- me? And how would we feel about something that has no, it doesn't make any sense for me to be a part
- of this umbrella because it just doesn't work with where I'm at or what I need or what my ability levels are.
- So yeah, we're wrapping up here. I'm curious, you know, what would you like frontline staff, policymakers,
- community to hear directly for you? I think you guys have shared a lot of consistent messaging and things
- like that, but if you had the hot, you know, you have the microphone, what would you like for them to
- hear or sink in? What's your message?
- We're people, too. That's it. We're not a case number. We're not a file. We're not a statistic. Each
- and every one of us is an individual. You have your stories. We have ours. If we learn to share those
- stories, we can find common ground. I think we want you to understand that we appreciate you. We appreciate
- everything that's being done.
- Sometimes I may not come across that way. It might come across as being rude and gruff, but deep down,
- we truly appreciate everything that's being done because without you guys, we could be so much worse
- off and that your effort and your kindness go a long way because it lets us open ourselves up a little
- bit easier each time.
- I know I'm grateful and I'm forever in debt to the hands and hearts that have helped me. I feel like
- they hear me a lot, but if I had to pick one thing to say, it'd be don't give up on people. Because
- I turned down a lot of opportunities for help. And if the one day that I reached out for help
- that door had been closed even a little bit, I would not be sitting here talking to y'all. So don't
- give up on people. Leave the door open, and just always be willing. I feel so better off having heard
- what you guys have shared.
- everybody take something from hearing these conversations and the themes. I would really just love to
- hear a round of applause for our community members up here and showing up for themselves. Thank you,
- everybody.