I’m really excited to share this conversation with Jennifer Ho. When we were producing our documentary on Hennepin County, several people told me we needed to talk to Jennifer because of her leadership in housing and homelessness. Our schedules never lined up during filming, so I’m really glad we finally got the chance to sit down together for the Homeless Unfiltered podcast.

There are some people you just connect with. Jennifer is one of those people. She’s incredibly smart and thoughtful. She brings a unique perspective shaped by both healthcare and housing, and you can feel that throughout this conversation.

Jennifer is the Commissioner of Minnesota Housing and previously served at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also comes out of for-profit healthcare, working in managed care, where she saw firsthand how homelessness drives costs and impacts health outcomes.

We talk about homelessness, housing, and healthcare. But this conversation goes deeper. At times it turns philosophical, and it challenged me. I think it will challenge you too.

One of the biggest takeaways is simple. We know what works. The question is why we have not committed to doing it at the scale needed to actually solve homelessness.

Watch our Hennepin County documentary here: Can We End Homelessness? Hennepin County Shows How https://youtu.be/yq1C8l4uSZc?si=J6TxnwAyJD00Ps-D