We Are Neighbors

Listen to the first Hard Conversation of 2024!

In this episode of the We Are Neighbors podcast, Eric Samuels, President and CEO at the Texas Homeless Network, joined our hosts to talk about advocacy!

Advocacy can be a touchy subject for non-profits as there are rules and regulations about what they can/cannot do. However, there are ways non-profits and individuals can be intentional and drive change in their community. Eric Samuels dives into what the Texas Homeless Network does and what it takes to be successful.

In this episode, we were joined by Ellen Magnis the President and CEO of Family Gateway.

Family Gateway is one of the service providers apart of the All Neighbors Coalition. Their mission is to provide stability and life-changing supportive services to children and families affected by homelessness. They also serve as the main access point for families with children for our community’s Coordinated Access System.

We spoke to Ellen about families experiencing homelessness, how Family Gateway provides support, and ways you can get involved.

Learn more about their work here: https://familygateway.org/get-involved/

Welcome Hannah Sims and Alonzo Grape to the We Are Neighbors podcast for a special two-part series about Encampment Decommissioning! In case you missed it, listen to Part 1 to learn more about what encampment decommissioning is and give you a better understanding of how we are helping our neighbors connect with permanent solutions to housing and supportive services to ensure a successful transition into housing.  

Welcome Hannah Sims and Alonzo Grape to the We Are Neighbors podcast for a special two-part series about Encampment Decommissioning!

In this Hard Conversation, we spoke with Jeff Olivet, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), about All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness which was developed by USICH.

All In sets an ambitious goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025 and encourages state and local governments to use the plan as a blueprint for developing their own strategic plans and for setting their own ambitious goals for 2025.

The plan is built around six pillars: three foundations—equity, data and evidence, and collaboration—and three solutions—housing and supports, crisis response, and prevention. Within each pillar are strategies and actions that lay the groundwork for a future when no one experiences homelessness—not even for one night. The plan can be found at https://www.usich.gov/all-in.

Housing Forward hosted the annual State of Homelessness Address on April 13th.

The State of Homelessness Address is an insightful event that had contributions from renowned experts in the field and impactful stories of success within the homeless response system. This pivotal moment unites us as a community and renews our commitment to ending homelessness by promoting effective solutions and improving the homeless response system. Together, we can make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in Dallas and Collin Counties.

You can watch the livestream and view the data on our website under the 'Track Our Progress' tab.

In this episode, Joli Angel Robinson sat down with Ashley Flores, Senior Director at the Child Poverty Action Lab or CPAL, to talk about a new report CPAL will be published in the coming weeks.

CPAL's new report will focus on affordable housing, specifically in the local renters market. The lack of affordable housing is one of the main reasons someone may experience homelessness. Ashley provides insight into why housing affordability matters, gaps in the market, the use of vouchers, homeownership affordability in Dallas and the gaps we observe by race and ethnicity, what kind of solutions are out there to make our housing market better and so much more!

On this month's episode, hosts Joli Angel Robinson and Rebecca Hickom are joined by Dr. Jenny Schuetz, author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems.

In 'Fixer-Upper,' Dr. Schuetz proposes practical solutions to make housing more affordable and accessible for all. We discussed housing solutions, understanding how housing policies impact not only people but also communities, and way more. Tune in now!

Housing Forward has scheduled the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count for the night of January 26th. In honor of this, we sat down with Joy Moses, Vice President of Research and Evidence, from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Learn more about why the PIT count is important and how it informs and shapes the homeless response system.