I think there is a correlation between hopefulness and homelessness

Power Station

One voice that is often overlooked or not even considered in deliberations about ending homelessness in America is that of people who are experiencing homelessness themselves. That paradigm is being upended by the National Coalition for the Homeless, which organizes, trains and engages people with lived experience as partners at policymaking tables. Their first-hand knowledge of housing and homelessness systems makes them invaluable advisers to US HUD and the CDC and led to the development of tools for getting people out of unsheltered homelessness and to safety during COVID. Their participation in policymaking is supported by the Coalition’s Lived Experience Training Academy, a singular resource for effective policy advocacy. As Donald Whitehead, executive director of the Coalition explains on this episode of Power Station, when people do not see themselves in policy making, they feel disengaged. That understanding is what sustains him in the Coalition’s current campaign, registering people to vote in shelters across the country, which moves them towards hopefulness, agency and power. Donald Whitehead brings his own lived experience to the daunting but realizable goal of ending homelessness. He is an indispensable leader and an inspiration to me.