lunch
&learn
learn about Homelessness
Join us at our Mary’s Place Lunch & Learn webinar programs to hear from our staff and partners about some of the causes of homelessness, as well as innovative programs to address our community crisis, and how you can get more involved.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH GREGG COLBURN, CO-AUTHOR OF THE BOOK: HOMELESSNESS IS A HOUSING PROBLEM: HOW STRUCTURAL FACTORS EXPLAIN U.S. PATTERNS
Mary's Place Chief Program Officer Dominique Alex, talks to Gregg Colburn talks about the findings of his (and co-author Clayton Page Aldern) work to test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in cities—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain the regional variation observed across the country. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a far more convincing account.
POPSICLE PLACE: ADDRESSING AND PREVENTING FAMILY HOMELESSNESS BY WORKING WITH HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
Taking care of a sick child - scheduling appointments, surgeries, and hospital visits, and paying medical bills - can cost families their jobs and their housing. This Lunch & Learn shares how the Mary’s Place Popsicle Place program provides focused care and services for families experiencing homelessness with medically fragile children, and how our mobile outreach team works with partners to connect with families in hospitals to provide housing resources to ensure they are not discharged into homelessness.
Panelists included: Ryan Disch-Guzman, MSW - Mary’s Place Outreach & Diversion Director, Tricia Nora, MSN, ARNP, Mary’s Place Healthcare Coordinator, Oriel Alfred, Mary’s Place Popsicle Place Outreach Coordinator, and Shelly Jeng Counselor, Substance Use Program for Pregnant Persons at Swedish Ballard Hospital.
THE IMPACTS OF TRAUMA
At this Lunch & Learn we focused on the lasting impacts the trauma of homelessness can have on unhoused families, including childhood development, generational expressions, and lifelong experiences.
Our panel of experts shared how families may experience trauma after losing their homes and the prevention-focused solutions necessary to end generational cycles of homelessness.
Panelists include Zakeea Sykes – Prevention Specalist, Mary’s Place, Ryan Disch-Guzman – Mobile Outreach Director, Mary’s Place, Haruko Watanabe – Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program Manager, Navos, and Dominique Alex, Chief Program Officer, Mary’s Place.
ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS IN THE 2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Mary’s Place CEO Dominique Alex is joined by representatives of three mission-aligned organizations: Gian Mitchell at Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Anni-MIchele Jean-Pierre at Children’s Alliance, and Lianna Kressin at Statewide Poverty Action Network who share their legislative priorities and how we can get engaged to support.
January 24, 2024
THE IMPACTS OF HOMELESSNESS ON CHILDREN
A Lunch & Learn program focused on what we can do as a community to help minimize the impact of homelessness on children.
Our panelists include McKinney-Vento and Foster Care Liaison, Highline Public Schools, Antonio Lewis, Kaleidoscope Play & Learn Program Manager, Child Care Resources, Zivit Shechter Nissim, Mary's Place Youth Services Director, Marta Asfaw, and Mary's Place Chief Program Officer, Dominique Alex.
THE IMPACTS OF RACISM ON HOMELESSNESS
Racism and homelessness are inextricably linked. Black and Indigenous Americans are significantly more likely to experience homelessness. This Lunch & Learn program focuses on how structural and systemic racism have created disproportionate levels of homelessness for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Our panelists include Alyson Moon, Mary’s Place Director of Community Impact, Ryan Disch-Guzman, Mary’s Place Director of Outreach and Diversion, Arlene Hampton, Mary’s Place Senior Site Director.
June 16, 2021
WHAT COMES AFTER THE EVICTION MORATORIUM?
How Mary's Place is working with community providers and landlords to support families and help them keep their homes. Our panelists include Chelsea Stevenson, SE Network Safetynet/Resource & Intake Director of Boys & Girls Club, Alison Dean, President of HNN Communities, Dominique Alex, Mary's Place Chief Program Officer, and Miriam Clithero, Mary's Place Prevention and Stability Director.
December 2, 2021
MARY’S PLACE MOBILE OUTREACH PROGRAM
Mobile outreach teams from Mary's Place and other partner organizations help families who are living unsheltered in our community move directly into housing, bypassing a stay-in shelter.
Panelists include Kyle Serquinia – Housing Stability Director, Vine Maple Place, Ryan Disch-Guzman – Mobile Outreach Director, Mary’s Place, Sherry Tillman – Intake Specialist Manager, Mary’s Place, and Kimen Trochalakis – Outreach Specialist, Mary’s Place.
PREVENTING FAMILY HOMELESSNESS
Washington state's eviction moratorium bridge is scheduled to end on September 30, and hundreds of families impacted by COVID-19 will find themselves homeless when back rent comes due, and they aren't able to pay.
This Lunch & Learn program focuses on the successes of the last legislative session to provide funding and tools to help families keep their hard-won homes and what still needs to be done to meet the pressing need in our community.
Our panelists include Alyson Moon, Mary’s Place Director of Community Impact, Dominique Alex, Mary’s Place Chief Program Officer, and Michele Thomas, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance.
August 24, 2021
HOUSING SOLUTIONS
How Mary’s Place, along with community partners, is helping women and families who are experiencing homelessness find and keep permanent housing.
Our panelists include Miriam Clithero, Mary’s Place Housing Director, Ashley Kenny, Mary’s Place Housing Locator Manager, Natural Alah, Mary’s Place Housing Manager, and Shkelqim Kelmendi, Executive Director of Housing Connector.
March 23, 2021