[Jessica] Thank you for joining us today. Just a few housekeeping announcements: Attendees microphones should be on mute during the conference. After the presentation we will have a question and answer session. You may submit questions through the conference platform at any time. During the Q&A, we will try to get to every question that wasn’t otherwise covered. Please note, the conference is being recorded and will be available for viewing online. Without further ado, I’ll hand this over to James for Time For Homes!
[James] Thank you for joining Time For Homes today—we’re a new organization; having just formed in late April. Already, we are gaining a great deal of momentum as we work to end homelessness. Thank you for your part in that. We believe that adequate shelter is a human right and with more than half a million homeless people across the nation and a large percentage of those in New York, we have a duty to band together to solve this issue. Time For Homes advocates for a housing-first philosophy to end chronic homelessness in New York State by 2025. Time For Homes does this by working with a four-pronged approach: Offering permanent housing, first. Providing trauma-informed supportive resources, such as health services and job placement, through our community-based agency and nonprofit partners. Partnering with all levels of government to effectuate systemic change in how we address homelessness and poverty.
Working with homeless and formerly homeless individuals to ensure those at the margins have agency and a voice at the table. Time For Homes is focused on solving this crisis in New York State to use it as a model to roll out nationally. 2
Agenda • The Time For Homes Approach • The Power of Data for Good • Quantifying the Problem • Homelessness in Present Context • Homelessness as a Health Condition • Treatment Plan • What has been done • Considerations & Imperatives • Public Participation • What we need to do • Q&A Session [James] Keeping in mind that time is your scarcest commodity, we will try to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short time. We will review Time For Homes’ approach and conduct a high-level overview of our core programs. We will define the problem and examine a few key facets thereof in historical, current, and future contexts. Additionally, we will look at homelessness as a health concern—exploring the issue and how we can resolve it (as individuals, as an organization, and collectively as a society). We’ll end with a question and answer session. As a reminder, you can send in questions at any time during the presentation and we’ll endeavor to cover as many unanswered ones that time allows. If we don’t get to your question during the call, we will get back to you individually. 3
We all know what homelessness is, right? • Time For Homes has a broad, inclusive definition of homelessness in order to mitigate the risks of inequality, exclusion, and discrimination against those who may need specialized assistance such as people living in situations of vulnerability or in slums or those facing forced eviction. • Homelessness is living in severely inadequate housing due to a lack of access to minimal acceptable housing. [JAMES] Now, it is all well and good to say we want to eradicate homelessness, right? But to solve a problem you must first have an understanding of what precisely that problem is. According to the United Nations, homelessness can include many conditions ranging from “rough sleepers” (i.e. people sleeping on the street) to people living in inadequate or insufficient housing (i.e. people living in tents) to people in temporary or emergency accommodation (such as homeless shelters) to “hidden” homelessness (like those who are “couch surfing” or living with friends or family. Article 11 of the ratified United Nations International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, section 1 states, in part, that the covenant recognizes the right of every person to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing, and housing. Alongside the United Nations and myriad other organizations, Time For Homes takes positive measures to improve the living conditions fo homeless people with a view of 4
facilitating their full participation in society and to prevent and eliminate homelessness, as well as to combat and eliminate its criminalization. Time For Homes has a broad, inclusive definition of homelessness in order to mitigate the risks of inequality, exclusion, and discrimination against those who may need specialized assistance such as people living in vulnerability, in slums, or those facing forced eviction. Homelessness is living in severely inadequate housing due to a lack of access to minimal acceptable housing. Homelessness is one of the most acute forms of material deprivation. Homelessness refers to the inability of people to enjoy a permanent accommodation. Homelessness often means lacking other basic human rights, such as the rights to: work; healthcare; social security; privacy, and education. Homelessness is both a cause and a symptom of human rights being denied, abused, and violated. It is one of the most visible and most severe symptoms of the lack of respect for the right to adequate housing. 4
What is adequate housing? [JAMES] How do we know if housing is adequate? We have to look through a lens that covers all manner of safety—physical, mental, social, economic, et cetera. It’s almost easier to say what it is not. Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions, harassment, and other threats. Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating, lighting, food storage, and refuse disposal. Housing is not adequate if its cost threatens or compromise the occupants’ enjoyment of other human rights. Housing is not adequate if it does not guarantee physical safety or provide adequate space, as well as protection against the cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, and other 5
threats to health or structural hazards. Housing is not adequate if the specific needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not taken into account. Housing is not adequate if it is cut off from employment opportunities, healthcare services, schools, childcare centers and other social facilities, or if it is located in polluted or dangerous areas. Housing is not adequate if it does not respect and take into account the expression of cultural identity. 5
Our Approach • Time For Homes partners with an ever-growing number of service providers—offering a platform for collaboration; a community for networking; and a number of scalable services. • Time For Homes works with a number of government officials, legislators, and the like to support and advocate for effective policy. • Time For Homes actively encourages public participation and education about the issues of and relating to homelessness. [James] Alright, so what are we doing about it? Time For Homes resides in a relatively niche space in the landscape of organizations working to end homelessness. We are not a provider of direct services. We are not, strictly speaking, an advocacy group nor are we a lobbying organization. That leaves us to define what we are—and why we feel that this is the space to occupy. We are somewhere in the middle of all those. Time For Homes partners with an ever growing number of service providers—offering a platform for collaboration (to build, refine, prove, and promulgate best practices); a community for networking; and a number of scalable services (from communications support to data analysis and myriad other areas) to help those organizations achieve 6
their missions. This area is in a constant state of capacity building—so we are always open to a conversation of what else we can do to work together efficiently and effectively. Time For Homes works with a number of government officials, legislators, and the like to support and advocate for effective policy. Time For Homes actively encourages public participation and education about the issues of and relating to homelessness. It is only with a multifaceted approach, bringing to bear the expertise of an extensive network of partners, that we can hope to achieve systemic, sustainable, surviving societal change. 6
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