Community of Practice Description
When health centers and homeless shelters work together, they can better meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. This four-session community of practice creates space for health center and shelter staff to learn from one another, hear about real-world strategies, and build or strengthen cross-sector partnerships.
Drawing on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, this series will focus on how to build, fund, and sustain health center-shelter partnerships that expand access to care, improve health outcomes, and support safer, healthier shelter environments. Shelter health includes both individual and community well-being, requiring attention to medical, mental health, and substance use care, as well as to infectious disease risks, emergency response, and environmental hazards.
Each session will feature a blend of practical content and peer discussion and will focus on foundations of effective shelter–health center collaboration, navigating barriers and funding to maintain strong partnerships, staffing, operations, and shared planning, as well as explore how shelter-health partnerships can be especially helpful during crises, such as weather emergencies.
Whether your partnership is just getting started or well-established, this community of practice will offer important information and peer learning opportunities to support your work.
Application Deadline
The deadline for application: Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
Note: Learning Collaboratives for our federally funded work are now referred to as Communities of Practice.
Schedule
This learning collaborative will take place from 12noon – 1pm ET on the following Tuesdays:
- November 11, 2025
- November 18, 2025
- December 2, 2025
- December 9, 2025
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the series, learners will be able to:
- Describe 2 examples of how shelter and health center partnerships can be structured and staffed.
- Identify 2-3 funding mechanisms or billing strategies for implementing a sustainable partnership between a health center and a shelter.
- Identify ways to adapt service delivery within the shelter-health care partnership to respond to weather emergencies.
Time Commitment
One or more representatives from each participating organization will attend four 60-minute virtual sessions.
Questions?
Questions should be addressed to Meredith Mollica or Katie League.
