For the past four years, homelessness has risen across the country. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, in no single US county can one afford a modest 2-bedroom apartment while earning the prevailing minimum wage. It is a 30-year crisis only recently garnering public attention. Fortunately, the Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) program exists, 300 agencies who served 65% of health center patients experiencing homelessness in 2020.
But not every community has an HCH health center, and even those that do still struggle to serve all who live with housing insecurity. As a core component of the health care safety net, all health centers, regardless of HCH designation, have a stake in our affordable housing crisis.
This webinar will feature leaders whose health centers do NOT have HCH funding but provide quality services for people experiencing homelessness all the same. We will discuss data on homelessness across the country, what UDS shows on screening for housing insecurity among non-HCH health centers, strategies for screening inclusively, and the breadth of the HRSA definition of homelessness. We will conclude by highlighting a new HRSA-funded publication that goes deeper on all of these issues.
Presenters:
- Arlene Simon | COO, CIO | Alliance Community Health | Jersey City, NJ
- Trisha Ecklund | Paramedic | Vulnerable Populations Program Coordinator | Blue Ridge Health | Hendersonville, NC
Moderator:
- Michael Durham, MTS | Community Engagement Manager | National Health Care for the Homeless Council
