The second session of the Homelessness Awareness Month Community Forum focused on opportunities to innovate homeless service delivery as a response to new and evolving challenges. Among many examples, panelists discussed the use of workforce development platforms to develop new and more efficient pathways to employment. The discussion centered on what skills matching and training mechanisms can accomplish, how they could be adapted, and why they should be understood as helpful tools to adopt to produce more desirable outcomes for both families experiencing homelessness and those experiencing housing insecurity. The session also focused on developing and utilizing technological tools to improve connectivity for families experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. In today’s connected world, access to the internet is a vital service that should be included as a core element in assisting those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, affirming the need to address the lack of connectivity that many experience, while showing that this is a solvable problem. The session looked at how various local actors might be able to advocate for these new tools and approaches and participate in their successful implementation.
Questions considered in this session were: What workforce and digital literacy challenges were presented during the pandemic for individuals and families experiencing homelessness? What disruptive innovations were created during the pandemic to address disparate outcomes for children and families experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity? What existing mechanisms can be used to maximize the well-being for both individuals and families experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity? What assumptions exist about people experiencing homelessness and their ability to engage in the workforce? What mechanisms could be created to best utilize the capacities and valuable skills of individuals and families experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity? What long-term, sustainable solutions can the private sector create for those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity to become self-reliant and achieve housing stability?
Agenda
12:00-12:03 Opening
Kyriell Noon, CEO, Hamilton Families
12:05-12:20 Session 1
Megan Abell, Director of Advocacy, TechEquity Collaborative
12:20-12:35 Session 2
Kate Sofis, Director of Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), City and County of San Francisco
12:35-12:50 Session 3
Del Seymour, Founder, Code Tenderloin
12:50-13:00 Closing Q&A
Kyriell Noon, CEO, Hamilton Families
Meet the Speakers
Resources for Attendees
Read about Hamilton Families’ workforce development and digital literacy efforts in our Q4 Quarterly Impact Report.
Download the TechEquity Collaborative’s System Reset guide for tech companies to recruit, hire, and retain people returning from incarceration.