Homelessness 101: Principles of Housing First & Harm Reduction

Homelessness 101 is a series of trainings covering basic content relevant and necessary for all people working in housing and homeless services. Quarter 1 of 2020 will provide five sessions over the course of  three 1/2 days in January, February and March all in the metro area. Below is a brief description of the covered topics for Day 3:

Thursday, March 12, 1-4pm

• Principles of Housing First & Harm Reduction: Harm Reduction is a best practice approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, such as sobriety, treatment or service participation requirements. Housing First is also a philosophy that shapes the crisis response system and Coordinated Entry and is important knowledge for everyone, not just those working in Housing First programs. In this training we discuss the overlapping principles of these two strategies and how they fit into supportive housing programs.

Presenters: 

Warren Duncan: Warren is the Programs Director at Hearth Connection. Hearth Connection is a Minnesota non-profit that functions as an Intermediary, bringing in funds around support services and rental assistance for large geographic regions across Minnesota. Hearth Connection manages the network of providers and funding resources, reports outcomes to the Federal, State, and County entities, as well as other funding entities, analyzes the outcomes and looks for ways to improve programming for those participating in it. Warren has been with Hearth Connection in various roles, including as a Case Manager on one of the mobile teams working with single adults in the metro area, as a Regional Manager in Southern and Central Minnesota, and now as Programs Director. Prior to working at Hearth Connection, Warren worked with youth in an emergency shelter, a meal program for those living on the streets, adult foster care programs and case management.

Danyell Easter: is the manager of three supportive housing programs at Avivo practicing Harm Reduction and Housing First. These programs provide both housing case management to participants utilizing a subsidy, Housing Support(GRH), or are self pay and Targeted Case Management.  Danyell graduated from Augsburg College in 2016 with a MSW in Multicultural Clinical Practice and is currently a License General Social Worker (LGSW). Prior to attending Augsburg College, Danyell graduated from Hamline University with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and a Certificate in Paralegal Studies.

How to register:

Registration below is broken into Member & Non-Member.  If you are unsure whether you are part of a member organization or would like more information about membership, please contact Michele.  If you choose to pay by credit card, you will be walked through payment process and receive an automated email confirming your payment and registration.  If you choose to pay by check, you will receive an invoice from MESH.  Payment is expected prior to training date.  Please contact Michele if scholarship help is needed.  You may register more than 1 person at a time and note the names in the space provided.