January 2018 Convening Recap: Homelessness

Posted on: February 7, 2018  |  Posted in: Community Blog, Information of the Month

On January 26th, the San Diego Military Family Collaborative had it’s first convening of 2018, with the topic of the month on Homelessness. Over 70 military providers, agencies, and families gathered to learn valuable information on what it means to work in this area and the unique issues and trends that are seen in the community. Our panel of experts represented Support the Enlisted Project (STEP), Interfaith Community Services, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), Veteran’s Village of San Diego, and Alpha Project. Thank you to our panel experts for sharing their knowledge and expertise! 

 

SDMFC Monthly Convenings are every 4th Friday of the month, 10:00am – 12:00pm @ Mission Valley Library. Join us on February 23rd for our next one! 

Keep connected to our convenings, newsletters, and other community events at https://www.facebook.com/sdmilfam/.

 

Please see below if you would like to watch the panel on Facebook LIVE, see the fact sheet shared at the convening, or to read our panelist bios.

See here for the Facebook LIVE stream of our January 2018 Convening

Quick Facts on Homelessness in San Diego

 

Panelist Biographies

Kathi Bradshaw, Vice President of Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) – Kathi Bradshaw gets excited about helping people help themselves.  During her 15 years focused on services to the homeless, she conceptualized and built a rapid rehousing program serving homeless people with small permanent incomes.  More than 75% of participants moved to unsubsidized permanent housing.  She was proud to be selected to lead one of five Veteran Homelessness Prevention Demonstration projects in the nation.  More recently, as the vice president of Support the Enlisted Project, Kathi is focused on providing emergency financial assistance including homelessness prevention services for military and veteran service members. 

Adriana Lopez, Case Manager at Interfaith Community Services – My name is Adriana Lopez, and I have been working with Female Veterans for over a year now. I was a military spouse for over 10 years, married to an infantry marine, during that time I was able to learn so much about the effects that combat-related trauma has on everyone in the family, and most of all the hard transition out of the military. I currently hold a BA in Social Science and will be receiving my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy at the end of the year. alopez@interfaithservices.org

Meg Yanosick, Associate Director of Veteran & Community Integration, PATH San Diego – Meg Yanosick joined PATH in 2016 and currently serves as the Associate Director of Veteran & Community Integration for PATH San Diego. Her background includes a wide variety of veteran and non-veteran services, including the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, Supportive Services for Veteran Families, Rapid Rehousing Programs, and Permanent Supportive Housing subsidy programs at PATH. Meg is an active participant in many veteran-focused community meetings, including the San Diego Veteran’s Coalition, the Veteran’s Consortium, and weekly meetings with VASH outreach. Meg holds a Master of Education, specializing in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education. Meg’s passion for the homeless population grew from years of volunteer work in Boston, MA and Washington, DC. While relocating to San Diego, CA, Meg made the decision to use her passion from volunteering and make service to the homeless her career. MegY@epath.org

Mike Judd, Supervisor of Veteran Village of San Diego’s SSVF Program and Army Veteran – Mike Judd is currently a supervisor of Veteran Village of San Diego’s SSVF program and an Army Veteran. VVSD’s Supportive Service for Veteran Families (SSVF) program provides financial assistance to homeless veterans and for veterans in imminent danger of becoming homeless. Mr. Judd has worked for VVSD for almost ten years for a myriad of different programs and grants. This will be his 5th year working in an SSVF/Housing First model program. mike.judd@vvsd.net

Todd Vance, Program Manager of 1000 Vets Rapid Rehousing at Alpha Project – Todd Vance is a San Diego native and Army Infantry Combat Veteran. He has been doing Social Work with the Homeless population since 2014. He is the 1000 Vets RRH Program Manager. He also owns the non-profit POW, www.powsd.org, where he offers MMA and Yoga as group therapy for Combat Veterans.

 

 

Post By: Adrian Edquid. Adrian is a BSW graduate and is serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the San Diego Military Family Collaborative.