The Conversation on Encampments is a Conversation on Equity

On the heels of a series of successful California cohorts of 100-Day Challenges on ending homelessness, RE!NSTITUTE ended the year by launching a cohort focused on encampments. In partnership with Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, we brought together four communities – San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Merced, and Sacramento – to discover new pathways to helping vulnerable populations move toward safe and stable housing. 

The issue of homelessness is under a new spotlight after the pandemic forced many people to “shelter in place” during a highly communicable outbreak that saw county resources pushed to their capacity. 

As CEO Sean Whitten shared, “During the pandemic, everyone would say ‘stay home,’ but where was home for our unsheltered neighbors?” 

The issue is compounded by seasons of fires and floods, and again as we enter the bitter cold of winter.

The 100-Day Challenge offers participants a chance to collaborate within and across their county and various sectors to find pathways that offer people safe and sustainable housing. Depending on the goal outlined by a team in the 100-Day Challenge, this could include a community outreach initiative educating and working with landlords willing to accept housing subsidies and  many other possible innovations.

In the 100-Day Challenge Goal Setting workshop, a participant from Sacramento shared how one of the biggest complaints the county received was that no landlord was taking the housing vouchers. He went on to add how the increase in the lack of access to subsidized housing was compounded by the increase in a remote workforce as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Sacramento has the fastest growing rent in the nation, the highest number of new homes in the nation. It used to be that you could work a job and afford a basic apartment, but that's no longer the case,” he said, speaking to why the county team in the 100-Day Challenge chose seeking to address barriers to housing inequity as a goal. 

These are complex conversations that are often difficult to have. They require a layered conversation that can’t always be had with landlords – which is why cultural influencers, such as popular shows, highlight an issue and pull viewers into empathetic conversations that are key in bridging some of the barriers in activating communities to be receptive to the needs of their neighbors. 

This year, the celebrated Netflix series “Maid” put a spotlight on the human stories behind homelessness by a 10-episode series that catalogs the real life experience of a mother and child. Based on the lived experience of Stephanie Land’s memoir, the series explores the effort of its main character, Alex, as she tries to leave an abusive relationship and struggles to navigate public assistance while trying to care for her young daughter. Described as a rare, unflinching depiction of poverty, the show also highlights the challenges people face when trying to find housing through a housing subsidy voucher program that requires landlord participation.
 

The conversation “Maid” ignited underscores the value of people with lived expertise in shaping the systems created to offer them resources and refuge. People deserve a seat at the table they’ll be discussed at, but it’s also true that systems are improved when those people are given a seat. 

Believing in equity and representation, RE!NSTITUTE launched a giving campaign to raise funds for this purpose. We were able to successfully raise funds to support all four communities in our Encampment 100-Day Challenge to pay for the time and experience of those with lived expertise. 

If you’d like to support the fund for people with lived expertise to be included in the conversation that impacts them, please click here to make a donation. If you’d like more information on a giving fund for lived expertise, please contact our Development Specialist, Corrina Brown at cbrown@re-institute.org