The Power of Partnership to Address Homelessness

For people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, transit provides reliable, affordable rides to essential services. Many transit agencies collaborate with nonprofits to distribute free or reduced fare cards to people who are unhoused. During extreme weather, some transit agencies deploy vehicles as cooling or warming centers. Many transit agencies also have started scheduling outreach workers, navigators or ambassadors to engage with unhoused riders, providing access and referral to shelter, housing and health care. But given the scale of our nation’s homelessness crisis, we need to go deeper. The White House and the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) are responding to this crisis by launching ALL INside, a place-based initiative to reduce unsheltered homelessness. The Phoenix metro area is one of several cities selected to participate. ALL INside Phoenix is taking stock of effective practices so they can be iterated and scaled, and identifying barriers for federal, state and local partners to bust. Hear from the team doing this hard, important work.

Moderator: Joanne Waszczak, MSW, USDOT Liaison to USICH, Federal Transit Administration, US Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
Tamara Wright, Senior Regional Advisor, US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Phoenix, AZ
Katie Gentry, Regional Homelessness Program Manager, Maricopa Association of Governments, Phoenix, AZ
Markus Coleman, Light Rail Administrator, City of Phoenix Public Transit, Phoenix, AZ
Rachel Milne, Director, City of Phoenix Office of Homeless Solutions, Phoenix, AZ
Ollie Nyman, Associate Director of Housing & Community Integration, Community Bridges, Inc. (CBI), Phoenix, AZ
Eric Barr, Chief Executive Officer, ELAINE, Phoenix, AZ