New Connections from the Conference on Ending Homelessness

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Peg Giffels, Springwire’s Deputy Director, attended the 22^nd Annual conference on Ending Homelessness in Yakima, WA last month and made new connections in the homelessness advocacy community.

As a new staff member at Springwire, one of the things I look forward to the most is connecting with others in the community whose advocacy for safe, affordable housing aligns with Springwire’s mission to break the cycle of isolation caused by poverty. So when the opportunity arose to represent Springwire at the statewide Conference on Ending Homelessness organized by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, I jumped at the chance to go.

The connections were there from the first moment: I carpooled with a couple of women from WHEEL Seattle who were on their way to present a session about Women in Black’s organizing work and strategies for raising public awareness of the lethal consequences of homelessness. Thanks to Anitra and Theresa’s generosity with their stories and their store of knowledge, I had my own mini conference on the drive to Yakima. At the conference kick-off session, I met an outreach specialist from the Veteran’s Administration who agreed to confer with our staff on our Veteran’s Connect project. And at the evening viewing of Kevin Heutink’s film “Out on a Limb” organized by the Seattle/King County Coalition on omelessness, I sat with Meghan Christenson from Sojourner Place and learned about their work helping single or pregnant women get back on their feet as they overcome obstacles. It turned out Meghan and I had “met” earlier in the day in the conference twitterverse through our contributions to the  #wahomelessconf conversation, and we were delighted to meet in person.  

Thanks so much to Rachael Myers, Executive Director at Washington Low Income House Alliance, as well as Jon Morgan and other staff and volunteers who coordinated this year’s conference. It was a rich experience for me. My goal to connect with the community of homelessness advocates was more than met, thanks to great programming and a well-organized event.

If you have similar goals to connect with people working to end homelessness, I highly recommend attending the statewide conference next year – it’s a winner. I’m happy to share more about the conference and continue to make connections. You can reach me at pegg@springwire.us, @pgiffels, or 206-441-4319.

Peg Giffels
Deputy Director, Springwire