Community Conversation: Housing, Homelessness & Mental Health

As part of the 2021 Sleep Out, Interfaith held a virtual community conversation, “Housing, Homelessness & Mental Health,” which explored how poverty, affordable housing and mental health are often interconnected.

We invite you to watch this recording of the conversation, and we hope you feel motivated to act afterward.

Show your support

• Volunteer at Interfaith Outreach. Share your time and expertise with families who are facing housing instability.
• Donate in-kind supplies to people currently experiencing homelessness through Simpson Housing Services.

Advocate and speak up 

• Follow Suburban Hennepin Housing Coalition on Facebook and support their action requests. This group works to preserve and increase affordable housing options in suburban Hennepin County.
• Reach out to your elected officials at the local and state level. Tell them you support legislation to increase affordable housing in your community. Emphasize the urgency of this housing crisis. You can look up your state representatives here.
• Encourage landlords in your network to rent to families who receive housing subsidies. Reach out to Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) or Metro HRA to learn more about this process.
• Contact the Outreach Development Corporation, a partner nonprofit organization, to learn more about its efforts to develop more affordable housing locally.
• Support The Bridge for Youth, an organization serving youth who experience homelessness and trauma. There are multiple ways to learn more, volunteer and advocate.

Keep learning

• Read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond.
• Explore the link between housing affordability and health and educational outcomes for kids from Opportunity Starts at Home.
• Visit www.NCTSNet.org to learn more about the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). This network’s mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States.

About the Speakers

Steve Carlson, PsyD
Steve Carlson has been working in mental health, chemical health and housing for over thirty years.  He currently works at the University of Minnesota as a Clinical Trainer for the Minnesota Center for Chemical and Mental Health.  Additionally, Steve is a Community Faculty Member at Metropolitan State University.  Steve’s areas of specialty include The Psychology of Long-Term Homelessness, Harm Reduction, Trauma-Informed Care using the Sanctuary Model, Supportive Housing and other mental health topics.  As a Certified Minnesota Trainer in Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) Steve provides training and consultation to agencies around the State of Minnesota and nationally.

Debi Fink, MSW, LGSW
Debi is the former Associate Program Manager for the Caring for Kids program. Debi has experience in family case management and early childhood special education. Her areas of specialty include family crisis prevention and maternal and children’s mental health.