“Place For Us”
Bin Usekaf, lead LGBTQIA+ consultant, has created an event with the intent to end the great division within the community and provide proper representation, especially as it relates to trans identities.. He’s titled this event “A Place For Us”.
January 2024 Housing Summit Summary
We started the event by using mentiemeter.com to allow people to say how they felt and what they were looking forward to. Immediately after we began to engage in an invigorating conversation guided by a series of questions. There were a total of 15 questions, 3 for each of our five main barriers: The unwavering sense of distrust, racial tension, clear distinction of job roles/ the struggle to move up, funding and community engagement. Overall the conversation was very eye opening and allowed individuals to get a fresh perspective and build relationships with all pillars of their community. We ended earlier than expected, to allow participants to take-in all of the new information and think about creative feasible solutions for day 2 of the summit.
Similar to the first day we started the day by using mentimenter.com, this time participants posted their comments/feelings about the day prior. I gave a brief summary of day 1 then we dived right into conversation. The conversation was intimate, vulnerable and very vision forward. As a collective we were only able to agree upon and talk out the logistics of 4 solutions to aid the homelessness crisis in Detroit.
Creating a training program that will equip participants with proper training to become a peer support specialist. As a result of this partnership there will be an exceeding amount of peer support specialists readily available for clients. Each client will be assigned a peer support specialist at the same time they are assigned a case manager, they will keep the same peer support specialist for their entire duration in the system. This will allow case managers to effectively delegate and set healthy boundaries and expectations with clients.
We realized that there is division within organizations which manifests itself in things like resource and client hoarding. In an attempt to eradicate it we propose a city wide treaty amongst organizations. There is an incentive for signing the treaty. If your agency participates in the signing of the treaty, burnout training, to recognize and manage burnout, will be provided to your agency.
Practical and impractical life skill classes accessible to PSH buildings and or case managers.
Community pantries at police stations and libraries.
Overall the January 2024 housing summit was a success, we built long term relationships, shared experiences/stories and created a safe space that encouraged youthful problem solving. I am so honored to have had the pleasure of hosting this summit. I can confidently say that this will not be the only one.
If you agree with anything in this summary and find it in your heart to donate, all will be appreciated, May God bless you.