The systems advocates’ lived experience with homelessness and other issues is one key piece of the model. Another is that each advocate will stay with clients from first contact to finding shelter to getting medical care and other needed treatment to, hopefully, finding permanent housing.
The current homelessness system operates far more in silos. One person from one organization does street outreach. The client is then passed on to another organization providing shelter. Another organization may take care of treatment. Another provides permanent housing. People have many opportunities to fall through the cracks or move back to the streets.
“It’s about having someone there who has your back so that
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