Heading Home Together Reflection

The Heading Home Together Leadership Circle had a meeting on Tuesday, April 10. Allison Streich and Senta Leff (Homes for All Co-Chairs) are representing Homes for All on the Heading HomeTogether Leadership Circle. The new Heading Home Together Leadership Circle will radically change how we identify and solve problems. It will fully leverage the commitments and contributions of all.

Heading Home Together Leadership Circle

Allison Streich shares her experience with the first Heading Home Together Leadership Circle meeting.

I am always so inspired when in the presence of stakeholders from different sectors that bring their passion and commitment to the table and collaborate towards a common goal; to prevent and end homelessness. That was exactly my sentiment after the first meeting of the Heading Home Together Leadership Circle was held on April 10.

With the release of Minnesota’s 2018-2020 Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, the Heading Home Together Leadership Circle will meet quarterly and bring together stakeholders who are working to prevent and end homelessness across the state.

The room at Plymouth Congregational Church was filled with representatives of various stakeholder groups from across the state. The Leadership Circle is co-chaired by Commissioner Mary Tingerthal of MN Housing and Susan Bass Roberts, Executive Director of the Pohlad Family Foundation.

The first meeting was focused mostly on an overview of the Leadership Circle; welcome and introductions, the purpose of the group and expectations going forward. As I was listening to everyone introduce themselves, I realized how honored and humbled I am to be part of this group. It was evident listening to introductions and the work being done that everyone in the Leadership Circle is so passionate about their work.

Cathy ten Broeke, State Director to Prevent and End Homelessness, gave a brief overview of the 2018-2020 plan. The theme that resonated with me after listening to Cathy speak, is what it means to prevent and end homelessness, as outlined in the Action Plan. “Effectively ending homelessness means that we prevent homelessness whenever possible, and when that is not possible, the experience of homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time.”

The meeting was wrapped up by asking each member of the Leadership Circle to answer the following question:

What is one recommendation for action that you can take back to your stakeholder group based on today’s meeting?

The collaborative answer between myself and Senta was to present the 2018-2020 Action plan to the full Homes for All Coalition for potential sign-on as a Statewide Stakeholder, bring the information from the meeting back to the full coalition and look to identify an action item (after session) for the Homes for All Coalition.

Senta and I look forward to continuing to represent the Homes for All Coalition on the Leadership Circle.

Allison Streich

Homes for All Co-Chair