Education Efforts

Welcoming Neighbors Home works to educate those in our community about the importance of affordable housing in addressing homelessness.

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is an annual event from November 13th-21st to draw attention to the issues of hunger and homelessness across the country. Below are activities that have been sponsored by Welcoming Neighbors Home for past Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Weeks.

Sisu - Finland's Secret to Ending Homelessness? - A Talk by Ryan Lenney

Finland is among the few countries that have made real progress on reducing homelessness. How did they do it? Welcoming Neighbors Home leadership team member Ryan Lenney believes it is through a mindset known as sisu, and he spoke about his experience interviewing social workers in Finland and trying to understand what enabled housing first to succeed in their country. To watch Ryan's talk, click here, and to read his full report "Sisu - Finland's Secret to Ending Homelessness," click here.

What Happened to People Displaced by CalTrans? - A Case Study by Maura Mikulec

In her talk, Maura Mikulec explained what happened to the people who had spent over a year camping on CalTrans property near an I-5 offramp near San Clemente. She showed how the system responded (or didn’t respond) to those in need, how the displaced persons were characterized by city officials and what we learned from this advocacy effort.

Maura Mikulec leads the South County Homeless Task Force. She is a social worker who does volunteer street outreach in San Clemente.

Discussion of the film "Samaritan - The Mitch Snyder Story”.

Ryan Lenney led a discussion of the film "Samaritan - The Mitch Snyder Story." Made in 1986 and based on a true story, many of the issues raised in the movie still ring true today.

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