WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Live captioning by AI-Media 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:08.000 COURTNEY COOPERMAN: Hi, everyone, 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.000 welcome. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Welcome, welcome. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:16.000 Feel free to introduce yourselves with your name, 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.000 and where 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:25.000 you are calling in from in the chat. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:30.000 We will wait another minute or so 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.000 as people are coming in from the waiting room. I see 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 (unknown name) from Houston. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.000 And my chat is not scrolling, (unknown name) from Los Angeles. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.000 (unknown name) also from Los Angeles, (unknown name) from 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:53.000 and Sylvania. (unknown name) from Michigan, 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.000 Dr. (unknown name) from Georgia, welcome, 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.000 everyone. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.000 We've got the full 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.000 country represented here today. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000 We will wait another 30 seconds, or so, 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:18.000 . 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:22.000 Alright, 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:28.000 I think the waiting room is slowing down a bit. We have a lot of great 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000 content today so I'm going to get us started. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.000 I am Courtney Courtney Cooperman, I use she/her pronouns and the project 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 manager of NLIHC Our Homes, Our Votes campaign. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.000 I am so excited to have you here 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:47.000 for the six webinar in the 2024 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.000 webinar series, and our topic is voting well experience and 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:54.000 homelessness. You can feel free to continue to 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.000 introduce yourself in the chat, as we get started. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:02.000 I want to acknowledge this is our first webinar since the Supreme Court 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.000 handed down its ruling last Friday in the Grants Pass case 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.000 which allows jurisdiction to arrest and ticket on house people for sleeping 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.000 outside, even when adequate shelter or 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.000 housing is not available. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:18.000 We will dropper full statement to the chat 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:25.000 in the chat, and we are extremely 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.000 disappointed in the outcome of the case, and this makes the 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:50.000 Our Homes, Our Votes courts occur more critical. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.000 this gives cities the green light to punish people for sleeting outside 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.000 rather than correctly... We can show up at the ballot box to 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.000 ., 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.000 this fight is not really over, it's beginning, and webinar topic is 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:11.000 well-timed 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:16.000 to prepare us for the next steps which is to ensure that people experiencing 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 homelessness have a say in the policies that those directly affect their lives. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.000 I am personally feeling a sense of 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:24.000 heaviness, and anger 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 in the aftermath of Friday's ruling 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 but I hope that today's webinar will bring us some optimism and 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.000 a productive outlet to discuss how we build power 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:40.000 and I think that is really important in the context of this case. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:45.000 That brings me to where we are today, we are bringing together 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.000 three experts to discuss how people experiencing homelessness can make 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:53.000 their voices heard in the democratic process, and how advocacy organizations 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:56.000 and service providers can empower them to do so. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Our panel today will feature Dr Caitlin Krenn, 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:05.000 whose doctoral research at New York University creates a framework 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:08.000 for civic empowerment in shelters, Ashley Heidenrich of Michigan Coalition 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.000 Against Homelessness, 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:17.000 which is one of our NLIHC partners and one of our close partner on Our Homes, 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Our Votes, and Ken Williamson who leads the everyone votes campaign at the 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:27.000 National Alliance to End Homelessness. Before I turn it over to our panelists, 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:31.000 I will just start with, our usual housekeeping items. First, this webinar 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.000 is being recorded. The recording and the resources will be 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:40.000 posted on our website and the recording will be on the NLIHC 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.000 YouTube channel. We will also send it out in the next 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.000 edition of our Friday email newsletter, 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.000 the Connection, and we will not send it out this Friday because of the July 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:57.000 4 holiday, so you can look for it in our next edition of the Connection, the 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:00.000 following week. This webinar, we have closed captioner, 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.000 the key to the captioner for being here today. There's a lot of you on 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.000 here so we ask you ask questions using the Q&A future during the webinar. With 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:22.000 so many people attending it can be hard to catch questions in the chat, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.000 we are more likely to catch questions in the Q&A. In the chat, engage 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:31.000 thoughtfully and respectfully and live by the platinum rule, treat others the 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:37.000 way they want to be treated, even if it's great two different from the way 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.000 you want to be treated. I will give the reminder Our Homes, Our 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:46.000 Votes is 100% nonpartisan, meaning we do not endorse or favor specific 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.000 candidates or political parties. Our goal is to build the voting power 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.000 of low income people, so we can all hold elected officials accountable to 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.000 prioritize housing justice. With that, I will hand it over to 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:04.000 Kaitlyn to get us started. DR CAITLIN KRENN: Greetings, all, 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 good afternoon, as Courtney introduced my name is Caitlin Krenn, she/her/hers 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.000 pronouns, I am a recent graduate of 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.000 New York University and all of my work is surrounding the intersection of 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:18.000 housing insecurity and civic engagement, civic empowerment. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:26.000 I wanted to give everyone a little bit of history about how I came to find 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:30.000 this topic so fascinating and pertinent. As a practitioner, and then 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:35.000 transitioned back to school to move into the research space, and trying to 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.000 fill what I understood to be a void and a dearth of research around this 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.000 topic when it comes to the concrete 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000 , 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 in terms of the body of literature that exists about this matter. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Give me one quick moment to share 00:06:51.000 --> 00:07:00.000 a deck. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.000 Just to begin, 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.000 excuse me, 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:09.000 I have 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:14.000 – I am recovering from a cough, so excuse me if I am periodically a little 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:17.000 coughing. To give some background, 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.000 as I said, when the 2020 election was approaching, at the time, 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.000 I was the director of 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:28.000 – excuse me, I was overseeing multiple 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 shelters, tear to family shelters in Brooklyn. These were 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.000 family shelters that were 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.000 with the organization Women in Need, the largest provider of family shelter 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.000 services in New York City. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 During this time, I was having casual conversations with 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:51.000 our visits and learning about all 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.000 of the rampant misinformation and disinformation that was present in 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.000 shelters. And so, I made 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:02.000 – I wrote a proposal to the organization to see if we could do 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000 a civic empowerment 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:06.000 event, or perhaps multiple, or a series, or workshops, 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:11.000 whether it was with staff. I 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:16.000 kind of threw everything to the wall to see what would stick in terms of 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.000 wanting to do some kind of civic empowerment. Thankfully, they were open 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.000 to that and I was able to hold something 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 for that purpose. That became our civic engagement – day 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.000 of civic action, day of civic 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.000 engagement. We were able to hold this F-14 shelter 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:39.000 locations throughout the five boroughs. Just to give everyone a little bit 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.000 , 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.000 to show every body what it was, we settled all of the materials to all 14 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.000 of our locations with the required tabling 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.000 materials we felt were most necessary. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.000 We decided we wanted the day to be really all-encompassing, especially 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.000 given this was an 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:06.000 occurring in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:11.000 Not only did we want to have voter registration materials, we wanted to 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.000 have absentee ballot applications. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:18.000 I understand people are here from all over the country, so the laws in your 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 state may have been different around what was immediately available to 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.000 people, and when. But we wanted to be making sure we were 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.000 covering all of the bases. As well as that, we had poll worker 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:39.000 information, that was a payroll and paid position, and many of our 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:43.000 inhabitants were looking at 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:49.000 paid worker positions. We also had a subdivision of 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 developmentally appropriate voter engagement civic empowerment activities 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 for children. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:59.000 We had little voter booths for kids to go in and cast their vote for the 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:03.000 elephant or the donkey, and explaining why voting is important, 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:07.000 and we had some of our staff social workers working on those materials. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:10.000 Again, this is just some more 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.000 material about things we were suggesting to try to make the 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.000 engagement of it all fun and exciting. Again, we had candies, balloons, music, 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.000 modest festive table confetti, etc. And then we had 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:27.000 partnered with the 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.000 League of Women Voters to come to the shelter entering all of the folks on 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:37.000 site 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:40.000 about the process of voter registration. That is something we can 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.000 talk more about, but thinking about really actionable he moving forward 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.000 trying to create civic empowerment in the spaces you work within 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.000 , 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:57.000 I had a positive experience working with folks that do civic engagement as 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.000 their primary purpose, as an entity, and weaving it into 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:06.000 what makes the experience of housing insecurity so unique, 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.000 what makes the experience of voting and civic engagement unique while 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.000 experiencing housing insecurity. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:18.000 I am going to breeze through some of the problem articulation because odds 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.000 are if you are in the space 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.000 you are well aware of why housing insecurity and homelessness right now 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:29.000 is at its peak, and is extremely problematic. Something that I will 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:31.000 just_right here is under score right here, 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:42.000 there's a dearth of research on this matter, there is very little 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:47.000 academic research out there that has at least, has been published, that is 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:50.000 accessible. More now but during the time I was 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:55.000 initially beginning the work in 2020, there was much less. So, it was 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000 estimated about one third of people experiencing homelessness are 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:04.000 registered to vote and of that third there is a voting rate of around 10%. A 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:09.000 couple of things that define the work that I do, as the model was created, 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:14.000 the focus is a lot on the concept of intersectional oppression which focuses 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:18.000 on, as we know, statistical overrepresentation of certain groups of 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.000 folks 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.000 in the homeless community, whether it is shelter or unsheltered homelessness 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.000 , 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:29.000 and as we know these are often some of the very same groups that are 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:33.000 systematically left out of the process of civic engagement or the civic 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.000 process in general. As such, that is why this is that much 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.000 more remarkable, and that much more necessary for there to be empowerment 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.000 initiatives. That specifically pull these people and 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.000 these voices into the process. Especially given the lived expertise. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.000 that these folks harbor from their experiences and how useful 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:57.000 their voices are and can and should be, when it comes to 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:03.000 elected officials who will action immediately 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.000 will or will not work on these prioritize legislation and other 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:09.000 initiatives, budgeting, etc. That will be helpful. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.000 What my – 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:15.000 keeping an eye on the time, too, Courtney feel free to 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.000 give me a little minute or so, 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:26.000 I don't want to cut into anyone else's time but I will also be able to expand 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.000 on all of this more when it is my moment, when we are answering 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.000 questions. All this to say, 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:38.000 a lot of what my research focused on is the unique impact on our unhoused 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.000 neighbors. And so, the ways in which voter roll 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.000 purging, redistricting, Jerry mentoring 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:47.000 -- gerrymandering and undercounting in the census, that are 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.000 unhousesd. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:55.000 Voter roll purging happens after the redistricting process and this entails 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:58.000 people being purged in mass amounts, from the voter 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.000 rolls, and it's often a determinant 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:05.000 based on your 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.000 registered address, and of course, people who are 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:08.000 unhoused 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.000 may not have 1 Specific Pl. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:15.000 they are able to 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.000 – have been registered at consistently, let's say, since the 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:26.000 previous election. Redistricting in general, 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:35.000 when someone becomes transient, it becomes difficult. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:40.000 I am preaching to the choir, with this concern, and also undercounting in the 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.000 census is significant. Statistically speaking, areas that have 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:45.000 sheltered spaces, meaning shelters, literally, 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.000 and encampments, things like that, are typically areas that do not 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:55.000 receive as much 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.000 funding, resources, things like that, which is something that is allocated 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.000 based on the census representation, as well. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:05.000 Why is that? When the census happens, only once a 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:10.000 decade, those folks may not be there yet, as they are living transiently, 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.000 or, of course, people are not making the initiative, taking the initiative 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:19.000 to make sure that those people are properly counted or they are understood 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.000 as a body whether or not the 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:25.000 individuals are there. There may be two large shelters to each 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.000 other in Brooklyn, using this example from personal appearance, housing about 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:30.000 two dozen people, 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.000 but as far as the census is concerned, 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:37.000 no one lives there. That is why the street signs are 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:42.000 falling off the hinge, 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:47.000 why the traffic lights don't work, as well as in representation, and amount 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:51.000 of representation we have in various legislative bodies at all different 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.000 levels of government. Addressing this problem – these are 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.000 some voter registration interventions. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:57.000 My research was 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.000 participatory action in 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.000 tier 2 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:09.000 shelter, and what I was able to home from that is the things that we know 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:13.000 and understand, this is a part of the contribution to the literature. That 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:17.000 and advocates are working towards advocating for interventions of this 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.000 nature. There is something to buttress the 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.000 arguments that come from academic work. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.000 And so, automatic voter registration, of course, if there are people that are 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:32.000 registered as residing in a shelter, if they are able to be automatically 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.000 registered to vote from that location. There you go. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.000 Election Day voter registration, of course, EDR, 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:43.000 eliminating a lot of the hoops and deadlines that have to be thought of 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.000 when people are already dealing with so much layered adversity, that 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.000 this is not top of mind for them, at the moment. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:55.000 Nonpartisan efforts by shelters, which, of course, is why many 00:16:55.000 --> 00:17:00.000 of us are here today with notches shelters, but entities that work with 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.000 people that are housing educator 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.000 -- insecure. And extending pole hours. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.000 This has to do with the 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.000 demographic 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:08.000 of people that are 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:15.000 unsheltered, 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:21.000 longer jobs, lower wage jobs or hourly jobs, and jobs you do not get given the 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.000 luxury of time to go vote. Andy asked 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:31.000 -- Andy extension and codification of mail-in voting. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:35.000 Addressed to who the government has on the shelter census of living in our 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:38.000 location, that once again 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:50.000 11 eights headaches on people for having to move in on execution. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.000 Investment and citizen advocacy, building power, 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:57.000 stakeholder investment and collaboration, and concrete 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:01.000 logistics of access. I went through that quickly but I have 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:05.000 an eye on the time. This is an image that is an 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:06.000 articulation of 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:11.000 the model that was yielded, and I went through the four things, these are the 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:16.000 four circles here, and I'm happy to elaborate on any of them a little bit 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.000 more as we talk specifically about what interventions 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:24.000 in shelter can look like. I want to be respectful and yelled to 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:25.000 my fellow panelists. 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:30.000 If Courtney can tell me how much time I have, I will elaborate 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.000 as much as possible until my last second. COURTNEY COOPERMAN: 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.000 3 to 4 more minutes. DR CAITLIN KRENN: Fantastic. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:38.000 Making decent time. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:44.000 For me, who often is rather on the long-winded side. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.000 All this to say, concrete resources speaks for itself. 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:49.000 This often can look like 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:55.000 transportation to and from polling sites, 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.000 being made available, if you are a single mom with three children living 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:04.000 in shelter, it can be extremely difficult and a huge deterrent firm you 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:10.000 going if you have to lug a stroller and two toddlers on the subway, for example. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.000 Please forgive that's only my examples are pulled directly from New York City, 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.000 that's where my research was done but as everyone can 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:23.000 imagine, that's a translatable example to where you may find yourself in the 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:26.000 country. If this is a single mom residing 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.000 somewhere with periods to transportation. As well as that, 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:34.000 childcare is a tremendous barrier for families living in shelter, as well. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:40.000 For a lot of the same reasons, it's a lot easier if you can drop the kids for 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:45.000 half an hour to run to the polls, or perhaps longer, depending where you 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:50.000 live, and what voter engagement and what the voting systems look like and 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.000 how convoluted or deterred they may be. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 As well as that, things like metro cards, or otherwise 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.000 compensation for transit because sometimes people are very used to 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:05.000 traveling on the train or the bus with their kids, and they honestly do not 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:11.000 mind doing it, but it's more money to spend that they are trying to save so 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:16.000 that they can better their circumstance in terms of their living, if that is 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 what their goals are at that time. As well as that, educational 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.000 infrastructure, not just during the election cycle, but year-round and 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.000 weaving civic literacy into the natural pre-existing 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.000 case managerial structure that exists in shelters already. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.000 There's so many things that 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:35.000 we, social workers, I'm a social worker by training and profession, 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.000 but all of us who do 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:43.000 social work, and those of us working in the systems, who there is so much 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.000 psychoeducation and other education that happens during this work, why not 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:51.000 civic literacy? Why are we not talking why voting is 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.000 important? Why these specific voices are missing 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000 from democracy and why that is a problem. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.000 Why aren't we having those conversations, as we are having 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.000 conversations about health and all different kinds of ways? 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:06.000 Civic health is a big part of that. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.000 Again, I can elaborate on that more. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.000 Stakeholder investment in collaboration, once again, 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:14.000 during the election cycle as well as year-round. Not just 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.000 doing kind of the spurts of 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.000 exciting information sharing and events happening 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.000 at the time of the election cycle, but again, having these 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:26.000 things be regularly woven into the fabric of 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.000 the functionality of 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:28.000 a sheltered space. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:35.000 Again, 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.000 this in terms of stakeholder investment and collaboration, this can 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.000 be people, if you're working for a nonprofit, again, 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.000 like I said, I was working for the largest provider of shelter services in 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.000 New York City and our CEO was formerly the Speaker of the city Council. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 Unfortunately, just because of the nature of their work and their busy 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:01.000 schedule, them attending or being able to visit the shelters was very few and 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:07.000 far between, if at all, in my years being there, if I'm not speaking out of 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:12.000 term, and all of that to say, that is reflected in the level of engagement 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:17.000 and excitement people have in how invested they feel in people who make 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.000 big decisions and people have social capital. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.000 Very importantly, as we are talking about candidates for elected office, 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:28.000 candidates and electives, once they are here, if they are elected and 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.000 campaigning on a cam 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:34.000 platform of housing, this is something that should be prioritize. If there's 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:38.000 anybody that intimately understand and can advise, it's the people who have 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.000 paid the ultimate place are 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.000 and are trying to 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:47.000 find a place to live. 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.000 Building community power. During the election cycle as well as 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.000 year-round, and this means having community partners and community 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.000 messengers specifically people lived experiences, who understand why this is 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.000 important, and we have a very vast network, 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:06.000 we are very first unit in New York City, a vast network of formally 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.000 unsheltered folks who are 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:10.000 formally or on formally loud voices in 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:18.000 partner with these folks and understand 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:23.000 the importance of the voices leading the charge and being the loudest voice 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:28.000 in the room and the ways that benefits the likelihood of engagement and buy-in 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:36.000 from people who, like I said in the social work space, we talk often 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:41.000 about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When you have your basic human needs at 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:46.000 risk, at the moment, like shelter, food, health, etc., it makes hard to 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.000 prioritize registering to vote, nonetheless, when it makes demands in 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:53.000 order to do that. All that to say, having community 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:58.000 voices, having this being woven into the structure of 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:03.000 what we prioritize as a community, as a broader shelter community and having 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:07.000 it be understood from all different messengers, all different angles – 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.000 . 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:13.000 And there's a reason why I use the word empowerment more often unaware 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.000 engagement, because I do not believe that 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:20.000 it should be one-off or periodic engagements, I believe it should be an 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000 entire system is making sure people feel supported and empowered and 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.000 understand their value in this process. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:31.000 I hope that is a good 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:36.000 – I will end right there for now. Thank you, Courtney. COURTNEY 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.000 COOPERMAN: Thank you so much. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:43.000 So incredible to have this framework to have it all laid out, as this visual 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:47.000 and I always appreciate the emphasis on not just election cycle work, but 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.000 year-round and integration into existing activities. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.000 Really appreciate your research and taking the time to share your expertise 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:58.000 with us. We will have time for questions for the 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:02.000 full panel at the end. Please continue asking questions in the 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:05.000 Q&A. I will pass it over to Ashley. ASHLEY 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:12.000 HEIDENRICH: Thank you, Courtney. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:17.000 Hi, everybody, good afternoon. I am really happy to be here today. My 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.000 name is Ashley Heidenrich, and the project coordinator with the Michigan 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.000 Coalition Against Homelessness. I am really excited to come here and 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:30.000 talk to you today about some of the work that we have been doing throughout 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.000 Michigan, trying to register unhoused low income populations to raise 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:39.000 awareness of housing and homelessness as a voting issue. I will talk a bit 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:45.000 about our work and some tips and tricks for you, as you plan to do some of the 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:51.000 same work in your own state, hopefully. I will start off with a little bit 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:54.000 about our organization, MCAH for short. Week service inclusive statewide voice 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:58.000 to improve systems and support communities and prevent and end 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:02.000 homelessness in a way that leaves nobody behind. Next slide, please. How 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:07.000 we achieve this mission is we are a statewide number ship organization and 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.000 we empower over 600 Michigan homelessness service agencies and other 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:15.000 services and grassroots agencies. We don't do direct service, but we 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.000 serve as a lobbying and education organization, in Michigan, and into 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:23.000 advanced housing justice and make and a homelessness a shared priority for all 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.000 Michiganders. We do this through our state and 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.000 federally displayed of pedicle -- advocacy, 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.000 public awareness, education and training, 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:35.000 states H MIS data system to help homeless service 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:40.000 agencies 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.000 and the people they serve operate more effectively and to help the entire 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.000 state of Michigan collect data on homelessness. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.000 We support organizations through volunteer 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.000 opportunities and we have an authentic engagement division where we assist, 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000 train and compensate on the work of advocates 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.000 with live experience and make sure their voices are 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:06.000 really front and center in all of the work that we do, particularly for 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.000 advocacy. Next slide, please. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.000 We are really proud to be partners of the national income coalition 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:15.000 , our homes, our votes, campaign 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:20.000 's estate partner. This is a really big part of the work 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.000 that I do and addition to advocacy. Some of our work includes directly 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:28.000 hosting voter registration and education events across the state 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:32.000 at shelters and supportive housing in low income housing properties. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.000 We will talk about this a little later, but we also run this candidate 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:42.000 surveys, centered on homelessness, to try to elevate the issues and 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.000 campaign and voting priorities in Michigan we run communications in a 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:50.000 voting resource website and also put on training for housing and homeless 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.000 service providers so they can do all of the voter education and training work 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:58.000 themselves. We are really centered on this mission 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:02.000 of, as Caitlin was talking about, how only 9 to 10 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.000 % of un-host -- unho 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:05.000 sused -- un 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.000 housed 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.000 voters vote 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:13.000 , 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:18.000 and this is important to elevate the voters voice of those that are housing 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:22.000 insecure. I will talk about how we got started 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.000 with the work and talk about the states -- 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.000 the steps you can take to do similar events 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:33.000 like this yourself. The number one thing to get started 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.000 with his identifying your state rules. Nationwide, 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:36.000 not having a permit 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000 address does not discount some buddy from voting, 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:42.000 but the variety of different and state laws, 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:47.000 and issues with ID and department and address requirements 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:51.000 . 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:55.000 This hold a lot of people back from voting. Whatever capacity you are 00:28:55.000 --> 00:29:02.000 involved in this work, know the state laws in and out. It can get 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:07.000 ... 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:13.000 Given my with the info I'm sharing is Michigan, to give you an idea of what 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:17.000 to look for. I will share some resources towards the 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:22.000 end where you can look for all of these roles in your own state. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:27.000 The key things you want to look for are the key dates and deadlines for 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:30.000 registration and voting. You want to look at registration 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.000 eligibility, when you're talking about unhoused voters, the two biggest things 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:39.000 you want to look at our address requirements and ID requirements, also 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:44.000 looking towards accessibility to those who do not have English as a first leg 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:48.000 with your disabilities, and also voting with a criminal record because every 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:51.000 state has different regulations around that. Next slide, please. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:57.000 To vote in Michigan or anywhere in the US, you have to be a US citizen, 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:01.000 and a Michigan you have to be a resident of Michigan 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:05.000 For 30 days, be 18 years old, and individual criminal convictions 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:07.000 including felonies or probation or 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:14.000 parole are eligible to vote in Michigan. We have some education 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:18.000 materials to voting events, so people are aware of the changes. Something 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:23.000 else great about Michigan as we have same-day registration and we recently 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:27.000 have added nine days of early registration. Next slide, please. 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.000 Next I will talk a little bit about address. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.000 This is a really important consideration when you're looking at 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.000 voters who are unhoused. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:43.000 In most states, he will have two things you need to fill out 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.000 on voter registration application, both a permanent address and a mailing 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:48.000 address. Permanent address establishes where 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:51.000 your vote, 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.000 that's where your ballot where your voting for, and permanent address does 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.000 not have to be a traditional address, 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:03.000 which is something we like to stress in Michigan. It can be so where you 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:08.000 typically stay, a park or a campground, a shelter, or even across the streets, 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:15.000 as long as this is the town or the area that you usually are in, you are 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:20.000 good to go for a permanent address. The next thing you need to provide 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.000 which can be the same or different is your mailing address. Your mailing 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:29.000 address is somewhere you can reliably receive mail, and it doesn't have to be 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:33.000 a permanent, traditional address, either. Election information and if you 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:39.000 choose to vote be a -- via mail and ballot it can be this address. This can 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:44.000 be a shelter service agency, if they receive mail for you, it can be a PO 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:49.000 Box or a friend or family's residence. Next slide, please. The next really 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:52.000 important consideration for unhousd voters is ID. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.000 For the registration process in Michigan, a lot of people don't realize 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:00.000 you don't have to have an ID to register. There are different 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:05.000 considerations for online versus paper registration, and this is an area in 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.000 your state you want to get familiar with election law. We find in Michigan 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000 it's helpful to register unhoused voters with paper registration because 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:17.000 you can register with just the last four digits of the Social Security 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:24.000 number, or you can check a box and see the form here that you do not have a 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:28.000 drivers license, or personal ID. To take another step out of the process 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:33.000 for people, it is OK in Michigan for agencies and nonprofits to mail the 00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:37.000 applications on behalf of the people filling out. This tends to take another 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:43.000 barrier out of the way, another step out of the way for people who might be 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:46.000 experiencing some difficulties. Next slide, please. The next step is 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:51.000 figuring out what type of ID people need to vote in your state. In 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:55.000 Michigan, another interesting component of our election law is that when you go 00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:00.000 to a valid -- ballot, people – the election clerk or poll worker will 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:06.000 asked to show ID, but you actually do not need to show ID. You can tell the 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:11.000 poll worker, "I do not have an ID." You signed an affidavit and your vote is 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:16.000 help -- going to be counted. It's all to understand the types of ID, 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.000 and in Michigan there's 10 different types of ID you can submit. Next slide, 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:23.000 please. Last, you want to consider 00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:27.000 accessibility for people with disabilities, or people who do not have 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:32.000 English as their first language. Here, voters who are blind, 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:36.000 have disability for the translation support, can bring anybody except for 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.000 their employer to the polls to do translation, disability accommodations 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:42.000 and all polling places have at least one voting 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.000 terminal where voters can remain seated. The website has some translated 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.000 voter applications. Next slide, please. I just went through 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:53.000 a lot of different information, so if you want to figure out 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:58.000 in your own state what all the election laws are, I really recommend 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:04.000 going to C -- VOTE411 website. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:09.000 They will tell you about what voters without traditional addresses can do in 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:13.000 your state, under eligibility requirements, and will tell you about 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:17.000 all the ID laws in your state. The Secretary of State website will 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:22.000 have this information you're welcome to call and email your local election 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:25.000 office and clerk. If you run an agency, you were also 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:30.000 able to bring your local cloak into talk to your residence, or anybody that 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.000 you serve about 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:36.000 election laws in your town. You can also use Turbo About, and the 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:41.000 US interagency Council on homelessness has some great one pagers on the website 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:45.000 so service providers can get started on this work. Next slide. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.000 I will talk more about some of the event planning considerations 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:54.000 we use here, and some tips to help make your event successful. Next slide, 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:57.000 please. First a list of what we usually bring 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:00.000 two events. We like to have online 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:03.000 and paper registration, so for some online registration, 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:09.000 this is nice because if you register people online, and also check to see 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:14.000 what their address is, if they are registered already. A lot of people, if 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:17.000 they moved recently, or live transiently, 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:21.000 this is something that is really helpful. Again, the paper registration 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:24.000 is key. Bring along any educational materials 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:27.000 you have. We like to make sure our events are 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.000 accessible people have had a chance to sit 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.000 and take time with applications. Bring information on local candidates 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:38.000 in doing education about local ballot initiatives, it also goes a long way 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:44.000 for people who are not sure exactly what is on the ballot, and also for 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:48.000 people if they are a little bit disenchanted with the voting process, 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.000 and don't feel like candidates are really representing them, talking a 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:57.000 little bit more about what is at stake in what is on ballot initiatives, 00:35:57.000 --> 00:36:00.000 especially since many ballot initiatives relate to housing and 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000 homelessness. This is really important. Bring sample 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:07.000 ballots along to help people think about what is on the ballot and how to 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:11.000 fill it out is aboard, and I also say don't come empty-handed. Bring snacks, 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:15.000 drinks, swag, to get people to the table and feel comfortable. Especially 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.000 for people experience and homelessness, a snack and go a long way, brightening 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:22.000 someone's day and making them feel comfortable. Next slide. Some are tips 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:26.000 for successful events is meet people where they're at, be possible in 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:30.000 creative where you are hosting the events and find setting for people to 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.000 have many full conversations. Events have been 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:38.000 held at shelters in mealtimes, where people can sit and chat and engaging we 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:40.000 can listen to their stories and perspectives 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:43.000 and it sometimes works better than going to community resource fairs were 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:47.000 people are in and out very quickly tried to get resources. Even those 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:50.000 can be nice places to reach people as well. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:53.000 Be available to problem solve, and stay nonpartisan. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:58.000 Partnerships are really key in this work, 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:02.000 nobody could do it alone. Direct service providers, advocates, we 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:04.000 have to work together 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:08.000 for homeless service agencies wanted to get started for the work, it's 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.000 simple to partner with your county and city clerks, 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:15.000 partners with volunteers, rideshare groups, advocates, and you do not have 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:20.000 the capacity to do this work on your own. Vice versa, for advocates to 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:25.000 partner with organizations that do this work on the ground. Next slide, please. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:30.000 Last, a little bit of information about how to educate and amplify voting 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:33.000 information for unhoused voters. Next slide. 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:37.000 For spreading awareness, the best people to spread awareness are experts 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:42.000 themselves, people lived experience. On our website we are happy that we 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:54.000 have here investors that share why they vote, and also 00:37:54.000 --> 00:38:00.000 we partner with groups and train them to do this work. And always 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:03.000 amplify on social media and communications on your website. Next 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:04.000 slide. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:10.000 This is my last slide, and just one other idea of something that you can do 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.000 to promote housing and homelessness as a voting issue. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:18.000 Here we distribute candidate position service, and I will send this out for 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:24.000 anybody interested in what questions we use but we sent out a survey to all of 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:28.000 our national and state congressional candidates, to ask them, what did they 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:34.000 think about closing and homelessness? What programs are they aware of? 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:39.000 We have the school from one of our congressmen, talking but how we 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:47.000 actually had experiences himself with housing instability and homelessness, 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:48.000 that we know 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:53.000 . 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:55.000 - 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:56.000 We can help highlight 00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:01.000 the answers 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:06.000 on how they really feel on these issues. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:11.000 That is it for me. Excited to join the Q&A. The key for 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:13.000 having me. JOE CONNY: Thank you, and 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:19.000 congratulation -- COURTNEY COOPERMAN: 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:24.000 Thank you, and congratulations on the work you are doing, and we will circle 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:29.000 back to you after Ken. I will pass it to Ken. KEN WILLIAMSON: 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.000 Thank you, Courtney. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.000 My name is Ken Williamson, I am a program and policy analysis 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.000 , on the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Next slide. 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:41.000 Couple introductory slides here. 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:47.000 I am here today to talk about 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:50.000 the Alliance campaign, Every One Votes, it's a nonpartisan 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.000 initiative started by 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:56.000 the National Alliance to End Homelessness to ensure that people who 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:57.000 are at risk 00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:01.000 of or are currently experiencing homelessness have the opportunity 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:04.000 to have their voices heard at the ballot box. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:09.000 Why do we do this? 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:13.000 For three different reasons, really. First, the alliance believes that the 00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:15.000 right to vote is fundamental. Specifically, that 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.000 anyone in our nation should 00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:22.000 not be hindered by 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:26.000 the housing status to vote. Second, 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:30.000 voting is a racial justice issue. I think Caitlin did a great job 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:33.000 of explain the numbers behind that, 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:35.000 and that people 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:37.000 of color are overrepresented in 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:41.000 the homeless population. 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.000 We have responsible 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:50.000 to ensure that this does not stand, and 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.000 we can address that responsibility by supporting and encouraging our clients 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:58.000 to access and exercise the rights to participate in civic life. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:01.000 Finally, a boat is about. We talk about 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:03.000 -- a vote is a vote. 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:12.000 One place where everything is equal is voting. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:16.000 A rich person's vote has the same weight as someone experiencing economic 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:20.000 hardship, and this is where truly everyone's voice can be heard. Next 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:22.000 slide. This is not just about 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000 federal elections. 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000 Certainly, federal elections are important to ensure state and local 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:29.000 governments 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:34.000 have the resources they need to assist those at risk, who are experience in 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:38.000 homelessness, state and local governments also have a huge impact on 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:41.000 people's lives. Courtney has mentioned the grandpa's 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:46.000 decision, -- 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:50.000 grant past decision, and state and local governments will have more 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:51.000 importance than other. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:55.000 Your clients really need to be heard more than ever. 00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:00.000 Going forward, I think a lot of these 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.000 will be played out on that battlefield. 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:07.000 Next one. 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:10.000 Let me go in some of the 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:13.000 gist of what where we are at. Homeless service providers 00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:15.000 can help clients vote. 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:21.000 One of the things we have done in our research is 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:24.000 did not know they could do this work, and 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.000 one of the things I think that 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:32.000 the great work that National Low Income Housing Coalition has done is 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:35.000 really inform people about 00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:42.000 they can do that, 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:47.000 you'd ensure that register people to vote, helping your clients vote, is not 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:50.000 a partisan activity. That has been talked about over and 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.000 over again between Ashley and Caitlin, and Courtney, the federal government 00:42:54.000 --> 00:43:03.000 is put enough official 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:07.000 position as well, to permit Housing and Urban Development, anti-United 00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:09.000 States interagency Council homelessness, have both issued guidance 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:13.000 on how homeless service writers can assist clients with voting, and 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:18.000 specifically with HUD, the issue is that PHA can engage in voter 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:21.000 registration, public housing property. While also allowing public housing 00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:25.000 sites to be used as the polling location. There is 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.000 guidance on how service providers can implement voting, educational outreach, 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.000 so federal policy is, officially as 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:34.000 backing up what we have been saying. 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:36.000 People who are experiencing homelessness to 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:41.000 -- do 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:47.000 go through barriers that many of us do not face. A lot of that has been talked 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:52.000 about through Caitlin already, 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:57.000 lack of permanent address. This is where you need to be aware of 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:02.000 where your state and local laws are, and Michigan seem to have some pretty 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.000 good laws regarding that, as actually indicated, but not all states do, but 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:13.000 you have to be aware of what is allowed and what is not allowed. 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:16.000 Systemic disenfranchisement, and states are passing laws that are 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:20.000 hindering abilities of people's access to the polls. Limited access to 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:23.000 candidates and issues. Obviously, when you're going through 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:26.000 housing and security, you are going to be 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:31.000 – 00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:36.000 they are not going to be able to get the same information as people who have 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.000 access to regular new sites, newspapers, wherever you get the news 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:42.000 from, but have built up--. 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:47.000 Being able to educate and being able to get that kind of information is 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:50.000 paramount. Unfamiliarity of where and when to vote. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:53.000 Clearly, 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:59.000 because of your lack of residence, you may not be able to get the updates 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:00.000 . 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.000 If you do register, on where exactly the polling location is, this is 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:06.000 something they need existence with 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:09.000 assistance with. And lack of transportation to the 00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:12.000 polls, if you're not able to get to the site, 00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:17.000 and be able to assist in getting to the site is key. 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:20.000 Taking all of that into account, we created that 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.000 Every One Both Toolkits. 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:28.000 This is easy to use for organizations working to regular people experiencing 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.000 homelessness. 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:35.000 It provides easy-to-use tips for how to create and plan support people 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.000 expressing homelessness, through all parts of the voting process. 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:44.000 This is a great tool to complement for the resources, Our Homes, Our Votes 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:47.000 campaign has provided. It really is 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:51.000 focused on people experiencing homelessness. Next slide. 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:55.000 Everyone Votes Toolkit. 00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:00.000 Basically has three tenets to it, make sure you have the information you need 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:02.000 to develop a plan. 00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:06.000 This was mentioned by other presenters, this comes down to knowing 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:07.000 your process for 00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:10.000 registering folks in your state, knowing state ordinances, 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:13.000 that will come into play. 00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:15.000 Then register your client to vote. 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:18.000 A huge step 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:21.000 to begin the process. Again, 00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:28.000 knowing the laws there would be really helpful as far as 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:33.000 where you can use a permanent address, things of those lines. In getting out 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:36.000 the vote by engaging with client early and option. 00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:40.000 The get out the vote effort knows continued contact with clients is the 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.000 best way to get them to the pool. -- 00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:47.000 poll. 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:53.000 The toolkit contains information to 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:57.000 organizations to educate themselves on the voters registration. Assisting 00:46:57.000 --> 00:46:59.000 clients with registering to vote. 00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:02.000 Organization the Geo TV effort. Helping clients comply with 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:03.000 the requirements 00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:06.000 . 00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:13.000 This goes back to different states have a different ID requirements, and 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:17.000 unfortunate one size does not fit all here. Education preparing clients on 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:23.000 what to expect either with early voting or at the polls, and that is just 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:28.000 making sure that clients are aware of in the process of going through and 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:31.000 making them feel as comfortable as possible. Next slide. 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:33.000 We have pro tips 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:36.000 that we put in our toolkit that 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:39.000 I'm going to illustrate a few of them here, 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:41.000 that I have listed here. 00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:43.000 We understand that service agencies 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:44.000 very much have 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:45.000 staffing issues, 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:51.000 and so 00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:55.000 I think actually talked about this, using volunteers and interns to help 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.000 manage voter engagement to relief staff. This is key, but also 00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:02.000 engage with partner providers in your area 00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:07.000 and I think League of Women Voters is the most prominent one, but another 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:11.000 good partner is your local board of elections. My hometown of Cleveland, 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:14.000 Ohio, we have a very active board of elections. 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:19.000 They send their community people everywhere to help people get out and 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:24.000 vote, to engage, and they can be a good partner for you, as well. 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:27.000 Discussing your local election office, as a possibility for 00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:32.000 using your organization as a polling site. This is obviously the best way to 00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:36.000 go to ensure people who are housing distressed can have access to 00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:39.000 polls. It makes it less stressful for them. 00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:43.000 This one particularly for shelters has been 00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:49.000 waiting any curfew or waiting in line practices on election day or replacing 00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:53.000 with tickets or shelter reservations to eliminate stress and disincentives 00:48:53.000 --> 00:48:56.000 to vote. A lot of 00:48:56.000 --> 00:49:02.000 shelters for a per night basis, when the next morning comes around, a lot of 00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:04.000 shelters will clear out the beds 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:09.000 to do cleaning and things along those lines, and get ready for the next day. 00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:13.000 Obviously, if they're going out to vote, this can be distressful. 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:18.000 Really try to eliminate the stress for the clients, and 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:23.000 we don't want to give any disincentives to vote. 00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:26.000 Also, along with the toolkit, we also have provided 00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:30.000 everyone votes one pagers. 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.000 This covers the basis that I've talked about, 00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:36.000 but more along this one-page information sheets 00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:40.000 . 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.000 Again, this goes back to developing a plan with staff and volunteers, tips 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:49.000 for reducing staff workload, gathering the information your clients will need, 00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:52.000 dues and don'ts of registering your clients about, encouraging your clients 00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:56.000 to vote, and two ways to educate clients on 00:49:56.000 --> 00:49:58.000 candidates and issues. 00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:01.000 These are some basic ways 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:05.000 , 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:11.000 if you are strong in one area, and not strong at another, these can be helpful. 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:18.000 Next slide. Wrapping up, simply, 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:22.000 everything I told you but, we can find on this website,@homelessness.org 00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:27.000 , everyone votes, we have 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:30.000 a stake in the election. Don't forget to vote 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:39.000 , don't forget to 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:43.000 national voter registration day, on September 17. You hear Courtney talk 00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:47.000 about this all the time. I want to thank the National Low Income 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:52.000 Housing Coalition for being such a great partner, and we look forward 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:57.000 to working together on this election. I will wrap it up, thank you very much 00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:02.000 what a COURTNEY COOPERMAN: Thank you so much, Ken, and I encourage everybody to 00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:06.000 check out the resources from everyone votes. They are very informative. That 00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:12.000 will invite all of the panels to come back on. We will do a rapidfire, as 00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:16.000 many questions as possible. We got a great question from Peter, as 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:21.000 we are thinking about empowering our guests to become advocates, how do we 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:25.000 recognize the trauma of people experience homelessness have faced in 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:30.000 the process of encouraging them to take an active role in public policy? KEN 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.000 WILLIAMSON: Can you repeat the question? CORAZON AMADA: How do we 00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:36.000 recognize the trauma people experiencing homelessness face when 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:39.000 encouraging them to take an active role 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:45.000 in public policy? 00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.000 I think this came up in Caitlin's presentation. DR CAITLIN KRENN: This is 00:51:49.000 --> 00:51:53.000 a phenomenal question and I don't want to buy any means 00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:59.000 feel as if I am answering it lightly or dismissively, because this is a lot 00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:04.000 of gravity to this matter. At the same time, I think that that is 00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:08.000 a great way that you put it, how do we acknowledge? 00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:13.000 I always say to staff into teams, naming it. Naming that, and validating 00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:17.000 that, and saying, "Given your experiences, as it relates directly to 00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:21.000 you residing here with this present moment, and perhaps even various layers 00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:26.000 of adversity, think you have experience in your life, why would you? I get it." 00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:30.000 And validating that, and saying, "This process is largely extremely 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:33.000 challenging. Broken. In many ways, and believe it or 00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:38.000 not, we are trying to – this is an attempt at trying to 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:43.000 put small bricks or stones together that are fixing a bit of a broken 00:52:43.000 --> 00:52:44.000 system." If you will. 00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:49.000 I am somebody that as a licensed clinician, I am very comfortable having 00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:51.000 these conversations and very comfortable validating people's 00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:55.000 negative experiences, and then trying to work 00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:58.000 through this via strategies like things such as motivational 00:52:58.000 --> 00:53:02.000 interviewing and finding out, what animates this person to make a change 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:10.000 in her life? How do you activate? 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:16.000 Why I self locate like that is to say, if you do have people who that is there 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:20.000 work and expertise, if you do have licensed social workers, 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:25.000 if you have licensed mental health counselors, if you have people or any 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.000 upper variety of people in the helping professions where in some manner of 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:34.000 speaking, where having people doing their job, Isaiah 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:38.000 myself I'm a professional difficult conversation however, and making sure 00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:43.000 these people are part of that. We often don't think as 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:46.000 clinicians as things that 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:50.000 – my people that don't need to bring 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:58.000 in on these macro levels, we don't always think about clinicians 00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:01.000 as being partners in this, quitting about clinicians doing the very 00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:05.000 individualized psychoanalytic or psychoanalytic work, 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.000 -- psychodynamic work, the people who have been perpetually disenfranchised 00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:12.000 throughout their entire lives and perhaps even long before their lives, 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:18.000 this could have been an inter-destination 00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:21.000 two intergenerational Justin prioritize met, depending on who we are 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:25.000 talking about, as an individual. Try to convince them this is worth 00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:31.000 their time and energy, is very much so embedded in the individual and it is 00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:34.000 very psychoanalytic, very psychodynamic. I would say, having the 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:38.000 conversations is difficult, so seek guidance from the people who work with 00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:42.000 your organization, to motivate in animated clients or residents or 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:46.000 guests, to do anything, for that matter, to job hunt, house hunt, to 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:50.000 look for an apartment, to come and meet you 00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:55.000 for a meeting, who are the people you are deploying to have the difficult 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:57.000 conversations when you're being met with barriers? 00:54:57.000 --> 00:55:02.000 Partner with them because this is one of the most import times where they 00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:06.000 will be needed to have a difficult conversation. That is something 00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:11.000 Courtney and I have talked about as well, trying to find spaces where I can 00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:15.000 even perhaps contribute to providing guidance on what those conversations 00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:18.000 even look like. Stay tuned for more of that, and as 00:55:18.000 --> 00:55:24.000 well as that, I will put my information in the chat. I'm happy to provide any 00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:27.000 guidance or support. Again, the experts in-house with you, 00:55:27.000 --> 00:55:32.000 or in partnership with you are probably the best to help you understand your 00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:36.000 population the best in your community the best. Having that dialogue with 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:41.000 them about how do we – I always say, the first step is seeing people. 00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:45.000 The first step is validation and acknowledgment of Eli, "Yeah, this 00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:49.000 process is really challenging. You not wanting to engage with the now, 00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:51.000 I get a. it. 00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:57.000 Are you open to us discussing this a little bit more, so I can expand to you 00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:02.000 why I am here on my knees? Can I explain to this deal, my friend?" 00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:06.000 I hope this was awful. I'm happy to continue this conversation. 00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:12.000 -- I hope this was helpful. I'm happy to continue this conversation. 00:56:12.000 --> 00:56:16.000 COURTNEY COOPERMAN: Thank you, I'm going to live two questions together, 00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:18.000 one from Chris 00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:20.000 and reset. How can shelter providers and other 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:26.000 organizations help with ballot 00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:31.000 curing processes? How do you deal with 00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:34.000 polling place changes for those who are registered to vote? 00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:38.000 I will open that up to whoever would like to take 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:45.000 it. 00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:48.000 I don't want to put Ashley on the spot, 00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:54.000 but I know there have been changes in laws on 00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:58.000 around voting in Michigan. Can you speak a little bit about how 00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:03.000 you have educated people about those changes? I think that will speak to the 00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:06.000 question. ASHLEY HEIDENRICH: Past couple years we 00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:10.000 have had a lot of big changes in Michigan, a lot of redistricting 00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:15.000 and changes in election law, so that is where shelter providers, housing 00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:18.000 providers department. To do that education with their 00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:20.000 clients. The stuff can get complicated sometimes 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.000 so I always really recommend especially when talking about granular level, 00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:28.000 about redistricting changes, and local changes, is to contact your county or 00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:32.000 city clerk. They are the ones that are going to be 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:36.000 the expert on that. They can come into your property and 00:57:36.000 --> 00:57:41.000 talk with registrants, too. That's a nice way to get people involved 00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:45.000 and not have to add a lot to your workload. COURTNEY COOPERMAN: Thanks. 00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.000 Another question for Ashley, you have two questions around the candidate 00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:53.000 questionnaires. One is, can you speak to had to provide 00:57:53.000 --> 00:57:56.000 information on initiatives and candidates that is not biased? Second, 00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:00.000 are the results of the questionnaires made public? ASHLEY HEIDENRICH: Yes, 00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.000 great questions. It's really important for us to stay 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:07.000 unbiased, nonpartisan. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so we can 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:11.000 do education, advocacy around policy issues. But we cannot endorse any 00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:13.000 specific candidate or fever them. 00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:21.000 With the way the candidate engagement survey works, 00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:26.000 we send it to everyone regardless of their party, we give everyone the same 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:30.000 chance to respond to the questions, and we publish the 00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:34.000 results exactly what the candidate says. We don't alter or publish more 00:58:34.000 --> 00:58:39.000 results for one party than the other. We just publish what they say. 00:58:39.000 --> 00:58:44.000 We share this with the public. If we are working in a shelter setting, 00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:49.000 or doing a voter registration event, we will tailor that interest share the 00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:53.000 local answers for the candidates in their area. What was the second 00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:56.000 question? I don't know if I can answer that, too. 00:58:56.000 --> 00:58:59.000 With public. COURTNEY COOPERMAN: Yes. The second 00:58:59.000 --> 00:59:01.000 part. ASHLEY HEIDENRICH: I links that in 00:59:01.000 --> 00:59:06.000 check, as well, but I 00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:15.000 can drop my email, if there's any questions about how we do the survey. 00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.000 COURTNEY COOPERMAN: We will take one more question, we will run overtime, so 00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:24.000 if anybody needs to hop off, I understand. How should we be thinking 00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:29.000 about in the context of grants passed versus Johnson's? I will open that up 00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:33.000 to everyone. KEN WILLIAMSON: I will tackle that love. 00:59:33.000 --> 00:59:36.000 This is 00:59:36.000 --> 00:59:41.000 what I touch on my presentation and I will touch on two more, 00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:47.000 the Supreme Court basically giving, 00:59:47.000 --> 00:59:51.000 and I think Courtney has mentioned this as well, is getting all these 00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:56.000 locals and state governments the ability to be able to pass these 00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:59.000 punitive ordinances. Now 00:59:59.000 --> 01:00:01.000 the battle is down to the 01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:03.000 state or local 01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:06.000 government legislatures, or city councils. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:10.000 Those elections become extremely important. 01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:18.000 One of the things that when we sort of talk about 01:00:18.000 --> 01:00:23.000 client education, information, letting them know what is at stake on each of 01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:28.000 these elections, because in partially a lot of these ordinances are going to be 01:00:28.000 --> 01:00:33.000 popping up all over, and is not really partisan. We have folks on both sides 01:00:33.000 --> 01:00:37.000 of the aisle, who are both passing these punitive ordinances. 01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:39.000 It is really incumbent on 01:00:39.000 --> 01:00:40.000 us, and service providers, 01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:42.000 and all of us, 01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:46.000 to educate everybody, not just 01:00:46.000 --> 01:00:50.000 people who are experiencing homelessness, but everybody, on these 01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:54.000 issues and the importance of being able to bring in candidates 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:55.000 or elect candidates 01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:58.000 who believe in not punishing people just because 01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:01.000 they are facing housing insecurity. 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:05.000 Courtney, I don't know if you have anything to add onto that, 01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:08.000 with the coalition, as well. COURTNEY COOPERMAN: That summarizes 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:14.000 it perfectly, and there will be a lot of follow-up coming from us in the 01:01:14.000 --> 01:01:18.000 aftermath of the decision. I encourage you to keep an eye on our 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:23.000 email list, into kidney -- and to continue to attend the webinar. We are 01:01:23.000 --> 01:01:26.000 admitted over, I want to thank 01:01:26.000 --> 01:01:32.000 the panelists. I usually do 01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:38.000 announcement at the end of the call, I will go through all of them, but 01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:43.000 there's one less time sensitive that I need to share. We encourage becoming a 01:01:43.000 --> 01:01:46.000 community partner for national voter registration take, which can reiterated 01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:49.000 and I appreciate. National voter registration date just 01:01:49.000 --> 01:01:52.000 made event many grants available for community partners. 01:01:52.000 --> 01:02:02.000 One of the deadlines is on July 18, I believe. 01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:04.000 Another grant is 01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:07.000 specifically for Native, 01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:10.000 native American, or Pacific Islander. 01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:14.000 This is due July 11, 01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:18.000 and we drop a link to the 01:02:18.000 --> 01:02:20.000 those. 01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:22.000 A community partner is 01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:31.000 available to be 01:02:31.000 --> 01:02:36.000 considered for the grant, Alec was put in a check, and feel free to contact 01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:43.000 about national voter registration datay or anything on this call. 01:02:43.000 --> 01:02:49.000 The next one is Monday July, 15th, at 2:30 PM. The topic will be voter 01:02:49.000 --> 01:02:50.000 transportation. 01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:53.000 We will 01:02:53.000 --> 01:02:56.000 also 01:02:56.000 --> 01:02:58.000 screenshot questions to follow-up with people, 01:02:58.000 --> 01:03:03.000 so that 01:03:03.000 --> 01:03:08.000 the questions can be asked of the panelists. Thank you so much for being 01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:11.000 here, and your insightful contributions. 01:03:11.000 --> 01:03:17.000 We will have the webinar open for another minute for me to take all of 01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:47.000 the screenshots, but feel free to hop off as you are ready. 01:04:28.000 --> 01:04:30.000 Alright, thank you so much, 01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:34.000 we are good to go. The key panelist for your insides, and 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:39.000 I may be