Is it possible to wipe out homelessness? Travis talks with Tamara Wright about the solutions to homelessness.  Tamara shares her provable ideas to solve the problem of homelessness in America and what Community Solutions is doing to make it happen.  

 

Conversation Highlights:  

{02:47} Introduction to “Community Solutions”.  

{03:41} Introduction to “Built for Zero”. 

{06:18} How do you start a conversation in the community?  

{09:38} How people connect with the organization.  

{13:27} What should be tracked?  

{19:55} How to explain the program to landlords. 

{22:01} The positive solution of guarantee rent.  

{24:56} The first step to getting happier, and healthier.  

{26:00} Firsthand experience stories.  

 

Remarkable quotes:  

 

You can hop in the river and pull someone out that's drowning, but if you go upstream and you can figure out why it is that they're falling in the river in the 1st place. 

Leave nobody behind and make sure that we have a racially equitable system in place.  

We're able to house more people than are entering the homelessness system. 

Have a childlike curiosity! 

Working together to make sure that people not only get housed but remain housed. 

The very basic bottom need is shelter 

Make sure that people are being taken care of and they're being handed off very warmly to the landlord.  

45 communities have achieved a measurable reduction in either chronic or veteran homelessness.  

 

Resources:  

https://www.facebook.com/cmtysolutions 

https://community.solutions/our-solutions/built-for-zero/ 

 

 

 Bio: Tamara Wright 

Systems Transformation Advisor 

As the Systems Transformation Advisor for Phoenix and Denver, Tamara focuses her energy on transformational change projects that will result in breakthrough reductions in Veteran homelessness in both Phoenix and Denver. Tamara has 13 years of experience working in the government sector both locally and federally, starting her career in Economic Vitality for the City of Scottsdale. in 2011, Tamara was accepted into the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship program when she began working as a Regional Coordinator for The Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veterans Families program. During her eight-year tenure at the VA, she helped pave the way for drastic reductions in Veteran homelessness in 13 communities in her region. Tamara currently serves as a board member for the Maricopa Association of Governments Continuum of Care, Chairs the Coordinated Entry Subcommittee, and participates in the Ending Veteran Homelessness workgroup in Phoenix, AZ. Tamara has a Bachelors's in Political Science, a Master’s in Public Administration, and a certificate in Counter-Terrorism from the Institute of Terrorism Research and Responses in Jerusalem, Israel. Tamara enjoys Broadway musicals, working out, and spending time with her adorable Siamese cat named Reznor. 

Community Solutions 

Our mission is to create a lasting end to homelessness that leaves no one behind. We envision a more equitable society where homelessness is never inevitable, inescapable, or a way of life. 

WHAT WE DO 

We don’t simply believe that all communities have the power to end homelessness — we work with the cities and counties making it a reality every day.  

Community Solutions is a nonprofit that leads Built for Zero, a movement of more than 80 cities and counties using data to radically change how they work and the impact they can achieve — and proving that it is possible to make homelessness rare and brief. A growing number of communities across the country are proving this is an achievable reality by reaching a milestone known as functional zero.  

In order to propel this movement to end homelessness up and over a tipping point, we are working with communities to solve the most persistent challenges that stand in the way. With rigor and data-driven solutions, we are working with communities to: prevent inflow into homelessness from happening in the first place; build and sustain homeless response systems that can continuously end, rather than manage, homelessness for populations across geography; and quickly deliver affordable housing that can close the housing gap. Together, we are proving that homelessness is solvable. 

 

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