Advocates for the homeless say there is a growing awareness around the issue of homelessness. Sonja Ellner is Director at the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality for the Fargo-Moorhead area and was leading a day-long Homeless 101 training event in Fargo. She says participation for the latest event was the strongest ever at more than 70-individuals…
“…the Sheltering Churches Project has really helped change people’s perspective. And they are starting to recognize homeless people not just as being homeless, but PEOPLE who are homeless. They are people FIRST, and kind of putting a face with the issue.”
Ellner says the Homeless 101 training started about three-years ago and provides a central point for individuals and organizations to meet and coordinate resources…
“…everyone kind of functions within their own little niche… the faith community and the service agencies; so this is a way where we do kind of touch edges of different areas and this is a way where we can all come together and talk the same language and be on the same page. The sheltering Churches Project—that's how a lot of the faith communities got involved -- helping shelter people who are homeless within their churches, and then they became interested in the larger issue of homelessness and how we can move away from emergency solutions and tackle affordable housing and some of those long term solutions for housing.”
Ellner says the training sessions can be informative and motivational. She says by discussing the various facets of homelessness the collective can come up with creative solutions to the on-going challenges related to homelessness.
