"Aren't you excited to see your colleagues again?"
This is how NHCHC 2021-2022 Board President Jacob Moody welcomed more than 900 attendees to the 2022 National Health Care for the Homeless Conference and Policy Symposium last month, the Council's first in-person conference since 2019. With four days of pre-conference institutes, main conference workshops, post-conference learning labs, and many opportunities for networking and advocacy, the spirit of excitement was definitely in the air.
Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, delivered the opening keynote address and asked, "Isn't it hilarious when the people with the most power are the scared ones?" She then added, "When the most powerful are the most scared, they're the most dangerous. Our systems have made people expendable, and they have used fear as a reason to make those people expendable. Why are we letting fear drive our policies?"
At the main conference rally, Kevin Lindamood, president and CEO of Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore, issued a challenge: "We can't end homelessness by ending homelessness. We've got to change the policies and practices and systems that are creating it faster than we can stop it. We have to guarantee access to housing as health care as fundamental human rights."
Council CEO Bobby Watts stressed fairness in his rally remarks. "It's not that we're asking for special privileges. We're asking for fairness -- that everyone have an opportunity to reach their full potential. Fairness. That is what we're about and that is what our people need. We shouldn't settle for anything less than simple fairness."
(Pictured above, left to right: Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance; Bobby Watts, CEO, National Health Care for the Homeless Council; Marc Dones, CEO, King County Regional Homelessness Authority; Arthur Rios Sr., Chair, National Consumer Advisory Board; Jacob Moody, President, NHCHC Board of Directors.)
