Daniel Higgs, Peer Support Specialist with Partners in Housing, received a full scholarship to attend the 2023 National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day conference brings together service providers, system leaders, advocates, and people with lived experience of homelessness to learn from each other, discuss best practices, and share new innovations in the field. It was a whirlwind three days, but Daniel left the conference feeling deeply inspired.
“How can you come away from something so exhausted, but so energized and excited?” Daniel laughed. “The energy, the atmosphere, the inspiration... It was huge. I wish we had something like this for everything, for mental health, for reentry folks...”
In addition, this year’s conference featured the first in-person Capitol Hill Day since 2020. This day is an opportunity for conference-goers to engage with federal advocacy to help end homelessness. The Alliance encouraged everyone to participate, from front-line staff to lived experience advocates, from Continuum of Care leads to local and government officials.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness has further engaged individuals with lived experience with the addition of a Director of Lived Experience and Innovation to their team. Albert Townsend supports community leaders in developing and implementing the Alliance’s plan to partner with people with lived experience. Daniel expressed how excited he was to see so many lived experience advocates coming together in one space – at least one hundred individuals, if not more.
“I didn’t think things like this were possible for someone like me,” Daniel said. ”But it’s about the bigger picture. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about being the change I want to see in the world. I don’t want to just make a difference in people’s lives, I want to make a difference in the world.”
Partners in Housing congratulates Daniel on the full scholarship award and shares his excitement about the passion, innovation, and drive our community shares in its efforts to end homelessness.
This blog post is dedicated to Laura Marie DeLapp, and all other frontline workers who have passed in the service of improving the lives of vulnerable populations.