A national organization is coming to Indianapolis next year with a new take on advocacy for helping people experiencing homelessness.
It involves the power of storytelling.
The nonprofit Corporation for Supportive Housing wants to pair volunteer coaches — usually artists, writers or anyone else with experience in storytelling and advocacy — with people who have been homeless and now live in permanent supportive housing, which is housing that’s combined with services to help people maintain stability.
The goal is to give people with a lived experience of homelessness the skills they need to eventually go into advocacy or policy work.
The organization hosted a launch event for the Speak Up! series Monday at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.
“It’s a way of turning stories of resilience into stories of hope,” Lori Phillips-Steele, Indiana director for the organization, said to the room of housing advocates and potential volunteers.
Launch event for new group
Attendees heard from a panel of housing experts and people who were once homeless about the importance of permanent supportive housing.
Restee Johnson, a certified recovery specialist in Indianapolis, said he spent a lot of time at a men’s shelter before he found permanent supportive housing in 2019.
Johnson, 62, said he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and also has congestive heart failure. Homelessness, he said, was part of his life for more than 20 years — or, put another way, about a third of his life.
“In some cases,” Johnson said, “my bed was nothing more than a piece of cardboard to separate my body from the cold, hard concrete.”
Johnson said it was difficult to find housing because of fees he couldn’t afford and his criminal record. It was a housing advocate who helped him with the paperwork to move into permanent supportive housing.
“My finances are great,” he said of how far he’s come. “I no longer have to beg or panhandle in the streets, always looking for a handout.”
Now, come Jan. 6, Johnson will celebrate five years of sobriety.
A pitch for the power of storytelling
Guy-Jo Gordon, senior program manager, said the plan is to start the series in March.
The program will include two coaching sessions per month and culminate with a graduation in September or October.
Gordon said the organization will work with housing providers to find program participants who were formerly homeless.
The launch event, which doubled as a volunteer recruitment effort, gained the attention of Skye Couch, who told Gordon after the event to look out for her name in the applicant pool.
Couch, 41, said she was already familiar with the program, which also has been operating in Los Angeles for the last 10 years.
She is a mother of five and works as a consultant with organizations that serve youth.
“Being able to empower people and help them find their own light is my purpose in life,” she said. “I believe in the power of a story.”
Anyone interested in volunteering can apply online. The organization expects volunteers to contribute 10 hours per month.
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