San Diego City College Class Trains Homeless Services Workforce

Speaker 1: 00:00 Millions of dollars in funding for homeless services have started to flow from the state level down to San Diego. And those dollars are not just for bricks and mortar homes, but also for services for the homeless that creates service jobs. But it turns out those jobs, working with the homeless are not easy to fill. They involve specific skills and there has been little training till now to provide those skills. Our next guest is teaching a new class, launched at San Diego city college to train people interested in working in this field. Kirin maca poo guy is assistant professor of social work at city college. Caryn. Welcome to midday. Speaker 2: 00:34 Thank you. I'm very honored to be here. Speaker 1: 00:37 How did the idea for this class come about Speaker 2: 00:40 Actually came from the San Diego housing commission. So the San Diego housing commission has a philosophy of housing is a right. And one of the vice presidents, Lisa Jones had approached San Diego city college to talk about a way where we can train candidates and or folks who are currently working in the field of supporting people who have lost her housing. And after about a year and a half's worth of meetings and ideas, we came together and formed this multi-pronged program, which we are now offering at San Diego city college, Speaker 1: 01:19 Who would be a good fit to take this class. Speaker 2: 01:22 Anyone who's interested in working with our populations who are at risk or are experiencing loss of housing. So the majors that we have currently we target for this class are our human services, majors, social work, alcohol and drug studies, psychology, mental health, and gerontology. Um, however, we have folks who are not even in those majors, some people already have bachelor's master's degrees. Some people are coming back to call after a 10, 20 year hiatus. And we're seeing the interest really all over all across the board. Speaker 1: 02:00 Well, let me just refer to, you had mentioned you already have 40 students in your class. Talk about why some of those students decided to take this specialization. Speaker 2: 02:09 Many of our students themselves have lived experience with homelessness and loss of housing. About 21% of our students at San Diego city college, having experienced loss of housing or are in unstable housing themselves. And yet they still show up to class. They know that having this higher education will help lift them out of poverty in ways that few other things can. And I'll tell you, the majority of my students who are taking this class right now, they know firsthand what this is like to live in unstable housing, to live in their cars and honesty, that passion and that lived experience is what's carrying them on in this work. Speaker 1: 02:55 Hmm. So what are the skills that you will be teaching them? We are going over policy overview. Speaker 2: 03:00 So they're understanding what's the function of housing and urban development. They're understanding the statewide policies like the heap and hurt apt that funds the resources to different counties. They're understanding the role of the regional task force on the homeless. They're understanding the role of the San Diego housing commission and the myriad of agencies and nonprofits that are providing care and services and housing here in San Diego County, skillset wise, we are approaching this as an entry-level class. So having prior experience is not an necessity or prerequisite for taking this class. We're assuming that people are coming in without knowledge at all. And we're hoping that through this class and through the pipeline, we have support. We have also an academic counselor who will be joining us. And we also have a career coach who is on the team now, as well as the myriad of other classes in counseling and alcohol and other drug studies. And with all of these components together, we will have students trained and ready to work in these agencies, serving our populations, experiencing homelessness. Speaker 1: 04:12 Yes. So from what you're telling me, it sounds like the students might be learning quite a bit from each other as well. Speaker 2: 04:18 Absolutely. I very much believe in a learning partnership. There's so much you can learn from my lectures and my slides, but hearing these narratives, hearing these stories of people who have experienced loss of housing, and then those who are actually working in the field, that's another unique dynamic of this class. So nearly every session we have had a panelist of speakers who worked for the various agencies. And I can share with you just last week, we had a speaker from path. Uh, we had another speaker from the San Diego development corporation. Um, and these speakers together were sharing their insights of their educational journeys and their lived experiences working with our populations. And it just so happened. One of the speakers was Ashley, a mentor, and a coach for one of my students. And they had the opportunity to reunite in class that student herself also experienced homelessness. And now she's in stable housing. She has a new position working in a residential facility. And so this being able to bring people who are working in the field so that our students can care from them, that has also been a unique feature of this class. And it gives them hope and it lets them know that there are career opportunities out there for them. Speaker 1: 05:34 So speaking about the opportunities, what, what are the opportunities for people who have finished this class? Speaker 2: 05:40 Oh, there's so many. And really, it depends on the agency. They all have different titles, but there are positions for a housing navigator. There are peer mentors. So having someone who has lived experience, but is actually now in stable housing and able to reach a more stable part of their life for them to be able to meet with the clients, that's very powerful and impactful. They can be case managers. They can be a housing coordinators, housing assistance, the job titles are all over the place, but there are opportunities out there whether they have a master's degree, a bachelor's and associates. Speaker 1: 06:17 We've been speaking with Kerryn [inaudible] of San Diego city college. Corinne. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you. It's an honor.