View the recording of this webinar and download the presentation.
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) invites you to participate in the “Conducting Homeless Counts on Native American Lands: A Toolkit” webinar that highlights strategies for Native American communities to conduct internal homeless counts on their lands. Topics include: outreach, engagement, survey planning, survey implementation, partnering amongst researchers and intermediaries, and funding.
It is often difficult to address homelessness on Native American lands, due to the challenge in quantifying the number of actual homeless individuals living therein. While there is ‘literal’ homelessness on Native American lands, many Native Americans also live in extremely crowded conditions with family and relatives which is another, less visible, form of homelessness. Places with small, spread-out populations, like most Native American lands, typically have few shelters or service providers forcing homeless individuals to rely on strong kinship networks to find a place to stay. Issues surrounding tribal mistrust of the federal government, a lack of understanding of tribal sovereignty and diversity among Indian nations by outside entities, cultural competencies, and legal complexities associated with tribal lands create additional challenges to conducting an accurate count.
Based upon past research as well as interviews with key stakeholders in the field, the webinar will provide insights on how to conduct outreach, plan homeless surveys, partner with other researchers and organizations, and secure funding.
About the Presenter
Eric Oberdorfer
Research Associate
Housing Assistance Council
Eric Oberdorfer is a Research Associate at the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) in Washington, DC. Eric has worked on a variety of projects and reports that have focused on topics ranging from farmworker housing to homelessness on Native American lands, and most recently housing for rural seniors. His previous experience includes working with affordable housing at the Department of Neighborhoods in Anchorage, Alaska, as well as the City of Vancouver and BC Housing in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has published reports funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as the British Columbia Ministry of Housing and Social Development. Eric’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in geography and international development from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Master’s degree in community and regional planning from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver