Homeward's 2026 Best Practices Conference
"Adaptive Collaboration"
Conference Schedule
Friday, May 1, 2026
DoubleTree Richmond-Midlothian
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Registration and light breakfast
9:00 - 9:15am Welcome
9:15 – 10:30 a.m. Workshop session I
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Workshop session II
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Luncheon
1:45 – 3:00 p.m. Workshop session III
9:15am - 10:30am
Opening Doors: Churches and Affordable Housing
Location: Parlor AB
Presenters: Morgan Dean, Amelie Rives, Joh Gehlbach
Description: Congregations across the region are exploring new ways to use land and property to meet pressing housing needs. This panel looks at the opportunities within faith-led housing development.
Bridging Systems: Foster Care Resources for Homeless Service Providers
Location: Parlor EF
Panelists: Robert Vermont, Olivia Snoke
Description: This panel will explore key foster care resources and supports that homeless service providers can leverage to better serve youth and young adults with foster care experience. Panelists will share practical strategies, partnerships, and insights to help bridge systems and improve housing stability outcomes.
Resilient Shelters: Innovations in S.H.I.F.T.: From Employment to Sustainability in a High-Cost, High-Change Economy
Location: New River Room
Presenter: Krishawn Monroe
Description: This workshop invites participants to pause and reflect on a critical shift in our fields: From helping people obtain employment to helping people build and maintain lives that can withstand disruption by being able to pivot for themselves and for the families they support. Across our communities, we are facing a growing truth—one that challenges long-held assumptions about success in workforce and human services: Many of the individuals and families we serve are working, or have worked, and yet still find themselves navigating housing instability, financial strain, mental health challenges, and uncertainty about the future. In a high-cost, rapidly changing economy, a job may provide income—but it does not always provide sustainability.
Community Exchange Newport News: ID's: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Location; Anna Room
Presenter: Barbara J. Harvey
Description: This session will focus on best practices in obtaining vital records. Experiences will be shared regarding difficult cases, solutions found, as well as proven ways to circumvent processes in obtaining vital records.
Pathways Forward: Supporting Successful Reentry for Previously Incarcerated Individuals
Location: York Room
Presenters: Sheba Williams, Kenneth Hunter
Description: This session will discuss challenges and barriers the previously incarcerated face and how service providers can support their successful reentry.
10:45am - 12:00pm
How Homeless Systems Really Work: Funding, Policy, and Decision‑Making Explained
Location: Anna Room
Presenter: Frances Marie Pugh
Description: Learn the fundamentals of how homeless services systems operate through local, federally-mandated continuums of care and how these networks of government agencies, nonprofits, and faith groups are tailored to meet local needs.
Community Exchange Lynchburg: CoC Collaboration with Affordable Housing Providers
Location: York Room
Presenter: Sarah Quarantotto
Description: This session will explore the ways in which the Lynchburg CoC has partnered with a variety of housing providers to ensure that persons experiencing homelessness exit to permanent housing.
Justice-Involved Veterans
Location: Parlor AB
Presenters: Hatteras Figgers, Kevin Birdsell
Description: This session will discuss our involvement with justice-involved Veterans, the intersection of homelessness and the justice system, and ways in which the Veterans Justice Outreach Program works on diversion to break the cycle of incarceration and homelessness.
Opioid Use Disorder: Root Causes, Community Impacts, and Best Practices
Location: New River Room
Presenters: Taylor Neeley, Ruth-Ann Acors
Description: This presentation will explore the root causes of Opioid Use Disorder, while emphasizing disproportionately impacted communities and the realities these communities face. Best Practices for supporting individuals living with Opioid Use Disorder will be explored, including information on available treatment options and community resources.
Beyond the Headlines: Local Media Panel
Location: Parlor EF
Panelists: Andrew Ryan, Scott Bass, Michael Phillips, Keyris Manzanares
Description: Homelessness is a pressing topic in our region and increasingly covered by local news outlets. How can homeless service agencies serve as resources and share their perspectives with media outlets? What types of stories are journalists interested in? This session will feature a panel discussion with local journalists discussing their work and how homeless service providers can best collaborate with local media.
12pm - 1:30pm
Luncheon Panel: Shaping the Future of Homeless Services: Conversation with Community Leaders
Location: Ballroom CD
Panelists: Kristen Dahlman, Brian Koziol, Reggie Gordon
1:45 - 3:00pm
AI in Action: Practical Tools for Providers
Location: Anna Room
Panelists: Mark Hagemann, Will Willis
Description: AI is changing how communities find, support, and house people experiencing homelessness. If you've wondered if and how AI tools can support your work as a service provider, this session is for you.
Housing Problem-Solving
Location: Parlor EF
Presenters: Terri Lawson, Vicki Wise
Description: Learn best practices and components of talking to people experiencing a housing crisis. Hear anecdotal stories, practice role playing scenarios, learn what resources are available in our community, and network.
Sheltering the Medically Vulnerable
Location: Parlor AB
Presenter: Mike Young
Description: Sheltering people with serious medical needs is a growing priority as older adults and those with chronic conditions become a larger share of the homeless population. Specialized programs are designed to provide safe, accessible housing and coordinated care for those who cannot recover on the streets.
Meet Our 2026 Session Speakers & Panelists
Ruth-Ann Acors
LCSW- Behavioral Health Clinician
Daily Planet Health Services
Bio
Ruth-Ann is a behavioral health clinician with a background in street medicine, medication assisted treatment and overdose prevention.
Kevin Birdsell
Veterans Justice Outreach Coordinator
U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs
Bio
I have spent the past (almost) twenty years working for various organizations in a myriad of positions within Richmond's homeless services system.
Kristen Dahlman
Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade
Commonwealth of Virginia
Bio
Kristen Dahlman helps advance statewide priorities across housing, community development, and economic opportunity. With nearly a decade of experience at the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Kristen has led policy and legislative efforts on issues including affordable housing, eviction prevention, broadband expansion, and economic development.
Hatteras Figgers
Senior Social Worker, Veterans Outreach
Central Virginia VA Healthcare System
Bio
Hatteras has been with the Central Virginia VA Healthcare Systems since 2015. He obtained a LCSW in 2018 and transitioned to become a part of the Veterans Justice Outreach Program in February of 2024. Hatteras and Kevin Birdsell work together to meet the needs of Veterans incarcerated in the greater Central Virginia area.
Reggie Gordon
President and CEO
Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
Bio
Reggie leads efforts to improve health and advance equity across the Richmond region. With a career spanning nonprofit leadership and local government, he brings deep expertise in human services, community development, and systems-level change.
Mark Hagemann, Phd
Senior Data Scientist
Deloitte
Bio
Mark is a data scientist and AI researcher with a passion for exploring how emerging technologies can shape the future of work and decision-making. With a background that blends academic research and applied data science, Mark brings a thoughtful, curious perspective to the rapidly changing landscape of AI.
Barbara Harvey
Project Connect Manager
THRIVE Peninsula
Bio
Barbara is an experienced case manager focusing on assisting individuals with obtaining vital records and government benefits.
Kenneth Hunter
Community Organizer
Virginia Interfaith Center
Bio
Kenneth works to advance social and economic justice through advocacy, coalition-building, and grassroots engagement.
Brian Koziol
Executive Director
Virginia Housing Alliance
Bio
Krishawn Monroe
Assistant Director
Capital Region Workforce Partnership
Bio
Not available
Taylor Neely
Director of Case Management and Outreach, Daily Planet Health Services
Bio
Taylor is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with over 10 years of experience working in homeless services.
Frances Marie Pugh
Director of Coordinated Funding Homeward
Bio
Frances Marie has worked in homeless services for the past four years and over eight years of experience working in nonprofit spaces. Starting as an AmeriCorps VISTA, Frances Marie was recognized as the 2023 Virginia Housing Alliance Emerging Leader for her work in the implementation of HUD’s YHDP resources.
Sarah Quarantotto
Exective Director
Miriam's House
Bio
Sarah is the Executive Director of Miriam’s House in Lynchburg, VA. With a Master’s in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University, she has led the organization since 2010, expanding services and programs for households experiencing homelessness.
Andrew Ryan
Partner and Co-founder
Grey Ryan Consulting
Bio
Andrew is a recognized leader in the communications and PR industry and has held numerous leadership positions on the national, statewide, and local level, including Chair of the Mid-Atlantic District for the Public Relations Society of America and Board of Trustees member for the National Association of Home Builders’ National Sales and Marketing Council.
Olivia Snoke
Founder and CEO
Emerging Phoenix
Bio
Olivia is a passionate advocate for youth who are making the journey through foster care and life after.
Robert Vermont
Program Consultant for Transition Aged Youth
Anthem
Bio
Robert Vermont is a transition-aged youth program consultant with extensive experience designing and leading initiatives for young people impacted by foster care. At Anthem Healthkeepers Plus in Henrico, VA, he partners with care coordinators and community stakeholders to help youth ages 16 and older prepare for independent living and achieve their health goals.
He holds an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University and a B.A. in Speech Communication from Hampton University and is a Certified Maxwell Team Coach. Robert has been married to his college sweetheart for 24 years, and they have three daughters. He enjoys family time, serving at his local church, hunting and fishing, and mentoring the next generation.
Sheba Williams
Founding Director
Nolef Turns, Inc.
Bio
Sheba Williams was born and raised in Richmond, VA. She is the founder and executive director of a Richmond, VA based nonprofit called Nolef Turns Inc. She also is a Norfolk State University alum with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management with professional licenses in Cosmetology and Barbering, and is a Master Instructor.
Mike Young
Deputy Director of Crisis Services
The Road Home
Bio
Morgan Dean
Executive Director
King William Habitat for Humanity
Bio
Morgan Dean is the Executive Director of Hanover and King William Habitat for Humanity, working to reduce housing insecurity before it becomes homelessness through affordable homeownership, critical repairs, and foreclosure prevention. With over 15 years of experience in direct service, program design, and community development, Morgan is currently a PhD candidate in Public Policy, concentrating on solutions to housing affordability.
Michael Phillips
Founding Editor
The Richmonder
Bio
Scott Bass
Journalist
Richmond Magazine
Bio
Will Willis
Executive Director
AI Ready RVA
Bio
William Willis is the Executive Director of AI Ready RVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing AI literacy across the Greater Richmond region. A lifelong Richmonder, he previously held program management roles at Dominion Payroll and Capital One, including experience at Capital One's Center for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Under his leadership, AI Ready RVA aims to make Greater Richmond a national model for ethical, responsible, and human-centered AI adoption through workforce upskilling, K-12 education initiatives, and community-wide AI literacy programs.
Joh Gehlbach
Senior Campaigns Manager
YIMBY Action
Bio
Joh Gelbach is a housing policy advocate and urban planning professional based in Richmond, Virginia. They serve as the Senior Campaigns Manager at YIMBY Action, where they work on national and state-level campaigns to advance policies that make it easier to build more homes and expand housing opportunities in high-opportunity communities.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Generous community partners made this event possible.
