9am - 10:15am

REVIVE! Lay Rescuer Training

Salon A

Ruth-Ann Acors, Field-Based Clinician Daily Planet

Description: Understand opioids, how opioid overdoses happen, risk factors for opioid overdoses, and how to respond to an opioid overdose emergency with the administration of naloxone/Narcan. 

Finding Home - Recovery and Homelessness

Salon B

Jessica Wade, LPC, CCTP, C-DBT 

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority

Description: Recovery is not just a mental and emotional journey of creating a life free from substance use, it is also a journey in finding a safe space to be in recovery.  A safe space to create a recovery program that will promote longevity in recovery. 

Resilient Shelters: Innovations in Capacity Management and Staff Training During Critical Moments 

Salon C

Richard Southee, PhD of Global Health, Arizona State University,

Kristin Riddick, MSW
Senior Manager of Crisis Response and Community Housing Programs, Housing Families First, and  

Cindy Moussavou 

Deputy Director, Programs, Housing Families First 

Description: This panel will explore how homeless service providers can optimize shelter capacity and meet training needs—particularly during times of crisis such as public health emergencies, natural disasters, or funding shortfalls. The discussion will highlight creative approaches to bed management, staff retention, trauma-informed training models, and inter-agency partnerships. 

Disrupting Self-Sacrifice Culture: Self-Care Practices for Those in Helping Professions 

Salon DE

Cyn Nwarache, MSW, CYT 200hr 

Unapologetically Well, LLC 

Description: One cannot safely pour into others, if they do not first pour into themselves. Self-care is community- care. In this workshop attendees will learn how to disrupt self-sacrifice culture within helping professions though engaging in radical acts of self-care and self-preservation. 

10:30am - 11:45am

Communications Tips to Support and Further Your Mission

Salon A

Andrew Ryan, Partner

Grey Ryan Communications

Description: In this interactive session, Andrew will share best practices and tangible tips you can take with you to help enhance or refresh your agency’s communications initiatives. We’ll explore how homeless services providers can frame and share communications that support your mission and engage your key audiences.

History of US Homelessness Response

Salon B

Kelly King Horne, Executive Director, Homeward

Description:

Understanding the past is essential to shaping a more effective future. This session will provide a brief but impactful overview of the historical evolution of homelessness and the U.S. response to it, providing context for today’s service models and policy approaches, while reflecting on how past decisions continue to influence current challenges and opportunities in the field.

Faith in Action: Building Strong Partnerships with Faith-Based Providers in Homeless Services 

Salon C

Steve Blanchard,

Minister of Compassion, First Baptist Church and Nelson Parker,

CEO, Moments of Hope Outreach 

Description: Faith-based organizations have long played a vital role in addressing homelessness.  Building effective, sustainable partnerships between faith communities and homeless service systems requires intentional collaboration, shared values, and mutual respect. This panel brings together leaders to explore how these partnerships can strengthen service delivery, fill critical gaps, and build trust with communities. 

The Science of Elderhood

Salon DE

Tracey L. Gendron, PhD 

VCU Department of Gerontology and Virginia Center on Aging

Description: The Science of Elderhood will invite participants to explore a shift from ageism to elderhood, examining the potential of elderhood and the impact of ageism on health, identity, and resilience. 

12pm - 1:30pm: Luncheon

Blue Ridge Ballroom

Keynote speaker: Hollee Freeman, PhD

Freeman Educational & Business Consulting, LLC

1:45 - 3pm

The People You Take to Lunch (Learning how to Network - especially if you are an introvert) 

Salon A

Katie Chlan, Senior Director of Housing and Homeless Services 

St. Joseph's Villa

Description: Networking is a necessary tool for success in this field, yet providers, and especially those who are new to the field or identify as an "introvert", may not feel comfortable engaging in traditional networking activities.  Attendees will learn to identify the people they should "take to lunch" (i.e. network with) and increase their comfort level in doing so.

Research Findings of a Traumatic Life Experiences Survey Implemented in a Congregate Shelter in Maricopa County, Arizona

Salon B

Richard Southee, PhD of Global Health

Arizona State University

Description: As trauma-informed care continues to be established as a best practice in homeless services, understanding the ways trauma manifests in the homeless population becomes increasingly important. Dr. Richard Southee explores his study on the different types of trauma identified among people staying in a congregate shelter and highlights how trauma can help us understand homelessness as an identity and culture, and how we might alter service delivery with these concepts in mind. 

Adapt, Inspire, Sustain: Engaging Volunteers in Uncertain Times

Salon C

Jasmine Snead, Community Engagement and Communications Manager,

Housing Families First 

Ejana Bennet, CARITAS 

Description: Volunteers are an important part of homeless services, yet times of crisis—whether economic downturns, public health emergencies, or rising burnout—can threaten engagement and retention. This panel will share practical strategies for sustaining volunteer involvement during challenging periods.   

Connecting Older Adults to Community Resources

Salon DE

Heather Fortune, Vice President of Advocacy & Engagement

The Span Center

and

Courtney O'Hara, Co-Director

VCU's Elder Justice Learning & Research Hub

Description: Participants will explore the intersection of elder justice and homelessness and will learn how to identify elder abuse risk factors and connect older adults to crucial services such as benefits enrollment and options counseling.