Meet Members of the Single Adult Housing Team

The team supports two of Simpson’s programs for single adults. Women’s Housing Partnership (WHP) is a supportive housing program that provides subsidized rental housing and intensive case management for single adults who face long-term homelessness. Rapid Rehousing, a shorter housing intervention, provides financial assistance and resources for single adults, quickly rehousing and stabilizing them in their community. So far this year, Simpson has served 54 participants in the Women’s Housing Program and 43 individuals in the Rapid Rehousing Program.
Advancing Racial Equity
Across the agency’s programs, Simpson staff is committed to internal reflection and action steps that advance racial equity. Senior Advocate Robyn Hayden describes why this work is so important: “Race and racism affect every part of everybody’s life. Simpson’s focus is housing, and race plays into everything that affects housing: physical health, mental health, schooling, employment, and housing. People of color are disproportionately more likely to be on Medicaid, less likely to get equal paying jobs, and more likely to experience homelessness. Even the rental criteria that go into housing solutions are biased.”
The WHP/Rapid Rehousing team incorporates racial equity work into their team meetings. “We want to talk about it, and we actually want to be doing something. We have talked about our own histories and experiences with race, our own biases and stereotypes. We’re not afraid to speak up and challenge each other. We were already doing racial equity work. Now we are talking and doing something weekly or every other week to keep up our momentum with this work,” says Robyn. Team members share and discuss history, current events, music, and art to aid them in their process of dismantling racism and promoting racial equity.
Focused on ensuring a positive and equitable experience for participants, the WHP/Rapid Rehousing team and staff members across the agency have been reviewing and improving its processes. “We started looking at things in our own program that we can affect. We’ve looked at the intake process and how to make it more inclusive. Along with our leadership, we are looking at rental criteria, eliminating bias, and sharing it with landlords,” she says.
Remarkable Teamwork

Mary provides a glimpse into the daily work of her team:


“Arthur and Maren played a critical role in assembling basic needs items for our participants. Arthur also mediated with a landlord to keep a participant from being evicted. This kind of work is a cornerstone of what we do. Besides offering a high level of services to his participants, Arthur has taken on the role of our data guru, helping us stay on top of our paperwork and reporting. More importantly, he shines a light on issues facing trans and other LGBTQI community members as part of our deeper discussions on uprooting racism and bias in our programs and ourselves.”
“Robyn’s skill at building relationships is especially vital right now. She has helped two participants who are particularly struggling at this time of uncertainty, deescalating their anxiety and avoiding more serious crises. In addition, she is working closely with our team to help participants access IRS stimulus funding that will provide some added financial stability.”
“Jesse, the Rapid Rehousing advocate has continued to work his magic with participants, encouraging them and offering resources to help as they transition from homelessness to stable housing. Early on he made connections with staff at Joyce Uptown Food Shelf who generously figured out ways to get weekly food baskets to our team, who in turn delivered food to participants. Jesse also connected with Metro Mobility to secure drivers, many of whom had been idle due to closing day centers, to begin a service of delivering basic needs items to participants. These two community partners have stepped up in a big way and we are super thankful to Jesse for connecting us and coordinating with them.”

Thank you to our entire Simpson staff for your extraordinary work and unwavering support of our participants and guests!


