• photo - Joanne Prestidge

    Jo Prestidge

    Homeless Link

    joanne.prestidge@homelesslink.org.uk

    Country: UK

    Languages: English

    I am an experienced facilitator, trainer and public speaker and have overseen national work on scaling up Trauma Informed Care and Housing First since 2015. I have a decade experience of practice development work in the homelessness sector and hold a qualification in organisational/systems dynamics.

  • Teammiddag Housing First Nederland

    Anke Jansen

    Housing First Nederland

    anke@housingfirstnederland.nl

    Country: Netherlands

    Languages: DutchEnglish

    Anke Jansen is Co-founder of Housing First Nederland and has a carrier in consultancy, healthcare and human rights. The last 15 years, she started several Housing First projects and developed herself as an expert in ending homelessness on both national and local level with the principles of Housing First. She loves to make impact to create a human world for all.

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    Alena Vachnová

    Nadacia DEDO/ Foundation DEDO

    vachnova@nadaciadedo.sk

    Country: Slovakia

    Languages: EnglishSlovak

    Alena works to end homelessness in Eastern Slovakia by promoting affordable rental housing and integrated social, health, and employment services. She initiated the Housing First Programme for Families in Košice in 2020, now expanding to Prešov. As a strategic leader at the DEDO Foundation, she advocates for systemic change, shifting from managing to ending homelessness. Alena has trained professionals, policymakers, and service providers on evidence-based approaches to homelessness. With a background in law and social work, she holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. Her goal is to ensure that housing is recognised as a human right in Slovakia.

  • Kārlis - Kārlis Lakševics

    Kārlis Lakševics

    University of Latvia; Green Liberty

    karlis.laksevics@lu.lv

    Country: Latvia

    Languages: EnglishLatvian

    I am a researcher, consultant and learning facilitator in housing and environmental fields. I was the researcher-evaluator of the Housing First pilot project in Latvia and have led several multi-stakeholder design workshops on Housing First and social worker trainings. In the Hub, I was part of the TTT Cohort 5. While primarily a researcher, I have a rich experience in leading formal and informal, face-to-face and online workshops and trainings spanning from policy to skills development. I draw my content and methods from rigorous policy and academic literature analysis, critical pedagogy, embodied learning, and design anthropology.

  • NicolasBERUT - Nicolas BERUT

    Nicolas Berut

    Metropole de Lyon

    nberut@grandlyon.com

    Country: France

    Languages: French

    For the last thirty years or so, Nicolas has been working more specifically on issues of local social development and housing policies. His research focuses on the emergence of fundamental rights in social work practices. He has spent a large part of his career in the field of social policy on accommodation and housing. Today, he is involved in rolling out the Housing First model in France and piloting the Metropole of Lyon's Housing First policy.

  • Åsa

    Åsa Bäckström

    Stockholm city mission

    asa.backstrom@stadsmissionen.se

    Country: Sweden

    Languages: EnglishSwedish

    I am a sociologist and have worked with social work and homelessness for almost 20 years in various sectors. Now I work as a development manager at Stockholm City Mission. I went to cohort 4 and since then have trained in housing first for Sweden's city missions, mainly for municipalities in the start-up phase but also in other forms. Housing first because it works!

  • 032_Mitarbeiterinnenportraits__Liebentritt_06. Oktober 2020 - Marlene

    Marlene Panzenböck

    Neunerhaus - Hilfe für obdachlose Menschen

    Country: Austria

    Languages: EnglishGermanSpanish

    Marlene is a project manager and team leader at neunerhaus Housing First in Vienna and a lecturer for Housing First at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences. Marlene previously worked as a social worker with young refugees and in the education sector.

  • per train the trainers - Margherita Neri

    Margherita Neri

    Cooperativa Sociale Piazza Grande

    Country: Italy

    Languages: ItalianSpanish

    Margherita has been working for 10 years in services aimed at homeless people within third sector organizations. She has always been passionate about the issue of the right to housing and for this reason she has coordinated and worked in the Housing First program managed by the Piazza Grande Social Cooperative. In the Cooperative she has covered various roles of coordination of socio-educational projects and is currently vice president. Margherita collaborates with Fio.PSD in the context of sector specific operators training, the training focusing especially on Housing First projects, social and health integration, and community work.

  • _dsc6224_schwemberger_patrick.jpg__600x0_q95_crop-True_subsampling-2_upscale-True - Patrick Schwemberger

    Patrick Schwemberger

    Verein dowas

    Country: Austria

    Languages: German

    After completing compulsory school and an apprenticeship in the metal industry, I studied "social work/social management" at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences on the second educational path. I was able to gain my first practical experience in helping the homeless during my studies in the context of "assisted living" in an internship. After completing my studies in 2011, I stayed in the field of helping the homeless and worked in the areas of "consulting" and "street work" for a little over two years, where I gained my first experience. After a one-year stay abroad, I then switched to the area of "partially assisted living/outpatient assisted living" in the same field of work, in which I have been working since 2014. I completed the Housing First Europe Hub's TTT - Train The Trainer - training in 2022.

  • Profiili - Asunto Ensin Verkostokehittäjät

    Mia Saarela

    Y-Säätiö

    Country: Finland

    Languages: EnglishFinnish

    Mia is Coordinator for the National Housing First Development Network in Finland. She is passionate about eradicating homelessness and developing new ways of approaching housing-related issues. Mia has a backround in youth housing, social services & child protection services and is also experience in networking, providing training and a platform for learning about Housing First and housing related social work.