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    Rémi Dekoninck

    Diogènes (Station Logement)/ Projet Lama

    Country: Belgium

    Languages: French

    Rémi has 20 years of experience working in the social sector, with experience in a wide range of social and homeless services, including:

    • Social Worker since 2000
    • Social Housing 2000
    • First Line social services 2002-2005
    • Family Planning 2005-2016
    • Therapeutical community 2013-2018
    • Social school teacher 2016-2018
    • Health services for drug addictions 2018- now
    • Housing First worker 2018-now
    • Housing First Trainer: 2019- now

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    Jo Prestidge

    Homeless Link

    Country: UK

    Languages: English

    Jo is the Head of National Practice Development at Homeless Link and lead of Housing First England since 2016 and support Housing First across the country, working with local government and service providers to develop new services and oversee a programme of policy influencing, research and practice development. Jo is an experienced trainer, facilitator, and public speaker with several years’ experience of working directly with people with multiple and complex needs including people entrenched in street homelessness. In addition to being a Housing First Trainer, Jo was trained as a consultant in the system-psychodynamics approach to organisational development at the renowned Tavistock Clinic.

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    Pilvi Azeem

    Y-Säätiö/Y-Foundation

    Country: Finland

    Languages: EnglishFinnish

    Pilvi started working on the homelessness field in Scotland in 2005 as an assertive outreach worker. After returning to Finland, Pilvi went to work with Helsinki Deaconess Institute in one of their newly opened Housing First units, providing supported living for long-term homeless people. She then had the opportunity to be part of establishing a new Housing First community-based supported housing unit for long- term homeless people. There she ensures that workers were familiar with Housing First principles and that the support work they did was in line with the Housing First principles. Pilvi is currently working as a project coordinator for the NEA project, aiming to stop women’s homelessness with a women-specific methods, and with eight multidisciplinary sub-projects.

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    David Valouch

    Platform for Social Housing

    Country: Czech Republic

    Languages: CzechEnglishSlovak

    David has over 15 years of work with drug addicts, including as an outreach worker, frontline worker, community therapist, and parental counsellor. He also has 3 years experience working in a halfway house, and is now participating in change of Czech social system to reduce and end homelessness in the Czech Republic. In addition to his training in Housing First, David is also a trainer of motivational interviewing, Buddhist meditation, psychodrama and focusing.