Subject: Recovery approach

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!

Maria has started working with clients. Substance abuse, mental health, social problems and homelessness are familiar themes to her from that time. She has also designed services for these client groups and acted as Programme Manager for the Helsinki region of the programme to reduce long-term homelessness. Currently, Maria works at the Y-Foundation, where she has been for the last eleven years in various positions. She is currently working in the Housing First Network Developers and her tasks include the dissemination and mainstreaming of Housing First work, for example through trainings.

Dagmara is a psychologist and has been working with people with mental illness for more than 10 years at low thresholds, with a focus on recovery and empowerment. In 2019, she started offering psychological support to homeless people at Berlin Zoo Station and subsequently at Housing First Berlin. Her focus is on the link to the health care system and the implementation of trauma-sensitive work in a multi-professional team. As a Housing First trainer, Dagmara shares her expertise on recovery and trauma.

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.

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.

Raphael is a psychiatrist with a degree in public health from NOVA university. After 10 years in Un chez soi d'abord (French Housing First), he's worked in working first and develops training in recovery oriented practice. His year as an assistant visiting professor at Yale University as part of the Program For Recovery and Community Health (PRCH) was an opportunity to visit several Housing First programmes in the US. He's currently the national coordinator for Un chez soi d'abord France at the DIHAL.

I'm Josep and I have 10 years of experience working in the social sector as a Social Educator. I started working with people with disabilities, with children in care and since 2016 I'm working with this new paradigm HF in Lleida. I believe in this new paradigm and I also think that it is possible to adapt it to the needs of each city. We can do it!

Melanie’s working life focus on people in need, and especially on the field of homelessness. She studied social work, then completed a bachelor’s degree in health care management and a study around professional coaching and leadership. She’s currently focusing on education around public affairs after having started as a social worker in a homelessness service and becoming a Housing First manager for adults and for youth. Today, Melanie works for LIMOR on scaling up, further developing, and promoting Housing First in the Northern and Western part of The Netherlands. She’s also training groups on Housing First. Melanie was one of the co-initiators of Housing First Netherland and is now its president.

Muriel is a Psychologist with 10 years of experience in Harm Reduction. She has been a Housing First Manager since 2013 - including ACT + ICM team management - and has rehoused more than 50 clients to date. As a Housing First trainer, Muriel shares her expertise in Harm Reduction, Recovery, Peer work, Crises management, and Violence.

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