Highlights from the Housing Justice Team
About this blog
This is a part of an ongoing series to highlight members of the Housing Justice Team, a group of people with lived experience of housing instability or houselessness who want to change our collective housing future.
The group started without a predetermined outcome, and what emerged organically was a space where advocates across the country chose to rely on each other for support and shared-learning while dreaming up our own and our collective impact on our world. Too often, the experience of being someone with lived experience in this work can be isolating and difficult, and we sought to carve out a space where we could dream about a future where we each could grow, make change, and thrive.
Grace Lee Boggs reminds us, “We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it's never a question of 'critical mass.' It's always about critical connections.”
We’ve had the opportunity to experience it together– it’s through these critical connections that we get to live into a part of justice in our time.
About Alesha Alexcee:
Alesha Alexcee is a Youth Homelessness Educator & Consultant. Recently, Alesha worked as a Research Project Associate at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Alesha’s responsibilities included supporting research on youth homelessness. They informed and advanced systemic change through the collaboration with youth and community stakeholders to promote actionable research evidence, guided by values of anti-racism and inclusion, and driven by principles of positive youth development. Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Alesha worked at Re-engagement Hub at Monroe Harding as a Peer Support Worker. Alesha provided direct services to youth ages 17–24 by connecting them to education and employment opportunities. They implemented programs for youth to engage within the local community and facilitated youth discussions and webinars. They were also a member of the National Youth Forum on Homelessness at True Colors United, consulting and advocating for the end of youth homelessness on a national level.
Hear about Alesha’s project and reflections on being a part of the Housing Justice Team:
I am creating a series of tiktoks and Instagram reels on homelessness and unhoused-related issues. Topics include LGBTQ+ homelessness, housing first principles, and homelessness and mental health to name a few. I want people in the homelessness movement, whether it’s people with lived experience or service providers, to share my content and relate to it. I want the public on tiktok to be educated on homelessness and related issues; to create a dialogue. I also hope that people in the social justice movement get more inspired to prioritize homelessness as an urgent issue to solve. My hope is to make my videos thoughtful, engaging, and funny, but not at the expense of others. My videos can be found here!
As a part of this team, I’ve been able to learn a lot from my peers from their various areas of expertise, and from that I experience growth. Being a part of the Housing Justice Team reminds me of how and why I do the work of ending youth homelessness. I get to be in a space where I reflect and challenge myself in my day-to-day role as a leader and advocate in the homelessness movement. I get to look at housing in a holistic lens and not just in an academic, research based lens. I get to be empowered and think creatively on having an impact in the homelessness space.