Samie Iverson Advocates for Families and Students Facing Homelessness

As an editor and story consultant, I help social impact entrepreneurs, activists, and ?nonprofit leaders of color develop the stories they need to tell about themselves and what they care about. Whether they advocate for restorative justice, gender affirming healthcare, or housing rights, I am inspired by the wisdom of my clients and their drive to create a just society. ?In this article, I'm introducing Samie Iverson,?an advocate for families and students facing homelessness and the first in a series of interviews with some of the passionate changemakers I've had the honor of working with.?

Jesi:?Samie, How do you describe your work?

Samie:?I’ve been in the field of housing services for thirteen fourteen years and have done a variety of roles in direct service, working with young people, families, and students dealing with homelessness. I am always thinking about how folks are getting their needs met, how that applies to housing, and how all the different systems intersect ?

Jesi: How did you get into that field?

Samie: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian or a brain surgeon but my grandma wanted me to be a lawyer and ?encouraged me to volunteer with the Pierce County Juvenile Justice System. From 15-17 years old, I worked with young people under the age of 18 with minor criminal offenses and I sat on a volunteer panel to do assessments and assign consequences for the Pierce County Diversion Program.?

Following two years at TCC, ?I ended up at UW Tacoma studying Urban Studies and specifically took courses that were connected directly to homelessness. In Urban Studies you’re learning a lot about mixed use development, gentrification, and asking questions about how we build beautiful cities and who they are for. ?But I was always more attached to what happens to the people. ?Ultimately, I didn’t want to develop stuff, I wanted to figure out what happens to people that were being ?displaced.

Jesi:?What story do you think most people have about people dealing with homelessness and what story would you like them to have?

Samie:?Our community defaults to think that these types of crises are at fault of the individual and have to be fixed by the individual. That doesn’t take into account how hard that might be and it breeds isolation. It doesn’t take into account the system or the longstanding history of racism and discrimination. ?

When you actually sit down with a person in crisis, it is undeniable how overwhelming and terrifying it is for them to be in that position.. It’s scary and hard to make decisions and then, on top of that, to be forced to navigate a complicated, confusing, and judgemental system to get your basic needs met? The misconception is that it’s easy or that there’s enough funds or enough places to go or some simple pathway to stability. But a person can work so hard, try so hard, and that doesn’t mean that there is a place for them to go that they can call home. ??

Jesi: In your experience, what works best in terms of making things better for people who are unhoused??

Samie:?You gotta listen to the actual people that are in that situation because they have the answers, they hold the expertise, they understand what’s broken. When we fully listen, we honor their experience. Show up for that person, do what you can with the connection and power of your role to make sure they are able to get what they need in a time when it may be hard to do it on their own. Because there are great resources out there. There’s access to resources to meet basic needs, to support with food, and to get legal help, but it takes somebody listening and taking the time to hear and respect and empathize, to give folks a safe space to download or come down from crisis.?

We can get prescriptive sometimes but what I’ve seen from a direct service standpoint is that things work better when you show up to learn and listen. It’s about moving past our own perceived solutions or trying to jump to “fix” a situation. It is truly committing to showing up as an advocate. This could look like knowing what your community has to offer so that you can help folks navigate and/or always being open to collaboration and partnership to grow your awareness and connection to resources and ease access to services for folks in need. Sometimes that means just sitting with someone at a behavioral health assessment, showing up in court with someone , and sometimes it’s literally just standing next to someone. Being there is vitally important.?

Jesi:?Any last thoughts you'd like to share?

?Samie:?The families and young people I’ve been alongside are what keeps the work alive in me. I think about them all the time and the difference that they made in my desire to advocate. Especially now that I’ve gained the perspective of being a mother to my son, these experiences truly fuel my fire. And my grandma too. My grandmother was a special human, always was, always will be in my life. I still think about going back to school to be a lawyer just to honor her.