Resources

This webinar explores how emergency shelters can be redesigned to support people experiencing homelessness by focusing on housing outcomes. It highlights strategies for creating low-barrier, trauma-informed shelter environments that prioritize safety, dignity, and easy access. The discussion includes how shelters can integrate the voices of people with lived experience and align more closely with permanent housing goals to improve overall system effectiveness.

SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery) is a program through SAMHSA designed to help individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness—and who also have serious mental illness, medical impairments, or co-occurring substance use disorders—gain access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). It accomplishes this by training case managers, offering technical assistance, and facilitating inter-agency coordination to improve application approval rates and speed.