Justlife is taking part in the Transatlantic Practice Exchange - organised by Homeless Link and delivered in partnership with National Alliance to End Homelessness and funded by the Oak Foundation. This will give charity staff an opportunity to learn directly from frontline services in host countries.
Adrienne Breidenstine, Executive Director of the Journey Home for the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office in Maryland is currently being hosted by Justlife Brighton.
The Journey Home, Baltimore’s plan to end homelessness, presents the vision that homelessness in Baltimore will be rare and brief. This vision was adopted by the community in 2008 when the Plan was originally released. The Plan is organised into four broad goals that work collectively to make homelessness rare and brief: affordable housing, comprehensive health care, incomes and employment, and emergency and preventive services. In Baltimore, these four goals remain a useful and relevant framework for approaching collaborative community work to reduce homelessness.
As Executive Director of the Journey Home, Ms. Breidenstine facilitates and coordinates the implementation of the Journey Home and helps to influence policy changes that will reduce homelessness. She works with public, private, and non-profit stakeholders to establish strategic approaches for maximising public and private resources to make homelessness in Baltimore City a rare and brief experience.
Ms. Breidenstine is spending approximately two weeks with Justlife Brighton to participate in a Transatlantic Practice Exchange. The Exchange aims to develop future leaders in the homelessness sector and establish transatlantic best practice connections. While in England, Ms. Breidenstine will examine hospital discharge practices for homeless patients, focussing on Justlife’s Pathway+ project. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how hospital admission and discharge practices for homeless patients impact referrals to post-hospital and/or community providers and readmissions of homeless patients.
Nine other charity workers from the United States and the United Kingdom are also participating in the Exchange to examine a range of practices including interventions for youth homelessness and housing first. Click here to learn more about who is part of the Exchange.
