Unsheltered Conversations

HomeAid
  • 5.0 (3)
  • NON-PROFIT
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, a podcast from HomeAid America where we take an honest look at homelessness and the people, policies, and partnerships working to end it. In each episode, we'll talk with builders, nonprofit leaders, advocates, and those with lived experience to explore the deeper stories that often go untold.

  1. 2D AGO

    Mandy Crater & Brian Goldstone: There Is No Place for Us — Stories, Homelessness Data, and Housing Solutions

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, the podcast from HomeAid where we dig into the stories, ideas, and systems shaping how we support people experiencing homelessness across the United States. I’m Scott Larson, CEO of HomeAid America. Today we’re honored to be joined by two leaders whose work, in both storytelling and service, deepens our understanding of homelessness in America: Brian Goldstone, journalist and author of the critically acclaimed There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, a book that has landed on multiple Best Books of the Year listsand reshapes how we think about who is counted and who is left out in America’s housing crisis. And Mandy Crater, Executive Director of HomeAid Georgia, whose leadership has helped catalyze multiple housing developments, community partnerships, and initiatives that make dignity and stability possible for families in the Atlanta region.

    52 min

  2. JAN 6

    Matt Bates: Everyone Counts — Understanding the Point In Time Count

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, the podcast from HomeAid where we explore the people, partnerships, and policies shaping solutions to homelessness across the country. Hosted by Scott Larson, CEO of HomeAid America. Today we’re talking about something that happens every January in communities across the nation, the Point In Time Count, an important effort led by local Continuums of Care, coordinated nationally by HUD, and made possible by volunteers and service providers on the ground. Joining me today is Matt Bates, Chief Operating Officer of City Net, one of Southern California’s leading nonprofit partners working to end homelessness through compassionate outreach, housing navigation, and data-driven collaboration. Matt and his team play a critical role in coordinating Everyone Counts Orange County, one of the largest PIT Counts in the country. Links: https://www.everyonecountsoc.orghttps://www.citynet.orghttps://www.hudexchange.info

    44 min

  3. 12/23/2025

    Gina Cunningham & Mike Lennon: Building Forward — 37 Years of HomeAid’s Mission

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. This special episode revisits HomeAid’s origins in 1989, its national expansion in the 1990s, the personal and professional journeys of its early leaders, and how those foundations shaped the HomeAid of today. The conversation also looks ahead to 2026 and beyond: expansion, evolving needs, and the future of national impact. Featuring: • Scott Larson, CEO, HomeAid America • Mike Lennon, Founding Executive Director of HomeAid Orange County (1989) and CEO of HomeAid America (1995–2006) • Gina Cunningham, Executive Director, HomeAid Orange County | Los Angeles

    37 min

  4. 12/09/2025

    Donald Whitehead: The Longest Night — Remembering Lives Lost & Acting for the Future

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. In this episode, Scott Larson sits down with Donald Whitehead to explore the origins, meaning, and action-oriented purpose behind Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The conversation will reflect on how communities across the country commemorate lives lost to homelessness, the role of the building/housing industry in honoring this day, and what can be done to prevent future deaths. The episode aims to shift from mourning to mission and calling the audience to remember and act. https://nationalhomeless.org/homeless-persons-memorial-day/

    32 min

  5. 11/25/2025

    Amber Celmer: Someone You Know — From Foster Youth to Housing Leader

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. In this episode, Amber Celmer shares an extraordinary personal and professional journey: growing up in foster care, surviving trauma and instability, rising into leadership in the building/housing industry, and now directing HomeAid Sacramento toward projects like The Grove cabin community for youth exiting foster care. Listeners will hear how personal experience drives her commitment to dignified housing and gain insight into how building‐industry resources can be marshaled to deliver life-changing results for transitional youth.

    40 min

  6. 11/11/2025

    Sophia, Jon, & Jeremy: Housing Our Heroes — Building Homes and Hope for Veterans

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. This Veterans Day, we honor the men and women who served our country, and we shine a light on the work being done to ensure every veteran has a place to call home. On a single night in 2024, just under 33,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the United States, a number that’s down more than 55% since 2010, thanks to programs that combine compassion with construction. Today, we’ll explore a remarkable model in Minnesota: The Veterans Village and Housing for Heroes initiatives which have been innovative collaborations between HomeAid’s affiliate, the Housing First Minnesota Foundation, Lennar and the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, better known as MACV. These projects combine design, compassion, and service to ensure that no veteran is left without a home. Joining me today are: Sofia Humphries from Housing First Minnesota Foundation and as we refer to as HomeAid Minnesota, Jeremy Larson, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and Jon Lovald, Chief Operations Officer with MACV. Together, we’ll talk about what these projects mean, the partnerships that made them possible including long-time industry partners like Lennar and the Lennar Foundation and how Minnesota’s success can help shape veteran housing nationwide.

    41 min

  7. 11/04/2025

    Carole Brady: Someone You Know — A Story of Family, Resilience, and Hope

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. As we enter Homelessness Awareness Month, we’re leaning into this year’s theme: Someone You Know. Because the truth is, homelessness isn’t just about strangers on the street, it often touches closer than we realize. It’s about our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, and yes, sometimes even our own families. Hosted by Scott Larson, today's episode features Carole Brady, Executive Director of HomeAid Houston. Before leading HomeAid, Carole spent nearly 20 years with Family Promise, walking alongside families experiencing homelessness. But this episode isn’t just about her professional journey. Carole is a survivor of domestic violence, and she’s also a mother who has walked the heartbreaking road of having a son who battled addiction and lived on and off the streets. It’s a story that’s courageous, raw, and painfully real but also one filled with love, resilience, and hope.

    39 min

  8. 10/14/2025

    Brian Peterson: Through the Brush — Art, Empathy & Seeing Our Unseen Neighbors

    Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together. Hosted by Scott Larson, today's episode features Brian Peterson, an artist, community builder, and the visionary behind Faces of Santa Ana, that became Faces of Mankind. From designing cars at Kia to painting portraits on the streets and now large-scale murals, Brian has turned art into a tool of connection, dignity, and justice. We’ll talk about how a single portrait started a movement, how murals and public art can heal, and how visible love can change what ‘home’ means. Brian, thanks so much for joining me today.

    33 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, a podcast from HomeAid America where we take an honest look at homelessness and the people, policies, and partnerships working to end it. In each episode, we'll talk with builders, nonprofit leaders, advocates, and those with lived experience to explore the deeper stories that often go untold.

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