Episode 14

How to Bridge the Gap Between "Us" and "Them": What it's like to be homeless in America

I’m so proud and grateful to welcome Lisa Halverstadt onto our show today. Lisa is a senior investigative reporter for Voice of San Diego, a nonprofit investigative outlet in San Diego. Lisa writes extensively about her community's homelessness, substance abuse and behavioral health crises and the people impacted by them. 

I met Lisa a couple of months ago when my brother-in-law died from the effects of substance abuse disease and homelessness. We all missed him terribly for the decade plus that addiction created a distance we couldn’t quite bridge. We missed a lot in his life. And when he died, we felt hungry for any piece of him that we could hold onto that would let us back into his life.

My daughter in her own search for understanding the uncle that she'd never really gotten to know, stumbled across this article that had been written by Lisa. It gave us peace and understanding about something we really struggled to understand

And, that’s what Lisa’s work does: it creates understanding and it bridges gaps. She creates greater awareness of the experience of homelessness, and its effects on individuals and families and in doing so rehumanizes these people who struggle day to day just to stay alive. 

We also discuss what it’s like to be an Uplifter doing this intensely emotional work, the challenges and surprise superpowers that made this job a perfect fit for her, and the Journalist Trauma Support Network that has helped her process the harsh realities she witnesses all too frequently.

It's easy to sit in our homes and feel like somehow we are different than people who are without them. But the truth is, we all have the same needs. Lisa uses her work to bring us back together. I can think of nothing more important or uplifting.

Lisa has graciously shared a list of resources that can help us think about other ways to help:

To hear more from Lisa click here. To learn more about the unhoused community on Lisa’s beat,  read Uplifter Peggy Peattie’s Tales of the Street blog.

I hope you’ll listen deeply to this episode, share it, and find ways to reconnect to those in your community, who most need a friendly hand.

 

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The Uplifters
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About your host

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Aransas Savas

Aransas Savas CPC, ELI-MP, is a veteran Wellbeing and Leadership Coach, certified by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and The International Coaching Federation.
She has spent her career at the intersection of research, behavior change, coaching, and experience strategy. She has created a uniquely holistic and proven approach to coaching that blends practical, science-backed techniques with energy coaching.

She has partnered with customer experience strategists, at companies like Weight Watchers, Best Buy, Truist, Edward Jones, US Bank, and many more, to apply the power of coaching and behavior change science to guide customers on meaningful, and often, transformative, journeys.
As a facilitator on a mission to democratize wellbeing, she has coached thousands of group sessions teaching participants across socio-economic levels to leverage the wellbeing techniques once reserved for the wellness elite.

Aransas is the founder of LiveUp Daily, a coaching community for uplifting women who grow and thrive by building their dreams together.
Based in Brooklyn, Aransas is a 20-time marathoner, a news wife, and mother to a 200-year old sourdough culture, a fluffy pup and two spirited, creative girls.