By Haadia Hyder, NLIHC Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns Intern and Julie Walker, NLIHC Project Manager, Opportunity Starts at Home
The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign (OSAH) and OSAH Roundtable Member Legal Action Center hosted a webinar on July 14 outlining the connection between access to affordable housing and recovery for individuals with substance use disorders and/or mental health conditions.
Speakers included:
- Julie Walker, OSAH project manager, NLIHC
- Victoria Palacio Carr, deputy director of state strategy, Legal Action Center (LAC)
- Anita Burgos, PhD, director of public policy, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Marcella Maguire, PhD, director of health systems integration, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
- Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director, National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC)
- Ariel Johnson, director of operations, Martinsville, and patient navigation, Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition (VHRC)
Julie Walker, OSAH project manager, opened the webinar by sharing the state of America’s affordable housing crisis, its impact on people with substance use disorders or mental health conditions, and the importance of cross-sector collaboration in coordinating a response to harmful policy and rhetoric targeting this population, particularly those experiencing homelessness.
The panel discussion, moderated by Victoria Palacio Carr, began by establishing connections between recovery, mental health, and housing. Dr. Anita Burgos cited the official position of NAMI to support the pursuit of laws and policies that ensure “stable, safe, affordable, and supportive housing options for people with mental health conditions.”
Ariel Johnson referenced Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, where housing is included as a basic need. She also emphasized that housing is critical to the health of people recovering from mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
Dr. Marcella Maguire emphasized that quality mental healthcare is not effective when clients do not have a place to sleep. Jesse Rabinowitz echoed sentiments of fellow panelists, stating that “housing is the best form of healthcare”.
Rabinowitz expanded on the connections between mental health care, substance use recovery, and homelessness, focusing on the criminalization of homelessness across the country and the necessity of power building in response to these attacks. By coordinating advocacy across sectors, Rabinowitz argued that we can move our politicians to prioritize meeting people’s basic needs.
The panelists also discussed the impact of upcoming Medicare cuts that, along with increased restrictions and administrative burdens, are estimated to cut millions of people off healthcare coverage in the coming years. At the same time, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is attempting to reshape the framework for federal funding awards, potentially impacting the funding of nonprofits and direct-service providers across the country. Speaking to this environment, Ariel Johnson highlighted the need to change how we see those in recovery and suggested a shift from seeing substance use as a crime to seeing it as a healthcare issue. She also argued that policies must establish dignity and focus on human-centered systems of care, emphasizing autonomy as a core aspect of harm reduction. Dr. Maguire focused on the need to integrate systems of care, bringing resources for housing, healthcare, and recovery together for effective wraparound services.
The panelists concluded by emphasizing that integrated systems, cross-sector power building, and person-first recovery are critical to better outcomes for people with substance use disorders and/or mental health conditions.
NAMI is an OSAH campaign Steering Committee member. LAC, CSH, and NHLC are members of the OSAH campaign’s Roundtable.
Find the recorded webinar here.
To learn more about the connections between Recovery, Mental Health, and Housing, read the OSAH fact sheet here.