{"id":15062,"date":"2025-10-24T18:09:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15062"},"modified":"2025-10-24T18:09:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T18:09:26","slug":"more-than-75-advocates-gather-to-celebrate-speak-up-program-that-equips-formerly-homeless-to-lead-housing-solutions-amid-federal-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15062","title":{"rendered":"MORE THAN 75 ADVOCATES GATHER TO CELEBRATE \u2018SPEAK UP!\u2019 PROGRAM THAT EQUIPS FORMERLY HOMELESS\u00a0 TO LEAD HOUSING SOLUTIONS AMID FEDERAL CUTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>LOS ANGELES, CA\u2013 Kia, who experienced homelessness after aging out of foster care, is now part of LA County\u2019s system to end youth homelessness. Lydia, once homeless herself, is now a city housing commissioner. More than 75 advocates, mentors, and policy experts gathered today in South Los Angeles to celebrate stories like these\u2013finding stability through affordable housing and services\u2013at the launch of the expanded&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/oceanmo-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com\/27sT3XlFPgthbwzmTEvZODI7vSPvek8grkut4Y4CrCzjFo5MTmgGSKqTfDz_8jLdCNMyF2s_dsMpPm9X66k4HAqHvo818Y5ysBUc4z32xpJ8C7eV6Ac4FQ5mDEfq_YJNlby9xjDvqWshHnrhfvV3uP59LsRpZmTYg6VE8HSKzwDT6KEToCe0jhEjhFkQ\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Speak Up!<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;<\/em>program. At the future childcare center of the newly opened Ruth Teague Homes, where veterans, youth and families, who formerly experienced homelessness live and receive supportive services, Speak Up! alumni spoke about the program, which pairs supportive housing tenants with experienced coaches over several months of leadership development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As communities struggle with rising costs, inflation and cuts to Medicaid, supportive housing\u2014a proven solution to help our chronically homeless neighbors\u2014is at risk, making&nbsp;<em>Speak Up!&nbsp;<\/em>more important than ever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs priorities for funding affordable housing and services change at the federal, state, and local levels, we need experts at the table, and there\u2019s no expertise as valuable as the people who have experienced homelessness,\u201d said&nbsp;<strong>Jaline Gilliam, Associate Director at&nbsp; CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) Los Angeles<\/strong>. \u201cSpeak Up! changes lives and communities through storytelling and confidence building for people whose voices are urgently needed now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speak Up! Alumni hold a range of advocacy and leadership roles throughout the state. The program has prepared nearly 75 people with lived experience of homelessness to become effective advocates for supportive housing. Today, experienced participants can be found at the table with government and service provider partners to shape programs and policies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was in foster care, and I\u2019m a survivor of human trafficking. Now I&#8217;m changing systems that impact people\u2019s lives, and I love being able to serve in the community I came from,\u201d said&nbsp;<strong>Kia Dupclay, CSH Speak Up! Alumna and youth systems analyst<\/strong>. \u201cPeople look at me like I\u2019m one in a million, but so many people just like me want to work and thrive. They just need support and resources to get there. If I had aged out of foster care and had gone straight to supportive housing, I could have avoided a lot of terrible experiences during my transition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES, CA\u2013&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15063,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15062\/revisions\/15063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}