lived experience advisory group

Shaping solutions to homelessness through lived experience.

The Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) brings together people with lived experience of homelessness who are shaping how our community responds to homelessness.

LEAG members are facilitators, advocates, creatives, and leaders building power and systems change in our community through outreach, advocacy, community education, and organizing.

LEAG’s work is rooted in the belief that lived experience is essential to creating solutions to homelessness that actually work.

Apply to join

Become a patroN

What we do

LEAG members are engaged in community-centered and systems-level work, including:

Peer Support & Community Care
- We host a bi-weekly peer support group for individuals experiencing homelessness staying in shelter, or who are recently housed, creating space for connection, reflection, community integration, and mutual support.
Influence Policy
- We advocate for policy changes at the local and state level to support more effective and humane solutions to homelessness by bringing lived experience into policy conversations and decision-making spaces
Community Education & Engagement
- We host community events that invite people to deepen their understanding of the experience of homelessness and explore what it takes to build a more connected and responsive community for US ALL through education and experience sharing.

Why Lived Experience Matters

Solutions to homelessness have historically been created without the direct input of those most impacted.

Lived experience brings:

Insight into what works and what doesn’t from the people who have experienced it
A deeper understanding of barriers within existing systems that providers and policy makers may not understand
Accountability to dignity, access, and belonging

When lived experience is not just included, but the source of solutions the system becomes more grounded, more effective, and more human.

Meet LEAG Members

Mace Crowbear

LEAG Member

Tony Del Zompo

LEAG Member

Chris Field

LEAG Member

Lori McCormic

LEAG Member

David Motzkus

LEAG Member

Curtis Reliford

LEAG Member

Get Involved

Attend an Event

Join us for our monthly events, Neighbors for Neighbors and Picture This. Learn more here.

Partner with LEAG

Collaborate with us to bring lived experience into your programs, organizational planning, or community events.
Reach out to Andrea Feltz, LEAG Program Manager, at afeltz@housingmatterssc.org or 831-226-2516 to connect further on partnership opportunities.

Become a Patron

Become a fiscal sponsor of LEAG! Your financial contributions go directly to supporting the program operations, event costs, and compensation for LEAG members. To learn more, click here.

Join LEAG

If you have lived experience of homelessness and are interested in being part of this work, you can begin your application here.
To qualify for LEAG membership, you must:

Be at least 18 years-old
Have lived experience of homelessness
Have the ability to attend in-person meetings and events

Questions?

Please reach out to Andrea Feltz, LEAG Program Manager at afeltz@housingmatterssc.org or (831) 226-2516 to connect further about LEAG!

“

Seeing the attitude towards me when I was living unhoused was really hard. There’s a sense of invisibility where you don’t want people to see you as homeless and be recognized as homeless. And people in turn do not want to see [you]. But we are all human at the end of the day. Just trying to meet our basic needs and survive.”

Robert, Housing Matters program participant

Interested in sharing your story?

Send us an Email

Read Stories of Resilience

About the Lived Experience Advisory Group

The Story Archive aims to record, preserve, and share the stories of people who have experienced homelessness in Santa Cruz County. Through storytelling and personal narrative, the Story Archive aims to break down biases and humanize issues related to homelessness.

To submit your story to the Story Archive, contact Andrea Feltz, Lived Experience Advisory Group Manager at: afeltz@housingmatterssc.org

The Lived Experience Advisory Group Speaker Bureau program provides spaces for historically marginalized voices of people with lived experience of homelessness to share their insights with the community through storytelling.

Compensated opportunities are provided to trained speakers to participate in panel discussions, speaker series and educational events focused on topics related to homelessness hosted by Housing Matters and its partners in the community.

Benefits of joining the Bureau:

Access a free, 8 hour in person training certification program focused on personal narrative development and public speaking
Compensated opportunities to speak and/or participate in a variety of events in the community on topics related to homelessness
1×1 coaching and support from the Lived Experience Advisory Group Manager
Become connected to spaces in the community that align with your personal and professional advocacy goals

How do I join the Speakers Bureau?
To join the Bureau, please fill out the application here. Our team will review applications on a rolling basis and reach out to you directly with next steps. Please allow 10-14 business days from your application submission to hear back.

What if I don’t want to speak publicly?
Apply anyway! Opportunities vary from participating in small group conversations, to writing opinion pieces and stories, to speaking at live events. Speakers work directly with Andrea Feltz, Lived Experience Advisory Group Manager, to identify opportunities that feel the most comfortable.

For questions or further inquiry, please contact Andrea Feltz, Lived Experience Advisory Group Manager at: afeltz@housingmatterssc.org or (831) 226-2516

Host a member of our Speakers Bureau at your next event!
Are you interested in inviting speakers with lived experience of homelessness to your next panel discussion, roundtable conversation, or event? Please reach out to Andrea Feltz, Lived Experience Advisory Group Manager directly at afeltz@housingmatterssc.org or (831) 226-2516 to discuss further.

We invite our program participants to engage in consistent surveys and focus groups to help inform best practices as an organization.

We offer annual surveys of our emergency shelter, day services, and supportive services participants and facilitated focus groups. Through open dialogue, we consistently identify opportunities to improve the services we provide.