Advertise on podcast: Voice: A Catholic Charities Podcast

Homeless. What comes to mind when you hear that word? The Housing and Urban Development definition to be homeless is to have stayed last night in one of four locations or situations.   That's a place not fit for human habitation, like under a bridge or a skyway or bus stop. An emergency shelter would be one of those, transitional housing or if you're exiting an institution like a prison or a hospital. There is a vast diversity of situations that exist in homelessness. Some may even challenge some assumptions you have about "homelessness."

Lorna Schmidt, Public policy manager with Catholic Charities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis offers some top tips and tricks for getting lawmakers to listen to you. Lorna is joined by Paul Slack, who is the vice president of Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. 

The importance of stable housing is undeniable; it is one of the best-researched indicators of good health. Housing instability puts one at risk for poor health, and poor health increases the risk of housing instability. What are the individual, societal, and cultural impacts of this cycle? What are the underlying causes, and how can we address them?

Lorna Schmidt and Mike Rios-Keating take a look back at some of the key episodes and guests from the first year of the Voice podcast.  

Incidental music: Point de vue by Mathieu La montagne & Emmanuel Toledo

As a society, we operate in systems: ecosystems, education, economic, political systems. How systems relate to social justice and what it means to bring about systems change is the work of Courageous Change Collective.  Sindy Morales Garcia and Kirsten Johnson of Courageous Change Collective join Mike Rios-Keating for a discussion on systems change.

In this podcast, we've taken some time to explore Catholic social thought, teachings that have given Catholic Charities its grounding, and on which the agency's mission was founded. In this episode, we wanted to get into what is often referred to as the core pillar, the cornerstone tenant: human dignity. To dive into this pillar we talk with Doctor Roger Bergman, professor emeritus of Creighton University.

When explaining homelessness, statistics are used to demonstrate the scope of the issue, but can the arts create awareness and understanding about homelessness that numbers can’t? Mike Rios-Keating talks with Maren Ward, Artistic Director of the zAmaya Theater Project about the organization’s unique approach to community collaboration and partnership using performances and storytelling to share experiences of homelessness through those who have experienced homelessness, are experiencing homelessness and those with no experience with it.

The tendency is to think of housing as an issue at the municipal level but what role does the state play in addressing the housing crisis when each community's needs are so different? Can statewide policy really meet local housing needs, given the diversity we see across the state? Lorna Schmidt talks to Representative Mike Howard, a 2nd term legislator representing District 50A, which includes the suburb of Richfield, and who serves as Vice-Chair of the Housing Finance & Policy Committee.  

Trauma exists in many forms and millions of Americans experience it every year. Traumatic experiences impact mental and physical health and significantly impacts one's overall well-being. Trauma has ripple effects for one's families and across generations. As statistics on trauma become more widely known there is a growing need for what is known as Trauma-informed Care. Lorna Schmidt discusses Trauma-informed Care with Stacie Joncas, Senior Program Manager of Clinical Health at Catholic Charities. 

Mike Rios-Keating speaks to Ron Krietemeyer who has deep roots in Catholic Social Teaching and was instrumental in forming the list of ten themes that are still used as an overall framework for understanding how the principles of Catholic Social Teaching flow from one to another.

Every year the legislature convenes to conduct some of the states most critical business. Even though their work impacts every one every single day, how much do average citizens know about how it works and what goes on at the capitol and how can you make your voice heard?