Last week, members of our Social Justice Team, folks from the Existence Project, Niki Ottosen from the Backpack Project, and representatives from NSUN (Neighbours in Solidarity with Unhoused Neighbours) participated in a roundtable conversation about 'facing homelessness' with Rex Hohlbein. 

Rex's extraordinary and inspiring story came alive for us as we asked questions and spoke of our own challenges advocating for the homeless in Victoria. There were a few great results. Rex is super engaging and interesting, compassionate and knowledgeable, approachable, and able to connect with his audience. We all went away uplifted by the conversation -- with the intention and inspiration to do more. Independent ideas and collaborative opportunities will arise out of this meeting. 

Thanks to Sinan Demirel for introducing us to Rex. And if you are interested in reading more, Sinan's article "What Next for Seattle's Homeless?" is an excellent resource.
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So that you can get a sense of Rex's story, watch his first TED talk here:

And here's a more recent TED talk he did with his daughter and fellow architect about their BLOCK Project (https://www.the-block-project.org/) to site off-grid backyard tiny houses throughout Seattle and beyond:

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