Speaker: Gwen Austin

Deepening Our Understanding of the Homeless

Gwen Austin is a community builder and social justice advocate with Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), an organization in Berkeley, California that helps homeless and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency, as well as fights the root causes of poverty and homelessness.  ​The organization was founded in 1971 by a group of volunteers who responded to the needs of mentally ill individuals being released to the streets by state hospital closures.  Today BOSS is an award-winning organization that helps people who are facing deep poverty and multiple special needs.  BOSS works one-on-one with each family and each individual to help them achieve stable income, permanent affordable housing, and lasting wellness.  Its programs include emergency shelters, transitional houses, education and employment programs, family and child development services, health and mental health care programs, leadership development and organizing initiatives, re-entry initiatives, and more.

Gwen's commitment to community service did not begin in social justice-related matters, but rather traversed a different journey.  She began her career working for Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies in management roles.  "As it would happen," she recounts, "I was laid off from a job where I then went on a discovery journey for what the next part of my life would be.  After about five years at various companies, I decided to return to college to finish getting my degree in teaching.  But of course, I ended up getting entirely different degrees."

She considers herself an unabashed optimist, and believes in "trusting the process" because "life has a way of transforming you for the better," and so she urges that "you shouldn't be afraid of sharing yourself with others."

Gwen received a BA in justice studies from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois, where she was the recipient of the university's 2007 Social Justice Award.  She received her master's degree in Criminal/Social Justice from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois outside Chicago.

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