Everywhere across San Mateo County and beyond, aging parents caring for adult children with lifelong mental health disabilities are asking: Where will my disabled adult child live? And who will be there to help when I am gone?” For this invisible population at risk of homelessness, housing alone is not enough. Learn why this vulnerable group is currently not accounted for in housing planning and what essential onsite services, connections, and relationships make Permanent Supportive Housing sustainable over time.

Moderator

Melinda Henning, Parent Advocate, Solutions for Supportive Homes

Communication consultant and speaking coach to mission driven business and social benefit leaders for four decades, Melinda has also been a longtime advocate for mental health care and supportive housing, serving on the Board of NAMI/SMC, as Founder of California Families for Supportive Homes, and as a founding member and Advisor to Solutions for Supportive Homes (s4sh.org).  Earlier in her career, she was Director of Therapeutic Education for adolescents and adults in a well-regarded private psychiatric hospital in the East Bay.

Speaker

Carolyn Shepard, President, Solutions for Supportive Homes

With an over 35-year career as a bilingual educator and an award-winning leader of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the Association of Mexican American Educators and the Palo Alto Kiwanis Club, Carolyn was well prepared to assume the founding Presidency of Solutions for Supportive Homes (s4sh.org). Since 2019, Carolyn has led the growth of this grassroots advocacy group from a few families around a table to a focused network of nearly 100, increasingly adding value to mental health care and affordable housing planning, especially in San Mateo County. Carolyn’s vision led to connection with the USF Ph.D. program in Nursing Practice where the Invisible Population Project uncovered an unaccounted for group of adults in San Mateo County at imminent risk of homelessness.