This event has been ended!
It Takes A Village - Youth and Homelessness
Event by: Wynne Wakkila
Location: Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, Southwest 2nd Avenue 112, Portland
About event
Free and open to the public. Doors open for this event at 6pm. Come early and order some food and drinks. Register at pdxcityclub.org so we know which room to use.
Join City Club’s Health and Public Safety Issue Committee to learn more about age-appropriate support for youth experiencing homelessness from HomePlate Youth Services, Washington County’s only nonprofit provider of drop-in centers and street outreach specifically for young people. Speakers include Executive Director Dorian Russell and board member Iris Martin, who recently served as Interim Co-Executive Director at Outside In. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in discussion.
This event is part of the It Takes a Village series, which brings together partners in the work to reduce homelessness and housing insecurity in the Portland metro area to share different service models tailored to the unique needs of the populations they serve, helping people across a range of circumstances get and stay housed.
About the Speakers
Dorian Russell is the Executive Director of HomePlate Youth Services, Washington County’s only comprehensive, age-appropriate homeless services organization providing street outreach and drop-in services for youth ages 12-24 countywide. They are proud to serve in public office on the Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD) Board where they craft policies prioritizing healthy outcomes for children with disabilities in 20 school districts across four Oregon counties. Dorian also serves as an appointed member of the Hillsboro Library Board. Their professional background in program administration and public policy spans federal and local government, nonprofit, and university sectors. Across roles, Dorian brings lived perspective as a queer, genderfluid, person with a disability from low-income circumstances - they even accessed services at HomePlate as a teen themselves! Dorian holds a research master’s degree in environmental science and has 30+ publications and a book on topics ranging from equitable practices in workforce development to the quantified impacts of habitat loss. In their spare time, Dorian enjoys volunteering as an illustrator, birdwatching, and adventures with their elderly chihuahua, Mort.
Iris Martin is a strategic and culturally responsive leader with more than 18 years of experience spanning education, health, and social impact. She recently served as Interim Co-Executive Director at Outside In, a Portland-based organization serving homeless youth and providing community health services, where she led cross-sector teams to advance integrated care, policy innovation, and equity in healthcare. Iris previously directed adolescent and leadership programs at Girls Leadership in Oakland, developing arts-based and trauma-informed curricula for youth nationwide. She also teaches Communication Studies at the University of Portland and formerly at San Francisco State University, where her work centers on intersectional identity, race, and gender in communication. Currently, Iris serves as Director of Engagement and Public Affairs at Wallace Medical in East Multnomah County. When she’s not teaching, working, or volunteering as a Board Member at HomePlate Youth Services, she enjoys reading, crafting with her daughter, and baking something sweet.
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Kells for generously hosting us! Doors open at 6 pm, and we encourage you to come early or stay after the program to continue the conversation and support Kells.
Join City Club’s Health and Public Safety Issue Committee to learn more about age-appropriate support for youth experiencing homelessness from HomePlate Youth Services, Washington County’s only nonprofit provider of drop-in centers and street outreach specifically for young people. Speakers include Executive Director Dorian Russell and board member Iris Martin, who recently served as Interim Co-Executive Director at Outside In. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in discussion.
This event is part of the It Takes a Village series, which brings together partners in the work to reduce homelessness and housing insecurity in the Portland metro area to share different service models tailored to the unique needs of the populations they serve, helping people across a range of circumstances get and stay housed.
About the Speakers
Dorian Russell is the Executive Director of HomePlate Youth Services, Washington County’s only comprehensive, age-appropriate homeless services organization providing street outreach and drop-in services for youth ages 12-24 countywide. They are proud to serve in public office on the Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD) Board where they craft policies prioritizing healthy outcomes for children with disabilities in 20 school districts across four Oregon counties. Dorian also serves as an appointed member of the Hillsboro Library Board. Their professional background in program administration and public policy spans federal and local government, nonprofit, and university sectors. Across roles, Dorian brings lived perspective as a queer, genderfluid, person with a disability from low-income circumstances - they even accessed services at HomePlate as a teen themselves! Dorian holds a research master’s degree in environmental science and has 30+ publications and a book on topics ranging from equitable practices in workforce development to the quantified impacts of habitat loss. In their spare time, Dorian enjoys volunteering as an illustrator, birdwatching, and adventures with their elderly chihuahua, Mort.
Iris Martin is a strategic and culturally responsive leader with more than 18 years of experience spanning education, health, and social impact. She recently served as Interim Co-Executive Director at Outside In, a Portland-based organization serving homeless youth and providing community health services, where she led cross-sector teams to advance integrated care, policy innovation, and equity in healthcare. Iris previously directed adolescent and leadership programs at Girls Leadership in Oakland, developing arts-based and trauma-informed curricula for youth nationwide. She also teaches Communication Studies at the University of Portland and formerly at San Francisco State University, where her work centers on intersectional identity, race, and gender in communication. Currently, Iris serves as Director of Engagement and Public Affairs at Wallace Medical in East Multnomah County. When she’s not teaching, working, or volunteering as a Board Member at HomePlate Youth Services, she enjoys reading, crafting with her daughter, and baking something sweet.
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to Kells for generously hosting us! Doors open at 6 pm, and we encourage you to come early or stay after the program to continue the conversation and support Kells.