Advocate for the homeless speaks at public forum on campus

Erin Healy, a Saratoga Springs native and advocate for the homeless, led a community discussion at Skidmore College about the issue of homelessness.

Members of the Skidmore community and local citizens gathered in Zankel Music Center on Sept. 26 to take part in a discussion organized by Shelters of Saratoga and hosted by Skidmore’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Office of Community Service. Parker Diggory, director of Religious and Spiritual Life, facilitated the event.

From 2010 to 2014, Healy spearheaded a national campaign to house 100,000 of the country’s most vulnerable homeless individuals within four years. In 2013, she received the United Nations World Habitat Award. Healy’s work has been featured on “60 Minutes,” in the Harvard Business Review and in The New York Times.

A large crowd of community citizens and representatives filled Zankel Music Center for the forum, including Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly and Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan. Shelters of Saratoga board members and members of local faith-based organizations also attended.

“The solution isn’t complicated, but how we approach it and resolve it can be,” said Healy, who called for subsidized housing and other support for the homeless in Saratoga Springs.

Healy expressed hope that Saratoga Springs might join the cohort of communities where the number of permanent housing units for individuals experiencing a housing crisis meets or exceeds the need.

Karen Greggory, executive director of Shelters of Saratoga, expressed confidence in the community’s ability to come together and overcome challenges.

“It will take a lot of creativity, compassion, connections and influence to end homelessness,” she said, “and Saratoga is a great place for that.”