About the PWLEC

The Partners with Lived Expertise Committee (PWLEC), previously Persons of Lived Experience (PLE) Cohort, is made up of persons with lived experience of homelessness who come from racially diverse backgrounds and have experienced multiple intersectional barriers to housing. We stand together as the bridge between the system and persons experiencing homelessness. We share our own experience and expertise with others to build relationships and to inspire transformative and equitable change across the system. We recognize that this work comes at high personal cost to every one of us due to personal and systemic trauma around race, gender, socioeconomic status, and host of other factors, and because of that, work together to support one another through this work.

The PWLEC was born from the Racial Equity plan in January 2022. Since that time, it has grown from 3 to 10 members and continues to grow.

Our Duties

Advise on ongoing projects from around the CoC

Identify Barriers to and gaps in inequity

Elevate voices of people with lived experience

Design and propose solutions to challenges

Our Priorities

Creating better access to housing resources and services regardless of race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, parental status, housing status, or other protected status.
Increasing the numbers of unsheltered persons that receive permanent housing as well as supportive services to treat trauma, mental and physical health, and life skills to maintain permanent housing.
Ensuring partners with lived expertise continue being heard, seen, acknowledged, and uplifted to positions of power to create change.
Making an organic, lasting, and transformative change, via advocating for those without a voice to provide a greater shift in serving historically excluded and exploited people and continuing to move the work forward.
Dismantling structural and institutional discrimination within our local homelessness response system and beyond.

Ongoing Projects

Being voting members of the Racial Equity and Project Review Committee

Serving on the Shared Housing Work Group

Serving on the Language Accessibility Work Group

Serving as Racial Equity Liaisons for various CoC committees

Implementing trainers/facilitators for Housing Problem Solving, supporting both provider training and implementation

Serving on the CAS Core Development team, alongside city and county partners, reviewing and revising policy and procedures related to sheltering and CAS