AMES, Iowa — Seema Clifasefi, director of the Doorway Project in Seattle, will present the keynote lecture for the 2025 Gordon Homelessness Symposium at Iowa State University.

Organized by housing researcher Jane Rongerude, associate professor of community and regional planning, with support from the Gordon Family Endowment, this year’s half-day symposium will highlight the efforts of young people in Des Moines and Seattle to address issues of housing insecurity and homelessness among youth in both cities.

The free event will be from 1:45–6 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at the Student Innovation Center (SICTR) on the Iowa State campus.

Schedule

1:45–3:30 p.m. Zine workshop, 1118 SICTR
3:30–5:30 p.m. Keynote lecture and panel discussion, 2260 SICTR
5:30–6 p.m. Reception, 2260 SICTR

Eli Williams from the Homeward Youth Action Council in Des Moines and Aaron Davis from the Doorway Project will lead a “Making Change” zine workshop beginning at 1:45 p.m. High school- and college-aged youth are invited to participate in making a zine that shares their life experiences and adds their voices to the story about their community.

Clifasefi’s public talk, “The Doorway Project: A Collaborative Approach to Youth-Led Healing and Homelessness Solutions,” will begin at 3:30 p.m. She will provide an overview of Seattle’s Doorway Project and its three foundational pillars: Connect, Create and Learn.

A panel discussion featuring youth council members and staff from both the Doorway Project and Homeward will follow, exploring the challenges and successes of this type of work. Together, the team will highlight the transformative power of healing-centered engagement and the central role of lived expertise in addressing homelessness and other systemic social issues.

About the keynote speaker

Clifasefi is an adjunct associate professor in the University of Washington (UW) School of Social Work and an associate professor who co-directs the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment Center at the UW-Harborview Medical Center.

She serves as the UW faculty sponsor and director of the Doorway Project, a Washington state-funded initiative that aims to strengthen services for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness by working directly with them to create sustainable and meaningful solutions, so everyone can access the resources and tools needed to thrive.

Clifasefi’s research and teaching focus on the intersection of substance use, mental health, criminal justice and housing policy, with an emphasis on populations with lived experience of homelessness, substance use and/or involvement in the criminal justice system.

Over the past 15 years, she has worked collaboratively with affected communities to develop, evaluate and disseminate programs and interventions that aim to reduce substance-related harm and improve quality of life.

Bridging Gaps, Building Futures panel discussion

Following her presentation, Clifasefi will facilitate a public panel discussion on “Bridging Gaps, Building Futures: Co-Creating Solutions to Youth Homelessness.”

Panelists include:

  • Afomia Assefa, Doorway Project program supervisor and a graduate student in information management at the University of Washington
  • Aaron Davis, Doorway Project program operation specialist and a nationally certified health education specialist and community health scientist
  • Raven Lotus, Doorway Project Youth Action Board member
  • Eli Williams, City of Des Moines associate and an interior design graduate of Iowa State

Street Strength exhibition

“Street Strength,” an exhibition of work by members of the Doorway Project Youth Action Board and Homeward Youth Advisory Council, will be on display from March 12–21 in the wall-mounted glass display cases between rooms 0134 and 0146 College of Design and March 12–28 in the College of Design’s Pickard Chilton Gallery (first-floor corridor of the King Pavilion).

Contacts

Jane Rongerude, Associate Professor, Department of Community and Regional Planning, jrong@iastate.edu
Karlyn Rainey, Alumni Relations and Events Coordinator, College of Design, 515-294-5791, krainey@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Director of Strategic Communications, College of Design, hsauer@iastate.edu

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