Charlotte Georgiou
Housing First Practice Lead
Unison
Charlotte works as a ‘Housing First Practice Lead’ at Unison. She has worked in frontline and leadership roles in the Victorian Specialist Homelessness Sector, having worked across engagement hub, crisis accommodation, outreach case management and supportive accommodation settings. Charlotte is a National Housing First trainer, providing training locally and internationally. She was the inaugural winner of the Jenny Smith Housing First Scholarship, which supported her attendance at the European Housing First ‘Train the Trainer’, as well as to Housing First visits in five countries. Charlotte is passionate about capacity building for frontline workers towards alignment with Housing First Principles, as well as advocacy for Housing First systems and program design.
SESSIONS
Day 2
1:45
Unpacking coercion and how it seeps into our practice – by stealth, by design and by accident
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisor Supportive Housing Impact & Advocacy, Housing Choices Western Australia
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison
Workshop
9:00
Workshop: Exploring Housing First and how we can use the principles without coercion to rework our practice, service models and system to end homelessness
This session is split into two parts, with the first part before the break exploring the Housing First principles by placing the lens of “without coercion” over them.
This interactive workshop will delve into the Housing First model as a proven approach to ending homelessness. The first part will explore how coercion impacts our day-to-day practice, the design of our service models and our wider service system and how applying the Housing First principles can find ways to reduce and eliminate coercion from our work. The session will include group discussions, problem-solving exercises, and scenario-based learning to help attendees translate theory into action.
By the end of part 1 of this workshop, participants will:
Understand the Housing First model – its principles, benefits, and how it actively challenges the use of coercion.
Explore explicit and unintended use of coercion – unpack examples of how coercion seeps into practice, service models and the wider system and the impact this has on both the people we are aiming to help and the staff in our services.
Identify opportunities for change – within our current work environments, service models and system that could be used as leverage points to create change, that will be workshopped in part 2 of this session.
Facilitators:
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisory Supportive Housing, Housing Choices
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison
Workshop
11:15
Workshop: Exploring Housing First and how we can use the principles without coercion to rework our practice, service models and system to end homelessness.
This session is split into two parts, with the second part after the break exploring opportunities to leverage change in our practice, service models and the wider system to implement Housing First without coercion.
This interactive workshop will delve into the Housing First model as a proven approach to ending homelessness through systems change. The second part focuses on what can be done to drive meaningful change. The session will include group discussions, problem-solving exercises, and scenario-based learning to help attendees translate theory into action.
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
Identify their capacity to influence – at a practice, service or system level and understand the importance of each of these.
Engage in practical problem-solving by working through common challenges in Housing First implementation faced both in their own work or imposed on them by the service model and system we work in.
Develop an action plan for applying Housing First strategies within their own work, organisations or communities.
Facilitators:
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisory Supportive Housing, Housing Choices
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison