Charity and conference attendees at NWSN’s Capitol Hill Day
Cameo House Visits Our Nation’s Capitol to Advocate for Women and Children Experiencing Homelessness
Our Cameo House Program Director, Charity Harris, recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the 2025 National Women’s Shelter Network (NWSN) National Conference, Shelters United for Women, Children and Families ~ Saving and Changing Lives.
In attendance were hundreds of shelter leaders and other experts, national allies and partners, as well as key government officials and stakeholders. The aim of the conference was to advance the status of women, children, and families experiencing homelessness across the country, while uplifting the shelters and safe havens — like CJCJ’s Cameo House program — that serve them.
With over 45 informative presentations and breakout sessions, including a workshop resource center to connect providers with the resources they need, there was a wealth of information shared and connections made throughout the week. Presentations focused on the needs of shelters and safe haven programs and ranged from trauma-informed fundamentals, to the special health and mental health needs of sheltered women and children, strategies to help children and families heal, job readiness training and employment programs, recuperative care, youth programs, maternity group homes and more.
There is something extremely powerful and comforting about being in community with other women supporting women-serving organizations. What I took from this experience is that we are not alone in this struggle. We are a network of powerful women who will use their strength and loud voices to beat this epidemic.
During the week, attendees also went to the Capitol to educate our legislators on the importance of of safe, supportive shelter for women, children and families experiencing homelessness. They advocated for providing vital resources to women’s and family shelter programs to support successful transitions out of homelessness. Some highlights for Charity were the opportunities for networking and being in community with other women who share in the struggles and triumphs of serving sheltered women and children. “There is something extremely powerful and comforting about being in community with other women supporting women-serving organizations. What I took from this experience is that we are not alone in this struggle. We are a network of powerful women who will use their strength and loud voices to beat this epidemic. We are women powered and together we are stronger.” Nationwide, over 1 million women and 2.5 million children experience homelessness, with these numbers only growing. Shelters and programs like Cameo House are the first responders in this nationwide epidemic of homelessness that is hitting women, children, and seniors the hardest.
Attendees also went to Capitol Hill to advocate for sponsorship of the “The Women’s and Family Protection Act”, which was being introduced by the NWSN. Charity had the opportunity to join fellow attendees from California to speak to our district representatives about the bill. The bill would allocate $505 million over a five-year period to support organizations working with women and children experiencing homelessness. Cameo House remains one of the only long-term residential options for justice-involved women with children in San Francisco. Supporting women and children during one of the most difficult times in their lives is challenging and transformative work. Thank you to the organizers, speakers, and attendees for this conference! With inspiration and appreciation, we are taking the strength, resources, and connections made in Washington, D.C. back to Cameo House . We are stronger together.
Want to know more about the work we do at Cameo House? Look under Our Programs on our website. We offer supportive services for all ages of justice-involved individuals.
