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August 3rd, 2018   |   Careers, SIT, SIT Graduate Institute

SIT planted an idea that guides Josh Davis鈥� thinking every day.

In his role as executive director of an organization serving the homeless in Brattleboro, Vermont, Davis said, 鈥淧art of my education from SIT that still rings in my ears is the question: 鈥楬ow can we listen to the voices of the people we serve and incorporate that in the work we do?鈥欌��

Groundworks Collaborative is a nonprofit organization that meets far more than the immediate needs of the homeless population. The organization runs shelters but also helps clients obtain and keep housing.

鈥淥ur goal is for everybody to have a safe and decent place to call home,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淥ur motto is 鈥榖asic needs met with dignity.鈥� We鈥檝e got year-round, seasonal, and day shelters, but we also have a food shelf and case management. We work with folk in all stages of homelessness 鈥� from those who are currently experiencing homelessness to those we call 鈥榩recariously housed.鈥欌��

Solving homelessness may seem ambitious, but to Davis, who received a master鈥檚 degree in sustainable development from SIT in 2010, the problem comes down to a few stark realities. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really not an enigma,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to cure cancer. It鈥檚 a three-legged stool.

鈥淔irst, we need housing stock. There鈥檚 only a 1 percent vacancy rate in Brattleboro, and that makes it extremely difficult to get into housing. Second, we need subsidies. If you figure that 30 percent of your income should go to housing, the wage to make that happen is over $20 per hour. Third, we need supportive services. We want to follow folks along their path, and we can dial the services they need up or down.鈥�

The economics of the issue are clear, he said. It costs a lot less to keep people in housing than to have them lose it and have to find their way back. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we don鈥檛 have enough resources,鈥� Davis pointed out. 鈥淲e just have to have the political will to use them.鈥�

In his role at the helm of Groundworks, Davis finds that the skills he learned at SIT often come into play. He laughs when he says, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 think without looking at a flip chart; I credit SIT!鈥�

鈥淲hen I got this position, well, I was in sustainable development, not in management 鈥� there were a number of new skills I had to learn. But my experience with SIT was intense. And it included the experience of figuring out something that was new to me. I鈥檇 just spent a lot of time and energy doing that, and it carried over into my work.鈥�

Davis also notes that SIT鈥檚 emphasis on group work and group dynamics was key to his success. Groundworks is a collaborative merger of the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center and the Morningside Shelter, both of which had existed on their own for decades.

鈥淎t SIT, we had diverse groups of students in terms of gender and age, but also where people were from. That created real opportunities, and also real challenges. SIT鈥檚 emphasis on small-group work was such an integral part of studying there, and it translated well to the work I do now.鈥�

SIT鈥檚 overarching focus on social justice and critical thinking 鈥渕ade a big impression on me,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚t stimulated a lot of great conversation on campus.鈥�

He applies that kind of thinking to the work of addressing the roots of homelessness. It鈥檚 led him to try to address a bigger question: 鈥淲hy are homeless rates so high in this community?鈥�

In his view, SIT plays a large role in creating professionals who are more than just competent leaders, professionals who go beyond the obvious to take on systemic issues.

鈥淚 think that at its best, SIT creates professional activists 鈥� activists in the professional world. There鈥檚 a bent at SIT toward that kind of activism. The work that I do is professional activism 鈥� trying to change the conversation around people that are experiencing homelessness, not just Band-Aid talk about systemic problems.鈥�

How do you do that? 鈥淩oll up your sleeves. Get involved. You can make change from within.鈥�