National experts have called out the aging of the homeless population as an impending crisis. [1] This demographic shift is happening rapidly, mirroring general population trends. Nationwide, currently half of single homeless adults are aged 50 or older, compared to 11% in 1990. [2] Moreover, according to a white paper prepared by the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and presented to a New York City coalition studying ways to address the aging of the homeless population, “not only are those on the streets getting older, but their health is deteriorating at rates much faster than the general population.” [3] The paper cites research showing that homeless adults over 50 had a higher prevalence of geriatric conditions than that seen in housed adults 20 years older. [4] Another study showed that older homeless adults were 3.6 times as likely to have a chronic medical condition as homeless adults under 50. [5] Such findings clearly indicate a pressing need for housing and services that specifically address geriatric conditions among older homeless adults living across varied environments. [6]

Coaching can have a profound impact on leadership skills, relationships with staff and board members, overall job satisfaction and work-life balance, confidence, and adaptability.  John Gilvar’s approach to professional and leadership coaching emphasizes the following touchstones:

I started Gilvar Consulting Services to partner with organizations providing health care, housing, and homeless services and help expand their capacity to meet the needs of patients, residents, clients, and the broader community.  I especially wanted GCS to support community partnership development and efforts to bring to scale cross-agency collaborations integrating physical and behavioral health care as well as housing and shelter services.  As the director of large Health Care for the Homeless programs in both Texas and Washington, I developed and managed numerous successful collaborative initiatives with these same goals. I’m now using my strategic planning, advocacy, policy development, and operations management experience in a variety of new ways.