June 2025

Cascadia Peer Provider speaks at Multnomah County Homeless Services conference

On June 9, 2025, Cascadia Health Peer Provider Cassie Marusa took part in a panel discussion about the importance of listening to lived experience of homelessness when looking to make changes and improvements to the system. The panel, “Pathways Research Project: Leading with Lived Experience,” was part of Multnomah County Homeless Services Department’s 2025 Provider Conference at Mt. Hood Community College.

Cassie is part of the Lived Experience Committee (LEC) for the Pathways Through Homelessness study, which is exploring how people navigate homelessness in Multnomah County. The study includes a large-scale survey and in-depth qualitative interviews, which the LEC has helped to design, guide, and implement since the start of the project.

The panel discussion included Cassie and two other LEC members, as well a researcher and a Homeless Services Department representative. The group described the committee’s work, presented early findings, discussed the value of lived experience in informing research, practice, and policy, and answered audience questions.

Cassie was enthusiastic about the panel’s reception.

“We had a classroom full of attendees from various support providers who were really interested in learning how the Lived Experience Committee is contributing to the collection of this important data on homelessness in Multnomah County.” 

“We had so many good questions from attendees and even some people who expressed interest in volunteering with the project,” Cassie added. “We also shared some preliminary data, and everyone was very interested in that.”

Thank you, Multnomah County, for providing this forum for partners to share information and seek solutions together!