September 16, 2026
9:00am-3:30pm Pacific Daylight Time on Zoom
4.5 CEUs
The first of our Older Adults on the Margins trainings, this 4.5 hour course will give those who work with unstably housed or unhoused older adults, and those who may in the future, a foundational understanding of contributing factors, unique challenges and strategies of support.
Adults 50 years of age and older represent nearly half of the total homeless population in the United States, and simultaneously an increasing number of those who are housed are rent burdened and at risk of homelessness. Across sectors and specialties, there is an urgent need for service providers to coordinate a tailored response, which begins with an understanding of the contributing factors and the key characteristics for older adults experiencing homelessness. Because of the unique risks and challenges for older adults to navigate homelessness and support services, providers must familiarize themselves with evidence- and practice-informed strategies for engagement, assessment, and intervention.
The training will include special guests who work closely with this population.
In this workshop you will learn to:
- Understand the socio-economic context for the rise in older adults who are becoming unhoused.
- Describe the common risks and challenges for older adults who are unhoused (or unstably housed).
- Identify key characteristics in a comprehensive assessment of older adults who are unhoused (or at risk of becoming unhoused).
- Utilize evidence- and practice-informed strategies/interventions for supporting older adults who are unhoused or unstably housed.
We encourage anyone who works with this population or may in the future to attend this training. Non-clinicians welcome!
About the Instructor
Jams Stuivenga, LSWAIC, GMHS (they/them/their) is the Clinical Supervisor for the Geriatric Regional Assessment Team (GRAT) at Sound Generations. Jams first became involved in direct service as a weekly overnight volunteer at a homeless shelter. This led to work in providing emergency hygiene services, to graduate studies in Social Work (with a focus on gerontology), and to overseeing a transitional housing program and resident services for formerly unhoused adults. More recently as a member of GRAT, Jams is actively involved in outreaching adults 55 and older who are having difficulty with declining behavioral health and accessing support services. Jams continues to learn how to walk alongside those in need who are navigating limited resources, fragmented services, economic disparity, and social stigma.
About the Guest Speakers
Molly Bosch, RN, BSN, CWCN is a nurse on the VITAL Outreach team, a collaboration between Harborview and REACH. This team is an integrated street-based outreach care team working with a panel of patients who are experiencing chronic incarceration and homelessness and who have diagnoses of substance use disorders, severe mental illness, and chronic medical comorbidities. Molly also helps lead the volunteer-based Free Clinic through Operation Nightwatch. Outside of work, Molly loves to spend time in nature, listen to good live music, and watch reruns of Saturday Night Live with her two cats on her lap. She is thrilled and humbled to join this panel to discuss cases of complex care coordination for Older Adults who are living unstably housed.
Michael A. Light, LICSW, MPH, APHSW-C is the social worker with the Homeless Palliative Care team at Harborview Medical Center and Co-Director of the Palliative Care Training Center at the University of Washington. They research and speak on the intersections of homelessness, serious illness, and psychosocial care. Michael completed an MSW and an MPH in Global Health at UW. Prior clinical work includes emergency medical and psychiatric care as well as training and research support for medical social work and palliative care development in Cambodia. Michael is Distinguished Faculty with VitalTalk and is a former New York University Zelda Foster Fellow in Palliative Care.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 9am – 3:30pm Pacific Daylight Time. The session begins promptly at 9 am and includes short breaks and a lunch break. This program will be taught over Zoom. Information and Zoom link will be sent out 1 week beforehand. Please make sure to save the link.
COST – $165 / $135 if you register for both Older Adults in the Margins trainings (Training 2- It’s Complicated: How to Best Support Older Adults Leaving the Carceral System – September 23, 2026) $300 for both
Organizational Discounts and Scholarships available.
Special Discount for Students! Email alisonc@soundgenerations.org for the discount code.
Please Note: For those of you with special payment arrangements or organizational group discounts, please contact Alison at alisonc@soundgenerations.org to register.