From Outreach to Access:
How to Advocate on Behalf of Unhoused People
From Outreach
to Access:
How to Advocate
on Behalf of Unhoused People
Get Trained. Get Equipped. Drive Change.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Arva Park McCabe Auditorium
101 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33130
Thursday, July 17, 2025
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Arva Park McCabe Auditorium
101 W Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33130
Every day, thousands of Floridians face homelessness without access to the basic services they need to survive—let alone thrive. This special training, From Outreach to Access, brings together advocates, legal professionals, service providers, and community members to explore how we can turn outreach efforts into real, sustained access to housing, healthcare, and justice. Join us as we examine the barriers, share solutions, and mobilize for change that centers dignity, equity, and impact.
About the Training
This course will use a case study approach with interactive exercises to learn how to better serve clients experiencing homelessness in Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade County is grappling with a serious homelessness crisis, due to a significant shortage of affordable housing options. This course will be a hands-on learning and collaborative training with partners and advocates to build capacity, identify advocacy options, and explore implementation.
We will use a case study approach to dissect and examine services available, how to access them, and how to advocate for people experiencing homelessness to ensure the services reach a maximum number of people. The course panelists will lead conversations on how various Miami-Dade County organizations provide crisis advocacy and support for individuals experiencing homelessness and how to apply these resources in specific client situations.
Attendees are encouraged to come with an open mind to meet like-minded individuals and to connect with other service providers in order to create and amplify our advocacy network.
Speakers
Hear from experienced professionals and subject-matter experts dedicated to addressing homelessness with insight and integrity. Learn more about the individuals leading this important conversation.
Facilitator

Michelle Jack Llosa
Community Engagement Paralegal, Florida Justice Institute
Michelle Jack Llosa joined the Florida Justice Institute as a paralegal in 2020 and currently serves as the Community Engagement Paralegal bridging the gap between litigation and community advocacy for FJI. She previously worked as a mitigation specialist with the Office of the Public Defender in Miami investigating clients’ psychosocial and educational backgrounds in order to advocate for reduced and alternative sentencing. Michelle was also formerly a senior outreach paralegal at the Florida office of the Southern Poverty Law Center. She graduated from the University of Chicago, where she studied sociology and human development, and from Northeastern University School of Law. Michelle is committed to social justice and passionate about seeking solutions to end the mass caging of human beings.
Panelist

Ray Taseff
Senior Attorney,
Florida Justice Institute
Ray Taseff has been a Senior Attorney with Florida Justice Institute since 2018. Upon graduation from Illinois State University and the Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1982, he began his career as a trial attorney with the Office of the Public Defender in Miami and has continued to practice criminal defense and civil rights litigation ever since. Ray has taught as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami School of Law and at Florida International University. Ray is a member of the Florida, New York and District of Columbia Bars and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Ray has been instrumental in filing cases against counties and municipalities with ordinances that criminalize poverty in an effort to eradicate the practice of arresting people for panhandling.
Panelist
Jocelyn Armand
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy, Legal Services of Greater Miami
Jocelyn Armand serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at Legal Services of Greater Miami. In her current role, Jocelyn oversees Legal Services’ Health and Income Maintenance. Her work focuses on helping clients gain access to public benefits, improving healthcare access, and advocating for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. She plays a central role in challenging systemic barriers that prevent low-income and marginalized communities from accessing the support they need to thrive. Jocelyn also leads the organization’s community engagement efforts, developing strategies to raise awareness of available services and forging impactful collaborations with community-based organizations, healthcare providers, and government entities.
Panelist
David Peery
Founder and Executive Director,
Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE)
David Peery is the Founder and Executive Director of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity. Despite having a law degree, David Peery found himself homeless and living on the streets of Miami due to a bizarre intersection of a false arrest, unlawful self-help eviction, the loss of all of his possessions, and a job lay-off during the height of the 2008 recession. It became clear that homelessness isn’t due to personal irresponsibility, addiction or mental illness, but is deeply rooted in poverty, racism and our societal failure to ensure that housing is a fundamental human right. David became the federal class representative in the Pottinger v City of Miami consent decree that protected rights for unhoused persons in the City of Miami. He is active in several national homeless rights organizations, including serving as co-chair of the National Consumer Advisory Board, and Secretary of the Board of Directors for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council; and twice serving as interim Director of Community Organizing for the National Coalition for the Homeless. David has a law degree from George Washington University and works as a grant writer and health care regulatory compliance consultant.
Panelist
MaryGrace Longoria
Staff Attorney and Skadden Fellow in the Health and Income Maintenance Unit
at Legal Services of Greater Miami
MaryGrace Longoria is currently a Staff Attorney and Skadden Fellow at Legal Services of Greater Miami, serving in the Health and Income Maintenance Unit. To improve outcomes for students with disabilities, her Skadden project focuses on providing direct representation to indigent students with disabilities, training families on their rights, and training attorneys to serve pro bono. MaryGrace has represented hundreds of families in education matters and has provided 30+ trainings on special education in Miami. MaryGrace grew up in Colorado and received her bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Colorado. She graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University’s College of Law and is admitted to the Florida Bar. Prior to law school, she was a community organizer and educator working to bring equitable change in public education.
Panelist
Heather Odell
Equal Justice Works Fellow,
Catholic Legal Services
Heather Odell is an immigration and public benefits attorney at Catholic Legal Services of Miami, where she advocates for noncitizens who are experiencing homelessness in Miami-Dade County through holistic legal representation. As an Equal Justice Works Fellow, she represents clients before state and federal agencies and courts, provides onsite legal consultations at homeless shelters in Miami, and leads advocacy efforts to ensure that noncitizens can access pathways to legal status and public benefits that they are eligible for. Heather received her JD from Boston College Law School and her master’s from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where she specialized in international human rights law and migration. Previously, she worked in refugee resettlement and counter-human trafficking in the United States and Latin America.
Agenda
This schedule provides a breakdown of the day’s sessions, designed to inform and equip attendees through expert-led discussions. Explore the session lineup to learn what will be covered and when.
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM:
Welcome and Introductions: Identifying Program and Community Partners
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM:
Meeting the Client: Case Study Development and Explanation
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM:
Interactive Exercise
Attendees will be broken up into groups to identify the needs of the client and potential resources available. Attendees will collaborate within their groups during a working lunch. Panelists will spend 10-15 minutes with each group to offer suggestions and prompts for discussion.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM:
Convening of Resources: Insights from Expert Panelists
The panelists will walk through the issues identified in the case study and provide recommendations for services as they relate to their individual area of expertise. Each panelist will present on outcomes that have worked for them, services they have been able to successfully get for their clients and troubleshoot potential barriers to services. The facilitator will serve as a liaison to ensure that discussions are timely and that time is allotted for answering questions at the end.
Training Registration
Venue
Miami Dade Main Library
Arva Park McCabe Auditorium
101 W Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM