Joann Markley has been ending homelessness, one life at a time, since the mid-90s. With compassion and care, she has impacted thousands of people, first in her role as a hands-on case manager and later as she led teams of case managers, all serving people moving from homelessness to housing.
Joann began as a case manager with a one-year contract to house people who had severe and persistent mental illness. That one-year contract turned into a 30-year career, more than half of which has been with Roof Above (originally with Urban Ministry Center). At the end of February, she retired as Vice President of Scattered-Site Housing, and wow, is she leaving a legacy!
Part of what fueled Joann’s career is “having the benefit of seeing people housed and what an impact it makes on their lives.”
When Urban Ministry Center piloted the first permanent supportive housing program with a Housing First focus, Homeless to Homes, Joann was chosen as the case manager, traveling to people’s homes to provide services. She landed the job with her compassion. When asked during her interview what she would do if a client called her in crisis, in the middle of the night, Joann said she’d get out of bed and go to the client. Her answer exemplifies the care with which she embraced her work, which was based on relationships and engagement.
Joann remembers that the first people were housed in the Homeless to Homes pilot on May 17, 2008. She says, “There are people who are still in the program. Case management is a big part of why they are still housed.”
That first year, there were 13 people in the Homeless to Homes program. Today, 257 people receive wraparound services in our Scattered-Site housing.
She brought passion and practicality to her leadership role because she remembered how hard the work of case management is. Joann was able to stay in the work, despite the challenges, because she had hope for everyone to get and keep housing in safe neighborhoods. She says, “We have some really significant opportunities for folks we’re working with.”
Her years of experience have taught her to reframe the assumption that the case manager knows what somebody needs to do with those opportunities. She says, “We have to honor choice.” She believes that life is a process, not just an event, and that whatever ends up happening is part of the person’s journey.
One major change over her career has been the availability of affordable housing. Joann recalls that, when she began case management, it was fairly easy to find affordable housing, but there was a lack of vouchers for subsidized housing. Thirty years later, the issues have flipped. More people have housing vouchers, but it’s much harder to find affordable housing.
Joann is looking forward to starting her mornings without an alarm, swimming again, traveling, reading, and maybe even volunteering at Roof Above.
She says, “I have a lot of gratitude that I was lucky enough to find something in my life that I really like to do.”
In truth, the clients Joann worked with and the teammates she shared her wisdom with are the lucky ones.