Stephen Watters

Background

About Stephen Watters

At First Step Communities, we are developing a program for an interim homeless community that will provide shelter, services such as job and housing readiness training, life skills, and medical support both for addressing physical and mental health issues. Our community will provide a program for 100-150 participants at a time in several currently planned sites. Our model village can be replicated as required in the Sacramento Region. We are working through the planning stages with Sacramento Steps Forward, the city policy makers and council members, as well as, collaborative service provider partners. Our community will have a full service community center with a medical clinic and energy efficient, solar powered off-the grid sleeping cabins. We are currently working on two villages that we anticipate implementing in 2020. I am also teaching Cultural Anthropology classes at various Los Rios Community College District campuses. This gives me the opportunity to help college students learn about cultural diversity and the forces of culture change at work in the globalized world of the 21st century. I find a great deal of overlap between my two primary activities, non-profit helping the homeless and teaching cultural anthropology. To the extent that I can share relevant ideas and cultural understanding with the students of today while helping those less fortunate find a new direction, I feel I am adding value to the community. I am grateful for the opportunity.