Dreaming Toward Liberation: A Future Yet Imagined

On October 27th, 2026, Homeless Children's Network (HCN) gathered advocates for children and youth at the Southeast Community Center in San Francisco to celebrate young people's dreams and potential. The event explored vital themes of Youth, Intersectionality, and Dream Liberation, with uplifting dialogue about nurturing thriving, empowered futures for young people and families.

It was an impressive gathering of community leaders. Dr. Tiana Moore-Fitzsimmons, Chief Operations Officer of HCN, moderated a discussion with three panelists: Dr. April Y. Silas, Chief Executive Officer of HCN; Dr. Aaron Baugh, a pulmonary and critical care physician at UCSF; and Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens, an award-winning clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley. They shared stories of walking alongside young people and encouraged the community to create conditions for youth to heal, imagine, and pursue the futures they envision for themselves.

Cultivating Bold Spaces for Young People's Dreams & Reflection

Framing the event around the concept of dreaming, Dr. Moore-Fitzsimmons encouraged adults to recognize that every young person deserves a space to dream boldly and unapologetically about who they want to become and the world they want to live in. "As the title alludes, today is about dreaming—dreaming about liberation, dreaming about what's possible for our communities, for our youth, and for generations yet to come... Audre Lorde once wrote, 'It is our dreams that point our way to freedom.' She continued:

As we spend this afternoon together, I invite each of us to dream, to imagine what liberation could look like for the youth in our lives, for our communities, and to consider the role that we each play in bringing that vision to life."— Dr. Tiana Moore-Fitzsimmons, COO, HCN

Dr. Moore-Fitzsimmons invited each person in the room to imagine what liberation could look like for the youth in their lives and communities, and to consider the role each of us plays in bringing that vision to life. Along with an audience-participation exercise, this set the stage for a deeply engaging conversation.

Tearing Down the Ceiling to Make Room for Brilliance

After the overview, Dr. Silas pressed beyond what would be covered: "What are we here to uncover? That, to me, is what's particularly exciting." Focusing on the strengths of young people, she continued:

"We know their genius. We know the youth—the template of what youth is—has within it an amazing capacity [for] brilliance, the audacity to imagine, in a time such as this, that they can turn the page of history and create something brand new."— Dr. April Y. Silas, CEO, HCN

Dr. Silas emphasized that true liberation is not polished or domesticated; it requires systemic change.

"We are here to question every assumption, every belief, every system that dares attempt to set a ceiling in the minds of young folks... We're here to tear that down."— Dr. April Y. Silas

As Dr. Silas sees it, we must collectively remove barriers to make room for young people's dreams. That means refusing the status quo and insisting on systemic change.

Recognizing Youth Genius and Moving Away from Deficits

As an example of systems that set a ceiling, Dr. Brooks Stephens noted that mental health frameworks are often deficit-framed, focusing on disadvantages rather than the remarkable resilience and genius of youth.

"It's so often in mental health deficit-framed and deficit-focused when we're thinking, 'Oh, these people must be doing poorly because they're experiencing disadvantage X, Y, and Z ways,' and it's like we don't think about the resilience that is there as well."— Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens, UC Berkeley

Instead of asking how to reduce what is wrong, Dr. Brooks Stephens urges youth to dream about what is possible on the other side.

To break cycles of trauma, poverty, and institutional harm, the panel agreed that adults need to hold space for youth so they can create their own narratives. That looks like asking open-ended questions, nurturing strengths, and cultivating a deep, relationship-based approach that goes beyond traditional models.

Intersectionality and Building Trust

Intersectionality (overlapping identities like race, gender, sexuality, and housing status) was carried throughout the conversation. Investigating how identity shapes risk and opportunity, Dr. Aaron Baugh discussed how narrow "alpha male" hierarchies, drawn from studies of captive animals, are pushed onto young men. He challenged these harmful cultural narratives:

"The only time that this other mode of alphas and beta comes up [in nature] is in captive animals... What I want to propose to you today, [is] that this logic... is no less than a logic of subjugation."— Dr. Aaron Baugh, UCSF

Biologically flawed models drawn from captive, stressed animals reinforce unhealthy stereotypes and impose dysfunctional expectations, rather than encouraging prosocial behavior, cooperation, and support.

Dr. Baugh also emphasized that physicians and researchers must act as "instruments of trust" rather than imposing top-down compliance, citing his mentor, Lorenzo Brown, who "has always said… really the only thing that we are, is engines and instruments of trust." The takeaway for anyone interacting with youth: without connection and appreciation for young people's lived reality, we can't expect to earn their trust.

A Future We Have Yet to Imagine

While Dr. Silas looks to young people to define their own dreams and shape our collective future, she reminds us that Dream Liberation is a shared calling that connects and empowers us all.

"Dream Liberation matters because humanity itself... needs to be protected from losing access to a future we have yet to imagine. How will we get access to that future? Young folks, their dreaming they're reminding us of who we are at the deepest-rooted self."— Dr. April Y. Silas

As the conversation unfolded, it was clear that we all have a responsibility to youth, and to each other. The event closed with love and appreciation for one another, for participants, and of course, for young people and families. Dr. Silas said it perfectly:

"Love is my native tongue... that young person, that I, that they each have a purpose, and that purpose is essential."— Dr. April Y. Silas

Purpose and the Freedom to Dream

The purpose of coming together was to explore, question, and tear down the assumptions, beliefs, and systems that set ceilings on young people's potential. We know that when young people have the support to heal, they have the freedom to dream.

Our young people have big dreams. They want to lead, to care for their own mental health, and to change the conditions they see around them. What stands in the way is not a lack of imagination. It is institutional and social barriers such as housing instability, trauma, and limited access to mental health support, which make it hard to heal and even harder to picture a future.

About the Panel

Dr. April Y. Silas is the CEO of HCN and has led the organization since 1992, bringing more than 40 years of experience serving children, youth, and families. Under her leadership, HCN has become a trailblazer in Afri-centric mental health, offering culturally grounded healing to Black/African American and all marginalized communities through programs like Ma'at.

Dr. Tiana Moore-Fitzsimmons is the COO at HCN, bringing a strong record of leadership in housing and homelessness service delivery. As Policy Director at UCSF's Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, she co-authored the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness.

Dr. Aaron Baugh is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UCSF who focuses on improving the care of asthma and COPD for low-income and racial/ethnic minority individuals. His research program emphasizes understanding how social disparities inform differences in lung function and worse outcomes in lung disease.

Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens is an award-winning clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley. She develops community-driven strategies to prevent suicide and promote healing among Black youth, and has published more than 45 peer-reviewed studies. Her work has been recognized by the National Academies and featured in TIME and Forbes.