2022 National Vehicle Residency Summit

March 8, 2023: Great news! Recordings of most sessions are now available on YouTube! Click the link immediately below if you’d like to watch the playlist–the sessions in the order they were presented. If you’d prefer to watch individual sessions in your preferred order, click the desired YouTube icon in the session schedule, further below. Closed captions are generated by YouTube and may not exactly match the subtitles displayed by Zoom during the live sessions. Some sessions were not recorded.

November 18-19, 2022
1:00pm – 6:00pm Eastern time (10:00AM – 3:00PM PACIFIC TIME)
VIRTUAL meetings via zoom – link provided upon registration

Join us for the first-ever National Vehicle Residency Summit on November 18-19, 2022! The Summit is a first-of-its-kind national gathering of vehicle residents, parking program providers, legal advocates and other allies to build community, share knowledge, and raise awareness about vehicle residency. 

The Summit is a free virtual event that will be held on Zoom Each day of the event will begin at 10am PT/1pm ET and end at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Many sessions will involve featured speakers with expertise on the topic, however, discussion tracks will also be available for moderated conversations between attendees about the topics. Check out our agenda below and REGISTER TO ATTEND THE SUMMIT!

Zoom is a popular, safe video conferencing app allowing you to connect your preferred device to audio and video. It works on smart phones, tablets, and computers. You can download Zoom from your device’s app store (preferred) or just use your web browser to connect.

Schedule, Agenda, and Registration

2022 National Vehicle Residency Summit Agenda

Day 1:

TimeSession (Day 1, Friday, Nov. 18)

10am PT /1pm ET
Welcome to the Summit! 
Why are we here? This plenary provides an overview of the National Vehicle Residency Collective, the Summit, and our sessions.
– Plenary speakers Bob Wells, Dee Powers, Tristia Bauman, and Graham Pruss.
11am PT /2pm ETA Recent History of Vehicle Residency in the US
Who are vehicle residents? What are vehicle residents’ history of unsettlement and structural violence? – Graham J. Pruss, PhD
12pm PT /3pm ETUnderstanding Parking Programs
What are vehicle residency parking programs? How do they work? What are their barriers? – William Sweeney, Graham Pruss


What are Poverty Tows and How to Fight ThemTristia Bauman
1pm PT /4pm ETBuilding Support for Parking Programs
How to build community support and political will for parking programs. – Karina O’Malley, Rev. Ben A. David Hensley, Beverly Scow, Chris Wilkerson


Criminalization of Vehicle Residency
What are the legal rights of vehicle residents? What laws and policies can protect vehicle residents’ liberty and property? – Tristia Bauman
2pm PT/5pm ETState and Federal Policies Affecting Vehicle Residents
What policies exist that benefit or harm vehicle residents? What policies should be changed or enacted? – Tristia Bauman
Day 1 session schedule, Fri. Nov. 18, 2022

Day 2:

TimeSession (Day 2, Saturday, Nov. 19)

10am PT /1pm ET
Welcome to Day 2 of the Summit!
Review key takeaways from Day 1, overview of Day 2 presentations and moderated discussions, call to join the National Vehicle Residency Collective and develop the Collective for 2023! – NVRS Coordinators
11am PT /2pm ETHow to Live and Thrive in Your Vehicle
Where to park? How to access and use public services? How to meet basic needs? – moderated by Phyllis Bickford


Conversation Track: Continued discussion of criminalization of vehicle residency – moderated by Tristia Bauman
12pm PT /3pm ETRaising Positive Public Awareness of Vehicle Residency
Collaborate on new ways to improve public awareness. – moderated by Suanne Carlson


Vehicle Residency and Housing First
How to navigate Housing First framing as a parking program – William Sweeney


Discussion: Issues Affecting Female-Presenting Vehicle Residents. – Tristia Bauman
1pm PT /4pm ETClosure of Public Lands and Overnight Parking Spaces
Come learn why are our public lands are closing and how to help stop it. – Jaime Restorff and Jake Hoster


Discussion Track: Continued discussion of federal and state policies – Tristia Bauman and William Sweeney

Vehicles as Housing, Housing as Vehicle
When can or might vehicles be permanent, i.e. long-term, residences? In legal, practical, spiritual terms. – Tim McCormick
2pm PT/5pm ETClosing Plenary Session: Moving Forward – NVRS Coordinators
Day 2 session schedule, Sat. Nov. 19, 2022

Geographic map of all US registrants for the 2022 Summit. We had 168 participants.