NDSU has scheduled a community engagement forum to discuss homelessness in the Fargo-Moorhead area. “F-M Area Homelessness: Increasing Numbers, Creative Solutions” is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 6, at noon in the Memorial Union Hidatsa room.

The event is intended to bring together NDSU students, faculty, staff and the community to learn about local, regional and worldwide social justice and community issues.

An interactive panel discussion will outline the dramatic increase in the number of homeless the metro area has seen since 2000. Topics will include why it’s occurring and how to address it.

Panel members include:

• Jan Eliassen, director of the Gladys Ray Shelter and Veterans Drop In Center
• Michael Carbone, executive director of the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People
• Lynn Fundingsland, executive director at the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority
• Laurie Baker, executive director of the FM Coalition for Homeless Persons

Attendees are urged to ask questions and propose ideas. Refreshments will be served after the presentation.

The community engagement forum is sponsored by the NDSU Memorial Union and Equity and Diversity Center.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.