HomeFire’s owner and principle is Kathleen “Kat” Freeman, an experienced Information Technology (IT) expert with a focus on applied information technology to support client needs and regulatory requirements.

Ms. Freeman’s experience encompasses many aspects of information technology, and has an in-depth history in supporting communities with collecting and using data to create solutions focused on resolving homelessness in the U.S. She has 13 years’ experience as a national technical assistance provider for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Special Needs Assistance Programs, focused on HMIS implementation, development, and community capacity building to prevent and end homelessness. With a career in HMIS that spans two decades, Ms. Freeman has experience from on-the-ground system administration and project direction to a demonstrated impact on national policy.  She collaborated with other technical assistance firms in a 5-year effort to develop and implement Stella P – a data visualization tool based on Longitudinal Systems Analysis data. Prior to her work at the national level, Kat worked 4 years as the System Administrator and Project Director of the State of Maine’s Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), implementing the State’s HMIS and arguably the first data warehouse of homeless data in the U.S.

Ms. Freeman also promoted government efficiency by initiating and conducting analysis of the commonalities and data requirements of reporting of various federal agencies touching homelessness, including SAMHSA’s Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) programs, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDs (HOPWA) programs, and various Veterans Administration programs, including providing foundation information for the Supportive Services for Veterans and their families (SSVF) program data collection. Ms. Freeman assisted hundreds of communities with HMIS implementation and improvement as well as assisting HUD in developing data collection policy, standards, and HMIS technical assistance design and deployment.

Ms. Freeman has developed and conducted hundreds of courses for communities and national conferences on topics related to data, its collection and use, and improvement strategies for homeless programs. She has evaluated innumerable program designs and data processes in pursuit of improved data for effective program and system designs to resolve homelessness.  She is the creator of the Client Access, Assessment, and Referral Experience Structure (CAARES) mapping process and the Continuum of Care Balanced Scorecard.  She designed and conducted the evaluation of the coordinated entry evaluation for Grand Rapids, MI, and designed the Tennessee HMIS Wellness Checks project for HUD – a 9-CoC evaluation of HMIS implementations in TN, including co-authoring the 400+ evaluation point tool, the Customer Satisfaction Survey, and Stakeholder Interview focus questions, the evaluation criteria, and the reporting/action planning process.

Ms. Freeman holds a Master of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems (MIS), a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Sciences (MIS), a Certificate in Information Technology Project Management from George Washington University.

The inspiration for HomeFire’s name is two professions dear to Ms. Freeman. It pays homage to her work in homelessness as well as another public service that interacts with persons at-risk or experiencing homelessness everyday – the fire service, of which her husband was a member for 25 years.