Released to Nowhere: Homelessness, Reentry, and the Need for Healing
Following a presentation by Debra Wiens, Matt Miller will moderate a panel discussion featuring Rev. Chris Shearman, Stephanie Wormleighton, and Warren Hayden.
Presentation Summary
What happens when a person leaves a hospital or jail with no home, no transportation, no identification, no medications, and nowhere safe to sleep?
This presentation explores the intersection of homelessness, healthcare, and reentry in the St. Louis region through the perspective of someone who has spent years volunteering with individuals experiencing homelessness. It also draws on the experience of helping develop Three Steps Home, a St. Louis program that provides short-term residential support for people recovering from illness or injury while seeking greater stability.
Drawing on personal experiences, local examples, and current research, the presentation explores the challenges many individuals face while experiencing homelessness, recovering after hospitalization, or returning to the community after incarceration. Particular attention is given to the importance of stability, continuity of care, and community connections during these critical transitions.
At its heart, this is a conversation about people rather than systems. It highlights the resilience of individuals facing significant obstacles and explores how communities can help create pathways from crisis to stability, healing, and hope. The presentation also reflects on the role that faith communities can play in caring for neighbors who are struggling and helping create opportunities for recovery and stability.
There is no cost to attend, but please let us know that you’re planning to attend
About Debra Wiens
Debra Wiens is driven by a lifelong commitment to people, learning, and community. For more than 30 years, she brought that passion into her classroom at Clayton High School, where she taught history, government, philosophy, and current issues. Her students remember her as a teacher who challenged them to think critically, engage deeply, and become active citizens—some even successfully advocating for legislation at the state and national levels.
Her dedication to education and civic engagement continued well beyond retirement. Debra has served on the Missouri Bar Association Judicial Performance Review Committee and Citizenship Education Program, taught English and citizenship classes to refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and other countries, and helped launch a K–8 school in Chicago’s South Lawndale neighborhood.
Since 2012, Debra has devoted her time and leadership to Three Steps Home, formerly known as Bridge of Hope Ministries, where she serves as a board member and volunteer. She has played a key role in eff orts to develop a medical respite care program and expand coordinated support services for individuals experiencing homelessness, including those displaced by the May 16, 2025 tornado in North St. Louis.
Outside her community work, Debra treasures time with her family, bicycling, and visits to her family’s Iowa farm. She and her husband, Doug, are active members of The Gathering United Methodist Church and share a love of travel and exploring the world together.
Panel Moderator
Matt Miller
Matt Miller is President and CEO of the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis and Send Me St. Louis, where he leads the organizations’ relationship-building, learning initiatives, and grantmaking efforts.
With more than 20 years of experience in the faith-based nonprofit sector, Matt began his career in Chicago with Young Life. He later served at Concordia University Chicago in both Undergraduate Admission and Student Success and Retention.
Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Concordia University Chicago, a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Dominican University, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Passionate about the intersection of faith and community, Matt is committed to helping churches, nonprofits, and individual believers become vital, transformative presences in their neighborhoods—bearing witness to God’s inbreaking Kingdom and contributing to the flourishing of their communities.
He lives just south of Tower Grove Park in St. Louis with his wife and two daughters.
Panelists
Rev. Chris Shearman
Christopher Shearman is the Founder and Executive Director of Lutheran Development Group (LDG). He started LDG in 2015 and has led the organization’s real estate development work with over $55 million invested in the City of St. Louis. Chris’ experience in community development includes real-estate investment, entrepreneurship, and organizational volunteerism. Chris holds a bachelor of arts degree in History from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and a Masters of Arts in Theology from Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri. Chris is a called and ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod serving at LDG (an RSO of the LCMS). He, his wife Dana, and their three daughters live in the Dutchtown neighborhood of South Saint Louis where LDG focuses their work.
Stephanie Wormleighton
Stephanie Yanez Wormleighton is a staff attorney at NCLS who is passionate about addressing the access-to-justice gaps in St. Louis. Before joining NCLS, Stephanie began her legal career as an Assistant Public Defender with a mental health-focused caseload. She received her JD/MSW (Master’s of Social Work) from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and the Brown School as a Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellow. At law school, Stephanie served as President of WashU’s Christian Legal Fellowship, Co-President of the Public Service Advisory Board, and Chief Executive Editor of the Washington University Law Review. Stephanie has interned at most of St. Louis’s holistic representation agencies across immigration, family, and criminal law. Originally from Northern California, Stephanie studied Business Administration with a focus on accounting and social systems at UC Berkeley and often says she “double majored in InterVarsity (Christian Fellowship).” Before starting law school, Stephanie spent two years performing market due diligences as a strategy consultant at Parthenon-EY and three years in Strategy & Business Operations at Grocery Outlet, Inc. Her husband, Ben, teaches at Washington University, and together they enjoy spoiling their two cats, exploring the St. Louis area, and keeping up with friends and family around the world. Ask Stephanie what audiobook she’s ‘reading,’ which animals shined at her last zoo visit, and where to find her favorite Muny parking.
Warren Hayden
Warren's 45-year career has included more than 20 years in program development to prevent homelessness within vulnerable populations, especially youth. These programs utilized residential treatment for children, transitional living treatment models for older teens and young adults and community based programming that included trauma informed care, advocacy, education, employment and wraparound case management. During his career he served numerous years on the Homeless Adolescent Task Force, the Regional Advisory Board for the Department of Mental Health, and most recently been a member of the Violence Prevention Commission for the St. Louis Region. Warren's career started as a child care worker providing daily guidance and support to children removed from their homes and ended with developing a drop-in youth center in a densely youth populated part of North County. In between those professional experiences Warren provided social service in Public Housing with the elderly and adults with mental illness, directed and developed a transitional living program for girls with an AXIS One diagnosis, developed an alternative education for kids serving long term suspensions, and worked for BJC Behavioral Health in a program that helped older children get out of long-term locked down facilities and back into the community. Post retirement Warren has taught a Family Social Work class at the University of Missouri-St.Louis Graduate School and consulted three years at Children's Hospital in their Victims of Violence program.