Talk to your friends, family, or even people who provide services to people experiencing homelessness, and when the topic of employment comes up, many will say to you "those people can't work. They don't have the skills, they don't have the education, they don't have the desire." Sound familiar?
Well, I believe that those assertions are flat out untrue. Programs in our state, like the Seattle Conservation Corps, Washington Women's Employment and Education, and Pioneer Human Services, have demonstrated the importance of job training and placement services for populations with barriers to work for more than a decade. More and more agencies are joining their ranks. In the past couple of years, great progress has been made in Washington State to develop new pathways to economic opportunities
Posted by: Mark Putnam in Washington State, Washington Families Fund, Trainings and Workshops, Supportive Housing, Snohomish County, Pierce County, King County, Homelessness, Homeless Grant Assistance Program HGAP, Families, Employment, Affordable Housing on
Apr 29, 2009
As I was driving through Skagit County the other day, taking in the tulips on the way back from meetings in Bellingham, I began thinking about the incredible range of work Building Changes is leading in many corners of the state. We are a Seattle-based agency, but we are working hard to make an impact beyond our headquarters. Consider:
Consulting Services:
On April 21 and 22, we continued our co-leadership of the Supportive Housing Institute, hosting two days of trainings (days 6 and 7 of the 12-day training series) in Sea-Tac in partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Common Ground. Five staff --
Erin Chambers,
Emily Nolan,
Mariah Ybarra,
Alice Shobe, and
myself -- provided trainings on supportive services planning, funding, and best practice models at the Institute.
I recently heard President Obama's press conference on the way home from work -- he fielded a question about homelessness well, in my biased opinion, as he focused on job training and education as a primary solution to ending family homelessness. Building Changes and the Washington Families Fund fully support this approach, and are working here in Washington state to ensure that homeless job seekers are able to access job training and post-secondary education that leads to family wage jobs.
Here's the excerpt from the press conference:
QUESTION (from Kevin Chappell of Ebony Magazine): Thank you, Mr. President. A recent report found that as a result of the economic downturn, one in 50 children are now homeless in America. With shelters at full capacity, tent cities are sprouting up across
A few days ago, I co-hosted a national conference call with providers of employment services that work with people who are homeless. John Rio of Advocates for Human Potential co-hosted the meeting. We heard that these providers are struggling to find jobs for their clients in the current economic paradigm. In Seattle, the YWCA has cancelled job fairs because there weren't enough employers. In Bridgeport, CT, they are seeing the most activity in years at their career center, and seeing far more people than usual who have lost their jobs recently and become homeless. In Portland, they have hit a 25-year high in unemployment (10%). Many providers said they are noticing that employers that previously hired people with criminal histories and people with significant gaps have become much more
I've lived in the Seattle area for almost 30 years, and been a Seattle sports fan my entire life. I've seen a lot of bad teams, a lot of bad games at the Kingdome, the Seattle Coliseum, Husky Stadium. As far back as I can remember, as I approached these events in downtown Seattle, walking off the ferry from Bainbridge, where I grew up, I walked along the waterfront, through Pioneer square, a man was there playing the tuba, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. At first he was one of many faceless homeless people I'd see on the way to a game, or concert. I'm not sure when I became aware of the homeless as individuals, as real people, but they are etched in my memories of going to games in Seattle. Bearded men, bundled up, many of them giving you a yellow-toothed smile, trying their best to
