Getting sick isn't fun and it usually sets you behind on work, which is never good. So when I landed in bed last week with a head cold, I decided to catch up on some work-related reading. You know -- all those riveting statistical reports that get shoved to the bottom of the work pile for when you have "time to spare."
On the docket for this sick-induced, day-in-bed was the Washington Families Fund High-Needs Family Program: Baseline Evaluation Summary. As I started reading, a few things became clear: first, through the Washington Families Fund (WFF), Building Changes is doing a good thing by funding nonprofits that help the most vulnerable families in our community. These agencies diligently work to connect families to stable housing and the services they need, help them repair their
In 2006, Building Changes and the City of Seattle Office of Housing led a community planning process to assess the existing connections between the workforce development and homeless service systems. This process began a couple of years into our community's Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, which included only limited strategies related to increasing economic opportunities for those experiencing homelessness. That process, and the opportunities for action that the resulting report recommended, spurred our community to action. Over the past year, homeless housing and services funders have ramped up their funding, and their expectations, for employment programs serving homeless job seekers. Some homeless housing and services providers have already stepped up to that challenge by developing
