Community planning processes take a lot of work. I recently participated in one such process and worked on the resulting report,
A Landscape Assessment and Strategic Plan for Increasing Economic Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness in Whatcom County. The goal of the plan is pretty straightforward: expand the opportunities of people who have experienced homelessness to develop skills, increase income, and improve self-sufficiency.
What did it take to pull the plan together? For one, a committed Steering Committee -- with leadership from Greg Winter of Whatcom Homeless Service Center and Barbara Leveque of Whatcom Community College -- that met once a month for almost a year. Getting homeless and employment services providers that had never met before in the same room was key,
For the past year, Building Changes has worked closely with local governments in Snohomish County to develop recommendations for supporting affordable housing. We are very pleased that on June 17th, Snohomish County Tomorrow unanimously approved our final report and passed a resolution to co-convene a task force to implement our recommendations. The complete report can be accessed here.
During the course of this project, we've spoken with over 75 stakeholders in Snohomish County, including council members, mayors, city and county planning staff, representatives from the private sector, and leaders in the affordable housing field. What we've learned is that while cities understand the huge unmet needs for safe, affordable housing in their communities, most jurisdictions don't have the
For its fifth National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness, the
National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) chose the theme "Making Progress in a Time of Challenge." The theme felt even more appropriate - and urgent - amidst ongoing news of massive layoffs across the country and of Congress struggling to negotiate terms for the $787 billion stimulus package.
The NAEH conference, held in San Diego on February 12th and 13th, brought together hundreds of homeless service providers, advocates, and activists to share best practices, learn from one another's experiences, and to discuss "detailed, practical strategies" to end family homelessness. Workshop topics ranged from direct service concerns to broad-based advocacy strategies.
Building Changes had a hand in several of the conference
As part of its commitment to improving employment outcomes for homeless job seekers in Washington State, Building Changes is proud to release
Strategies to Eliminate Poverty (STEP): Collaborations Report, a research project funded by the STEP Program of the Seattle Foundation.
Focusing on collaborative initiatives that integrate workforce development and human services systems, this report examines best thinking and effective practices for improving economic opportunity for low-income workers. The three initiatives profiled are Montana's Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, Oregon's Career Pathways Program, and Minnesota's M-Powered Program. These collaborations have been especially informative in developing our own Community Employment Pathways (CEP) initiative, an overview of which is
