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
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
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.
On March 5th I had the honor of accompanying Building Changes' executive director
Betsy Lieberman and deputy director
Alice Shobe to Olympia to meet with Governor Christine Gregoire and Kari Burrell, her executive policy advisor. With us were Sonya Campion of the
Campion Foundation, Ken Ristine of the
Ben B. Cheney Foundation, and long-time supporter and donor to Building Changes and AIDS Housing of Washington, Ellen Ferguson. We went to talk with the governor about Building Changes' role in ending homelessness in Washington State - and particularly about the success of the public-private partnership that powers the Washington Families Fund. Not that the governor was unaware. She has supported the partnership for four funding cycles and participated in the launch event. But it's always
Building Changes recently announced the expanded efforts of the Washington Families Fund. Along with 23 government, public, and private partners, Building Changes has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) wherein all parties agreed to pursue the goals of Washington Families Fund -- namely, to reduce by half the number of children and their family members experiencing homelessness in Washington State.
The following video clips, which are from the public announcement of the MOU on March 19th, underscore the significance of this historic agreement and the work of the Washington Families Fund.
Betsy Lieberman, Executive Director of Building Changes, speaks about the 20,000 families that experience homelessness on any given night and how the Washington Families Fund works to offer them a
