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 people experiencing homelessness.

It's exciting to see the strategic planning that's happening, the partnerships that are being formed, and the resources being expended to help people who have not had much success in school or with their jobs to find employment and earn greatly needed income.

A few examples of the work that's happening to expand economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness:

1) In November, the King County Department of Community and Human Services launched Project Self-Sufficiency, which provides three additional Employment and Education Navigator staff positions at the Renton WorkSource. These Navigators are dedicated to providing education and employment services to people experiencing homelessness, in partnership with housing providers. The project aligns County Vets and Human Services Levy funding and homeless housing funding with the strategic direction of Skill Up Washington, a funding collaborative that aims to increase post-secondary completion outcomes among low-income people in King County.

2) The Workforce Development Council of Snohomish County recently issued a request for proposals to provide funding for programs supporting homeless youth to enhance their work readiness, develop occupational and academic skills, achieve credentials, and embark on a 13^th education year personal and career development plan.

3) Finally, the Seattle-King County Workforce Development Council, in partnership with the Washington Families Fund (administered by Building Changes), has allocated WIA Title I funding to support an Employment and Education Navigator. This new position will be sited at a King County WorkSource location, and help people access employment services who have been recently homeless and living in temporary housing programs. Building Changes recently closed its RFP process for this program and will announce the award in early 2010.

Expanding economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness is so important, now more than ever. I'll keep you posted on more successes in Washington State throughout 2010. If your agency is interested in opportunities to increase your capacity to provide employment services, please contact me.