I work in fundraising at Building Changes and a great deal of my time is directed towards engaging people like you in our work. Our donors consist of the most diverse, informed and compassionate residents of Washington state who all believe in our vision - Ending Homelessness Together. In fact, you are all so wonderfully unique and involved that we at Building Changes feel the responsibility to connect you with other like-minded individuals -- birds of feather flock together, right? Well, a couple of weeks ago at the spectacular Chihuly Boathouse we did just that.
That's right. Dale - Chihuly's - Boathouse! Thanks to board member and former Chihuly employee, Joanna Sikes, we were fortunate enough to occupy one of the most visually stimulating venues in Seattle. The evening could not have been better. Our guests walked freely though the grand Evelyn Room (above), the pool room (below) and into the "hot shop" for a glassblowing demonstration (below).
It was quite a festive event and upon first sight one might not have known that we were all gathered for a very serious cause. That is until Nola Renz came forward to speak. Renz is the Executive Director of Helping Hand House, a supportive housing nonprofit that receives funding from our grantmaking program, the Washington Families Fund. She told a story that is all too common among our state's 10,000+ homeless families -- the story of a young girl who overcame childhood poverty and domestic abuse only to find herself in her mother's shoes years later -- ‘until one day she fled for safety with nothing but her children and their clothes'. It turns out that the heroic, strong and caring mother in Renz's story was none other than herself...
Board Member Aana Lauckhart, Guest Speaker Nola Renz, and Board President Sam ‘Tripp’ Hunter
At the end of night, in the emptiness of the boathouse, I took a moment to reflect. Sure, we plan these events to raise money -- Building Changes is a community supported nonprofit. But it's the stories that are shared and the truths that are revealed at these venues that are then taken home and shared with family and friends, further expanding awareness and support for our mission to end homelessness.
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,
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