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

Comment (0) Read More...

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.

Comment (0)

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,

Comment (0) Read More...

As I stood outside in the frigid Olympia morning, I glanced up at the gray sky. No rain yet, but later we might not be so lucky. I took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing myself to relax. I gathered what intellectual courage I could muster and fell in-step with more than 450 others who, like me, had gathered in our state capital and donned red garb to show our support for Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day -- to be a voice for continued government funding for the homeless.

Truthfully, I had my doubts as to the true effectiveness of something like advocacy. I know that in theory our legislative representatives care what "we the people" have to say on each and every issue, but let's be honest -- do they really care? Don't they already have their minds made up on any given issue? Can my one opinion actually matter?

Anne Marie Champoux (center) with co-workers, Seth Howard and Margaret Foster, at Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day on February 12th

Marching toward the Capitol steps in a sea of red, I turned to my co-worker Seth and said, "So be honest with me, is what we're about to do here -- taking meetings with representative's aides, leaving notes for legislators, pulling legislators from the floor to plug our cause -- does all of that really make a difference?" Seth, a former state legislative staffer, looked at me slightly shocked and taken aback. "Yes," he said matter-of-factly, "absolutely it does!" Surprised by his answer, I entered the Capitol Building with a cautious seed of optimism.

By the day's end I knew for myself Seth had been right. In the first place, I learned that politicians are accessible. All it took was the initiative to set up a meeting. Secondly, I had been expecting cold and disconnected customer service. Instead I found genuine interest and concern in the faces of legislators all around me. I observed representative's aides enthusiastically stepping in when the representative was unavailable and engaging in a thoughtful discourse regarding what we had to say about funding for homeless programs. Each one of us really did matter. Each one of us had something important to contribute to the greater conversation.

As a result, I left Olympia feeling as though I wasn't just another face in the crowd, another ant in the ant hill. In the end, as I dashed toward our car, I was soaked to the bone from the rain, but my optimism was in full bloom.

Comment (0)

By the time Inglourious Basterds and Harry Potter had slipped into our discussion, the One Night Count felt more like a fraternizing affair than a civic one. So far, our flashlit trek through Woodland Park had shed more light on the film tastes of my fellow employees than on any hidden homeless population in the woods-and although I was happy to gab Golden Globes, the topic of conversation was clear evidence that we could afford to be distracted. If the homeless were out, they didn't seem very about. And because of it, our search had adopted an air of hollow formality, despite my previous hopes to make this one night count for something.

The search was racking up a number of other forfeited illusions, too, although one or two of them were admittedly pretty silly to begin with:

You mean we

Comment (0) Read More...