On February 24th, 560 housing and homeless advocates gathered in Olympia to rally around housing issues, meet with legislators, and make our voices heard. The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, along with the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless, the Housing Development Consortium, Common Ground, the Tenants Union, Building Changes, and many other organizations statewide brought together low-income and homeless folks, program staff, and other concerned citizens from every walk of life. Advocates from almost every district in the state were ready to meet with their legislators and express why housing matters.
The energy was high in the United Churches building where the group heard speeches by WLIHA lobbyist Nick Federici, advocacy educator Nancy Amidei, and
Senate Majority
Washington State ranks 25 out 50 states in our efforts to end family homelessness according to a comprehensive study, America's Youngest Outcasts, released yesterday by the National Center on Family Homelessness. I admit it - I am competitive by nature and ranking 25th out of 50 isn't good enough. We can do better. Fortunately, the report has enough details that we can understand our strengths and look more deeply into our weaknesses.
Our strengths:
- Political will to end homelessness is very high. We have done extensive planning to end homelessness, as demonstrated by plans to end homelessness being adopted at the State, county, and city levels. Washington State was one of the first states to include families in their 10 year planning efforts.
- The number of homeless children experiencing
(Stephen Norman is Executive Director of the King County Housing Authority and a member of the Building Changes Board of Directors. He delivered the following remarks to the Governing Board of King County's
Committee to End Homelessness (CEH) on February 20, 2009.)
Homelessness is a complex issue with many causes and no simple fix. Any successful local approach, however, must address the interconnected issues of housing supply, housing affordability and the availability and coordination of supportive services. I have been asked to focus today on the role that Federal housing subsidies play in addressing these issues.
Collectively, the King County Housing Authority (KCHA) and Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) administer 23,500 units of federally assisted housing - 7,800 units of public
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
On Friday, January 30th, a team of Building Changes volunteers participated in the Annual One Night Count. This year, volunteers counted 2,826 people living on the streets of King County. For me, it was my first time counting, and I eagerly piled on the layers and drank the requisite caffeine to sustain me through the night and into the morning. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I wasn't entirely sure what to feel. In some ways I didn't want to disappoint the One Night Count organizers, the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH). Returning to the Compass Center, I was slightly relieved that we had counted four individuals. I was glad I had pulled my weight as a volunteer!
However, the reality of what we were witnessing didn't escape me either. In my Seattle neighborhood,
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