Workshops & Trainings

Opening doors to the Conference on Ending Homelessness: the Coalition’s Scholarships for people who are homeless!

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The air was warm and the sun was already out the morning we rolled into the Yakima Convention Center parking lot for the first day of the 2014 Conference on Ending Homelessness. Tracey with his sweet service pup, Jennifer, and I got out of my car and gave a big stretch after the two and a half hour drive from Seattle to Yakima, Washington, a beautiful drive indeed. On our drive over the mountains, we bonded over this being each of our first attending the statewide conference, and also found common ground over interest in workshops. Maybe it was the blood flowing back freely to our limbs, but we each felt a buzz and energy as we walked across the warm cement parking lot into a sea of fellow advocates and champions of housing and homelessness from around the state of Washington. We’d exchanged contact information, made check-in plans, and off we went into this new, exciting experience! Staff from organizations who are plugged into the Coalition told Tracey, Jennifer, and Susan – our 2014 scholarship Recipients – about the conference and the Coalition’s full scholarships for people who are currently homeless. Last year, ten people applied for our two scholarships. Luckily, we were able to stretch the Coalition’s Scholarship Fund to provide two full and one partial scholarships.   Neatly packed into those three sentences are some important messages that I’d like to tease out: People who are homeless must be involved in the conversations and work to end homelessness — that includes conferences such as this one! It’s important to ensure access to opportunities like the Conference on Ending Homelessness, and in doing so, address the many barriers that prevent people from being able to participate. That’s exactly why we provide a FULL scholarship: travel, accommodations, meals, registration, supplies, …

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Resources from our “Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101” workshop

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Help and support signpostWe had such a great turnout at our “Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101” workshop on August 26, 2014, and we hope you found the topic just as engaging and informative as we do. As promised, here is a list of resources our wonderful presenter, Katara Jordan from Columbia Legal Services, put together to navigate common hurdles that prevent homeless students and their families from accessing the valuable services they need to get to and stay in school.

Basic Education Rights and Opportunities in Public Schools

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_basic_education_rights.pdf

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_basic_education_rights_spanish.pdf

How to be an Education Advocate

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_education_advocate.pdf

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_education_advocate_spanish.pdf

Protecting the Educational Rights of Students with Disabilities in Public Schools

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_students_with_disabilities.pdf

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/manual_students_with_disabilities_spanish.pdf

Ombudsman’s services

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/2a_english.pdf

Other general information including the above handouts:

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/publications/default.asp

Serving Students Experiencing Homelessness under Title I

http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/titlei.pdf

What Service Providers Should Know

http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/service_providers.pdf

Washington HomelessYouth.org Project

http://homelessyouth.org/washington

 

Recap: Coalition’s General Membership Meeting — August 21, 2014

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At last week’s General Membership meeting, Heather Barr (aka Everyone’s Favorite Public Health Nurse) with Health Care for the Homeless led us in a presentation and training to quickly, safely, and calmly recognize and respond to health emergencies at work. With lots of information and a relatively brief amount of time to share it, she graciously provided her PowerPoint (with links to videos!) to us for distribution.  Heather also gave us an easy and helpful homework assignment: watch these 5 videos related to responding to common medical emergencies. Each will reinforce what we learned and also help you to visually identify different types of emergencies. And here they are: Everyday First Aid- Seizure ( 2 min) Recovery Position (1.5 min) Stroke (2 min) Diabetic Emergency (< 2 min) Drug Overdose (10 min) Here’s the link to download her entire presentation: Medical Emergency Recognizing and Responding to Medical Emergencies in Settings. Join us next month for a special Coalition discussion of the Seattle Housing Authority’s rent change proposal at the General Membership Meeting. Mark your calendars – September 18 from 9-11 a.m. at the E. Cherry YWCA (2820 E. Cherry Street, Seattle, WA 98144).

Youth and Young Adults Committee Recap from August 12, 2014 Meeting — Take Action!

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Thanks to all who came to the Youth and Young Adults Committee’s (YYAC) August meeting! Folks from Teen Feed, YouthCare, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR), End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC), New Horizons, Seattle Youth Ministries (SYM), Youth Housing Connection, Auburn Youth Resources, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and ROOTS joined to discuss and plan the upcoming Youth Advocacy Summit, a project of the YYAC. Be sure to mark your calendar for the Summit: September 22-23, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Seattle City Hall’s Bertha Knight Landes room. _________________ About the Youth Advocacy Summit … The Youth Summit was designed to be a meaningful entry into civic engagement for young people who have already experienced disenfranchisement.  The Coalition and YYAC work to make sure that the people who are directly affected by public policies are part of dialogue, debate, and decision-making.  The Youth Summit is an exciting and important way to: Engage young people in expressing their opinions, identifying priorities, and speaking up powerfully Inform local decision-makers who often don’t hear from youth or people who are homeless or struggling to stay housed Support active and informed participation in democracy to make sure that Everyone Counts! TAKE ACTION! As members of Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee, your role is to work with youth participants to shape the summit, and to connect it to on-going advocacy and public education about Seattle and King  County budget processes. As staff, we need your help to recruit and train peer leaders to help with facilitation, and support young people in communicating effectively about their issues to local elected officials and government staff. HELP RECRUIT PEER LEADERS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit_Peer Leaders Recruitment Flyer to help recruit peer leaders. HELP RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit Flyer to help recruit participants and spread the word! Additionally, we need your help to secure food …

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Literacy Source: Free classes and tutoring for adults

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The content of this post was created by Lynn Livesley, Executive Director of Literary Source – A Community Learning Center.  September is back to school time – even for adults!  New student orientations begin on September 8th at Literacy Source, with fall classes beginning September 15th.  Please help us spread the word about opportunities for adults (18+) to build skills: Help with basic skills (reading, writing, math and English) Free small classes and one-on-one tutoring Daytime or evening options Citizenship classes and help with naturalization applications High school completion options (National External Diploma Program and GED prep) ESL classes in Seattle, SeaTac (with childcare provided) and Tukwila Classes in Seattle are located at the Literacy Source community learning center on multiple bus lines in Fremont – 720 N. 35th Street.  ESL classes are also held at the Tukwila Community Center and Angle Lake Family Resource Center in SeaTac. Please forward this message to individuals you think might be interested in learning about these services, and call 206.782.2050 if you would like any additional information. You can use this flyer with tear-offs with our phone number for hanging: Literacy Source Fall 2014 flyer.  

Register today — ‘Helping Homeless Students’ workshop

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We are excited to announce that registration is now open for Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101 workshop Tuesday, August 26, 9.00 – 11.15 a.m. Highline College in Des Moines, WA FREE, but pre-registration required! The Coalition’s “Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101” workshop is designed for school staff, nurses, and case managers to provide an overview of educational rights and common issues for homeless students. Presented by Katara Jordan, attorney with Columbia Legal Services, this workshop will introduce the federal McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, which promotes educational stability, school access, support for academic success, and child-centered decision-making for homeless youth, children, and families. In addition to providing a better understanding of the law, we intend this workshop to serve as a timely, informative, and collaborative platform between school staff and community-based case managers to work together effectively to support homeless students and their families. We’ll cover the basics, and address common thorny issues related to enrollment and transportation; working with unaccompanied youth; and participation in after-school activities. Together we’ll problem-solve and share ideas and strategies for back-to-school and throughout the school year. By the time you leave the training, you should have both a solid understanding of the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, and valuable sources of information and professional resources to turn to within your local community, your school district, in Washington, and nationally to aid in your work to reach homeless youth at schools. We are excited to bring staff from Coalition member agencies together with local public school staff to learn about the educational rights of homeless students, and how to support them at the start of the new school year. Please help us spread the word, and register today! Note: Registration priority will be given to Coalition members and staff at local public schools.  

Single Adults Advocacy Committee: Long-term Shelter Stayers

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The most recent Single Adults Advocacy Committee meeting on Thursday, May 8 was focused on long-term shelter stayers and how Case Managers can best assist those who seem to be stuck in shelters to get into housing. Here’s a link to the CEH Progress Report: LTSS. And here’s an brief infographic that summarizes St. Martin de Porres’ efforts: For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact the Single Adults Advocacy Committee Co-chairs, Katie Bilek (CCS) and Mercedes Elizalde (LIHI), at saac@homelessinfo.org.