We are deep in election and budget season! Our minds are turned to how best to use our voice to get the outcomes we want at the city and county level to protect the people we serve.
This month we discussed:
- a couple of Coalition transitions
- Evergreen Treatment Services’ Treatment in Motion (TIM) program
- civic engagement for you and your clients
- upcoming ballot initiatives you should vote “no” on
- Seattle and King County budget season
We’re Hiring!
We are saying goodbye to our current Office Manager, Rachel, who has been crucial to operations here at the Coalition for the past 2 plus years.
This news is bittersweet because it means we are hiring for a new Office Lead. This internal position will be responsible for maintaining a stable core of organizational operations including database administration, AP/AR, and administrative and finance support. This is a full-time position (40 hrs/week) with benefits. The position will be open until filled, but the priority deadline to apply is Monday, November 4 at 9 a.m. PST. Review the full application materials and apply here.
Another transition we need you to know about is our new email system. Our messages will look different and they also may get stuck in your spam folder more often. If you stop seeing emails from us, please check your spam filter or reach out to contact[at]homelessinfo[dot]org. Thank you!
ETS’ TIM Program Overview
Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) provides substance-use treatment and street-based outreach services to more than 7,000 people daily with a harm-reduction approach. ETS has two main branches, clinic services and a street-based intensive outreach service known as REACH.
Click here to view ETS’ slide presentation and jump to 00:13:28 in the video above.
ETS’ clinic services offer the following services:
- Medication for opioid use disorders
- Counseling and behavioral health therapies
- Case management services
- Medical services
ETS has three primary brick and mortar clinics in Seattle, Renton, and Olympia. The Seattle clinic was recently damaged by an extensive flood, and ETS is still working on restoring that clinic to its full potential. In the meantime, ETS has brought some services back to this clinic location with a portable clinic unit.
This portable clinic unit is one of two mobile medication units that comprise ETS’ Treatment In Motion (TIM) program.
The TIM program is a trailblazing program that gets ETS staff excited to come to work. TIM’s mobile medication units are staffed with nurses, counselors, case managers, medical providers, and community-based safety specialists that all aim to minimize the barriers to access substance-use disorder treatment by meeting patients where they are. TIM staff brings a mix of lived experience and field expertise to the people they serve.
TIM’s mobile medication units dispense methadone to patients, but the program incorporates many more community services and partnerships that truly make it successful. Services like housing, behavioral health, case management, and transportation are also available through TIM.
TIM’s program goals include increasing access to health resources and improving health outcomes for individuals with opioid use disorder.
The TIM staff starts work at 4:30 a.m. PST. When the mobile medication unit starts it day in Pioneer Square at 6 a.m., there is usually a line of patients waiting to be served. After serving Pioneer Square until 8:30 a.m., the TIM staff packs up the mobile medication unit and moves to Belltown, where they reopen by 9:30 a.m. and serve that community until 12:00 p.m. Even though the medication units are mobile, there is quite a bit of work that goes into moving the vehicles. It takes about an hour to pack up, move locations, and restart services.
ETS recently got another two-window mobile medication unit that was just inspected by the DEA. It will be out in the community soon, hopefully in the next month or month and a half.
TIM has an online referral form that can be used by anyone in the community.
TIM patients don’t need to use the referral form to access services, however. They can just walk up to the mobile medication unit and get served. Most TIM patients are funded through Medicaid, but there are vouchers and grants available so that in most cases, funding for services is not an issue to the patient. If patients aren’t sure if they have insurance, there are ETS staff available to help walk them through and figure out their options.
With the flexibility of its mobile medication units, ETS relies heavily on community partners and the City of Seattle to decide where to park and what communities need its services the most. The ETS staff that joined us at our meeting says the conversation about what communities need TIM services the most is ongoing and never ending.
If you have input or questions ETS about their services, use their website to contact them.
Civic Engagement
As many of you know, the Coalition on Homelessness is passionate about all things voting rights. We are passionate about making sure that everyone who is eligible to vote can participate in our elections so that we can have a strong and robust democracy. We also believe this is a huge part of our racial equity work, given the intersections of voter disenfranchisement, racism, and homelessness.
We host voting rights outreach events at community and partner agencies such as libraries, permanent supportive housing sites, day centers, emergency shelters, food banks, and meal programs. We host upwards of 50 voting rights events each year.
Here are some key things you need to know about how you can help other folks cast their ballot:
If someone is a U.S. citizen, a Washington state resident, at least 18 years of age, and standing in front of you, they can vote (unless they have been specifically disqualified from voting, which is rare). Starting in January 2022, people with a past felony conviction can vote in Washington state. This change impacts 20,000-25,000 Washingtonians.
It’s important that service providers know the basics of voting rights because in a quick moment, they might be able to shift the trajectory of someone and change how they think about or engage in voting and elections.
Tuesday, November 5 is the General Election. The last day to register online or by mail is Monday, October 28. If folks miss this deadline, they can still register to vote up until and on November 5 at one of the Vote Centers across King County. To find locations and hours of these vote centers, download our Vote Center one-pager here.
To return a ballot, submit it by mail (no postage needed), drop it at a ballot drop box, or visit a Vote Center to vote in person.
The Coalition Opposes These Statewide Initiatives
As a 501©3 non-profit, the Coalition on Homelessness can and does take positions on ballot initiatives. This coming election, there will be four statewide initiatives on the ballot this election. We have taken a position on three of the four: Initiative 2109, 2117, and 2124.
Vote “No” on Initiative 2109
This initiative would repeal Washington’s capital gains tax, which would eliminate $2.2 billion that’s used statewide for education, childcare, and early learning. This capital gains tax is one of our only forms of progressive revenue at the state level. Progressive revenue taxes those most able to pay instead of those most financially burdened. It’s important to add more forms of progressive revenue at every level of government.
Vote “No” on Initiative 2117
This initiative would essentially gut the Climate Commitment Act and eliminate funding for many statewide projects that mitigate climate change. It also eliminates an incentive for high polluting companies to pollute less. People experiencing homelessness are some of the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change, including severe weather and poor air quality during wildfire season.
Vote “No” on Initiative 2124
This initiative would dismantle WA Cares, our relatively new long-term care benefit program. WA Cares provides guaranteed financial assistance, if they find themselves needing long-term health care, to workers who have contributed to the program for a certain period of time. If Initiative 2124 passes, it could eliminate long-term care benefits for more than 3 million Washington workers.
While we haven’t taken a formal position on the fourth statewide initiative, Initiative 2066, we want to educate our community about it. This initiative would roll back efforts to reduce our state’s reliance on natural gas.
All four of these initiatives are sponsored by a billionaire who moved to Redmond from California because the state had gotten too liberal for his liking.
Seattle Budget Season
The 2024-2025 budget has been proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell, and it’s currently in the hands of Seattle City Council to amend it. During this time, it’s crucial for City Council to hear from constituents on what they value and want to see funded for the next two years.
Here at the Coalition, we have a number of priorities for what we’d like to see change in Mayor Harrell’s proposed 2025-2026 city budget:
- Double, instead of half, funding for tenant support and rental assistance
- Replace funding for legal assistance that helps people access state and federal public benefits
- Protect funding sources allocated to affordable housing from the Jumpstart Payroll tax
There are a number of upcoming opportunities to provide public testimony in support of these priorities. It’s important to engage with these opportunities as a frontline worker, and also to get the people you serve engaged as well. Your stories matter and sharing them can help us enact the changes we need this budget season.
The next opportunities to give public testimony are:
- Wednesday, October 30 at 9:30 a.m. (PST)
- Tuesday, November 12 at 5 p.m. (PST)
- Wednesday, November 13 at 9:30 a.m. (PST)
If you’d like support building your public testimony, consider joining our Budget Advocacy Training on Tuesday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m. PST. This training is hosted on Zoom and will last until 11:30 a.m. We will go over different ways to get involved with advocacy and draft a public testimony.
Besides giving public comment, another way to take action is to email your councilmembers using this link. If you have time, personalize the first sentence of this letter; it helps councilmembers pay closer attention.
For up-to-date information on Seattle’s City budget, visit our special website devoted to all things budget and budget advocacy.
Your voice is important. Please speak up with us.
That’s all for this month!
Please join us for our next membership meeting on Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 9 a.m. Register here.