Advocacy Express

Truth be told, advocacy works: How a five-year-old helped advance housing justice during the 2026 legislative session

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On Monday, January 26, 2026, a five-and-a-half-year-old named Truth visited the state capitol for the first time with her mother, Danisha. The two made the trip to Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD) on the Coalition’s Nancy Amidei Advocacy Express bus. “I just got word and jumped on the bus,” Danisha said when we met for coffee two weeks after our visit to Olympia. Danisha has been subscribed to Coalition emails for years. She’s worked in social services for the past decade and is currently a graduate student at the UW School of Social Work. She’s been a shelter counselor at DESC and Compass Housing Alliance and a housing advocate—helping people find housing, navigate resources, and communicate with landlords—at Neighborhood House, all Coalition member organizations. While working to find stability for others in our regional system of housing and care, Danisha said she was always one check away from being in shelters herself. “We’ve been through the ringer with housing,” Danisha said. She and her family went through the shelter system when Danisha was young. By age 13, Danisha had lost both her parents and was living with relatives. She never had a formal guardianship and was unable to access any of the foster care resources for kids who age out. “I just kind of turned 18 and just kept going in life,” she said. Right now, Danisha pays $2,150 in housing expenses for a two-bedroom apartment in Seattle for her and Truth. “It’s not even one of these new ones where you have a gym, and a roof top, and a little grill,” she said. Eight years ago, Danisha lived with her two siblings in a five-bedroom house with two bathrooms, a front yard, and a backyard. They paid $2,150 in rent. The house was in the same ZIP …

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Reflections on a rousing 2015 Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day!

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On February 17, 2015, 650 of our closest friends and allies from all across the state of Washington gathered in Olympia at Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day to speak up for affordable housing and an end to homelessness. Driven by an enthusiastic and cheerful bus driver, we headed to Olympia at 7:15 a.m. with 30 Coalition members and friends –  service providers, clients, residents, guests, and others. For some, it was their first time to Olympia and an introduction to advocacy in action. Others were veterans of HHAD. Everyone on the Advocacy Express bus was rearin’ and ready to make a difference, and that they did! The Coalition’s Advocacy Express bus rolled up right on time to the morning activities, and found inspiration from the first of many speakers that day. Housing Alliance staff, State legislators, and superstar Real Change vendor Pam Russell all spoke how POWERFUL we housing advocates are when we speak up and act together. It’s because of our collective action and advocacy that the Document Recording Fee bill came back from the dead last session, remember! Our rally at the Capitol steps was a sight to be seen (and heard!). We were inspired by the voices around us. People who have experienced homelessness personally, service providers, representatives from advocacy organizations, students, community members, and people from all walks of life from all over the state were represented as we chanted from the steps through the buildings of the Capitol: “When they say ‘cutback’ we say fightback!” “Get up, get down, there’s a housing crisis in this town.” We were a sea of 650 people wearing red scarves, red shirts, red hats, and many people wore our One Night Count ‘3772’ and Student Homelessness ‘32,494’ buttons. Even as folks dispersed into their legislative district groups, we were unified and unmistakable throughout the halls of the Capitol. Each button and …

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