youth and young adults

General Membership Meeting – September 18, 2025

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During our September General Membership Meeting, we were joined by two King County programs that recently expanded capacities: the Public Health Street Medicine Team and the Youth Mobile Crisis Team. We also heard some announcements from our members, took a moment to recognize the role of advocacy in today’s world, and shared some Coalition upcoming events. If this wealth of information is something you want to share with others or access again, please subscribe to the Coalition’s YouTube channel, where our membership meetings and trainings are collected. Upcoming at the Coalition We are preparing our community for the November 5 election. Our team of trained, nonpartisan Voting Rights Volunteers are visiting our member organizations this month and next for voter education and registration. If you’re interested in having our team visit your program or site, please reach out to Kevin Lee at kevin[at]homelessinfo[.]org. There are two candidate forums coming up that you should attend as a voter who cares about housing and homelessness issues. These forums are opportunities for voters to learn about candidates and, specifically, hear their positions on human service issues. Candidate forums are also a space to educate candidates on what their constituents care about and what their communities need. “Lots of times, people feel disconnected from elections and from candidates because they don’t think that their issues are being addressed,” said Alison Eisinger, Coalition Executive Director. “This is part of how we change that. And it’s also part of how we educate the candidates.” These forums are an opportunity to show candidates packed houses of voters who passionately care about housing, homelessness, and human services. Please join us: Learn how to be an effective advocate for housing justice right in time for budget season! Our county and city budgets determine what resources are allocated to support …

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Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101 – August 21, 2025

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Our Helping Homeless Students 2025 training included an overview of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, how to access rights and services granted by that law, how to locate a McKinney-Vento liaison, and a virtual resource fair featuring service providers in King County that specifically serve students and families. Thank you to Kayla Blau for presenting this training. Kayla is the Strategic Advisor of Housing and Education at Building Changes. She has more than 15 years of experience working with youth that have experienced complex trauma in King County. An Overview of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act Educational Rights The main purpose of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is to protect the educational rights of students experiencing homelessness so that they have the same level of academic support as their housed peers. Rights of students under McKinney-Vento include: A student’s “school or origin” is the school they were attending before they became homeless. For example, if a student was attending school in Issaquah and then they and their family moved to a shelter in Seattle, the student’s school of origin is their school in Issaquah. Continuing their education at their school of origin is important for a student’s academic success and social-emotional development. Immediate enrollment means a student has the right to enroll in a school “without delay” even if: Appropriate and adequate transportation to the student’s school of origin can look like many things. It doesn’t necessarily mean a school bus. It can be transit passes, gas reimbursement for family members to drive a student to/from school, or using a service like HopSkipDrive. Ensuring a student can participate in the same programs as other students could look like waiving fees to participate in a science lab or a field trip. Eligibility Students are considered homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act …

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Move-In Cost Assistance for Homeless individuals and families through CCS Hunthausen Fund

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Our friends at Catholic Community Services want to make sure that case managers across our region know about this funding opportunity! Click here for a flyer and read on for details. Catholic Community Services has funding available for King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County residents for move-in cost assistance through The Hunthausen Fund. This funding is referral-based; Case Managers will complete the application with potential recipients and send it to us for review. If the individual meets all of the outlined requirements and the application is complete, payment will be made directly to the landlord for First Month/Last Month/Deposit (as funding permits). This source is specifically for individuals and families moving from homelessness into public or private permanent housing. Unfortunately, we cannot assist with move-in for transitional housing at this time. If you’d like to get more information, please review the Program Overview or contact Victoria Anderson (425) 679-0340 or James Tolbert (253) 850-2505 with any additional questions you may have. Please also feel free to tell members of other agencies, as this funding is available to all service providers’ clients, so long as the individual meets the program requirements. Thank you, and we look forward to working with you to get your clients housed!

Recap: Youth and Young Adults 11/10/15 meeting: Seattle Public Library Programs and Partnership Opportunties

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Big thanks to Shelley Mastalerz and Summer Hayes from the Seattle Central Library’s Children’s and Teen Services for joining us at our YYAC meeting last Tuesday, November 10! At the meeting, Shelley and Summer shared with us some of the current events/opportunities that the Seattle Public Library (SPL) hosts, and some opportunities for developing community partnerships. Every Thursday afternoon, from 3pm-5pm, the Central Library hosts a youth drop-in, put on by a partnership between the Library and New Horizons Ministries. This time was created to fill a gap in time where drop-in hours were not available at New Horizons. SPL is seeking to expand programs such as this, and we enjoyed discussing what this growth could look like. Some of the ideas from the group included advertising the resource by visiting current drop-in centers and passing on the word, creating an easily accessible resource center as part of the Teen Center, diversifying available activities, and offering incentives for youth to visit the Teen Center during Thursday drop-in times. Shelley and Summer hope to form more community partnerships and work with youth and young adult service providers, so please reach out to them with ideas, questions, or to work towards beginning a partnership with them. Contact the Seattle Public Library’s Children’s and Teen Services with teencenter[at]spl[dot]org. Thanks again, Shelley and Summer! Member updates from the meeting: Trevor with Friends of Youth: Drop-in hours at Friends in Youth are changing from the previous time of 11am-2pm to a later time of 2pm-5pm. Matthew with United Way: United Way will be housing a youth Community Resource Exchange on January 28, 2016. Programming and resources for this exchange are being developed. If you have ideas, questions or suggestions, please reach out to Matthew at mridgeway[at]uwkc[dot]org. Coalition updates from the meeting: 2016 will be a  year of case manager trainings: If you’re …

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Julia’s reflection on the 2015 Homeless and Formerly Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit

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Six weeks into my internship with the Coalition on Homelessness, and my experiences have been above and beyond any of my expectations a month ago. Two weeks ago, I was excited to be a part of the 10th Annual Homeless and Formerly Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit (October 5-6, 2015). While doing advocacy work in Minnesota, I learned that I would constantly learn and grow by witnessing folks advocate around issues that impact their lives, and my time at the Youth Advocacy Summit proved to be no exception to this rule! Having just supported the Coalition’s 2015 Voter Registration drive, one of the highlights of the Summit for me was witnessing young people choosing to participate in advocacy by exercising their right to vote. Over the course of the Summit, I was particularly excited to watch people think in a different, new way about voting. On the first day of the Summit, one participant was pretty vocal in their choice to not register to vote, feeling that their vote wasn’t enough to make change. Through conversations with other Summit participants, discussions about our elected officials in city and county government, and time to reflect, this participant changed their mind and decided to register! They are ready to have their voice heard in the upcoming election, and will do so through their vote as well as their conversations with Councilmembers during and beyond the Youth Advocacy Summit. Participants at the Youth Advocacy Summit took on no small task! I was impressed by these advocates’ commitment over two very full days (three days for Peer Leaders!) of discussing some of the hard work that needs to be done in this community. Advocates worked on and presented one of four issues throughout the Summit: 1 – Need for an increase in the numbers of available permanent and affordable housing units 2 – Issues specifically impacting People of …

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Homeless and Formerly Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit — Oct 5-6, 2015

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A message brought to you by our Youth and Young Adults Committee Co-Chairs, Michael and Emily: Friends! Mark your calendars as the 10th Annual Youth Advocacy Summit – brought to you by the Coalition’s Youth and Young Adults Committee –  will be taking place on October 5 and 6, 2015!  Join us at the next YYA Committee meeting to help solidify the planning of the Summit this Tuesday, September 8 from 10AM-11AM at the Capitol Hill Library Branch (425 Harvard Ave E., Seattle, 98102). We will have color Summit flyers available for you to bring back to your agencies! Please be sure to send a representative from your agency to attend.  Agenda for the YYA Committee Meeting Agency/Program Updates Peer Leaders & Peer Leader Training Thursday, October 11AM-4PM at HEYO Youth Space (1161 11th Ave in Capitol Hill) Role of Peer Leaders Agency Recruitment Youth Participant Recruitment & Transportation ​Who is doing recruitment from each agency What agencies are sending staff? What agencies can help arrange transportation (eg: car pools, bus tickets, etc.) Other recruitment strategies? Food and Other In-Kind Donations ​What business relationships do we already have that we can utilize? What resources do our agencies already have that can be donated? Who can spend some time sending out some letters to secure donations? Other Roles & Responsibilities ​Day of staff / volunteer support Start spreading the word about the Summit . . .  Please help in spreading the word by forwarding this email along to interested youth and young adults and community stakeholders and by posting flyers in your respective youth serving agencies! Adult-identified staff members from youth servicing agencies are welcome to join in supporting the event as well—if you are interested in participating, please reach out! Who: All former or current homeless or unstably housed youth and young adults (ages 13-26) are …

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Recap: Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee Meeting — June 9, 2015

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On Tuesday the Youth & Young Adults Committee received training on Hepatitis (HCV) from Chelsea Amato with the Hepatitis Education Project. Besides delivering an incredibly informative training, Chelsea’s given us access to her entire presentation plus additional resources. Best of all, the good folks at Hepatitis Education project are always open to do workshops and testing for agency staff and/or our youth participants — do not hesitate to reach out and continue these conversations back at your respective agencies. Hepatitis_Basic Overview Presentation Hepatitis Support Group*: HEP Monthly Meet-Up Quarter Sheet Fact Sheets from HCV Advocate can be found at www.hcvadvocate.org National Hepatitis Corrections Network (NHCN) –  www.hcvinprison.org *Hepatitis Education Project hosts an evening Monthly Meet-Up (support group) every 1st Thursday of the month. If you’d like to receive email updates about the Meet-Up and any other events, be sure to contact Chelsea (chamato@hepeducation.org;  206-732-0311). She and her colleagues are happy to answer questions, take your referrals, provide testing and training at your agencies. To reach Chelsea and the Hepatitis Education Project Crew: Chelsea L. Amato, BSW HEP Advocate and Educator 911 Western Ave.  #302  ● Seattle, WA 98104 ● 206-732-0311 ● 206-732-0312 (fax) www.hepeducation.org ● www.hcvinprison.org ● Find us on Facebook! Join us next month on July 14 for a training on Naloxone, and to dig into 2015 Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit preparations. See you then!

Announcement: Dental Home Day on Wed, May 20, 2015

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The following is an announcement from Wendy Cone Dore, Outreach and Marketing Manager with the University of Washington Center for Pediatric Dentistry.    The University of Washington Center for Pediatric Dentistry, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and Sunstar, is hosting a very special event, “Dental Home Day” on Wednesday, May 20, 2015. Appointments are required, but there will be a limited number of walk-up slots available on the day of service. On this day, all children are invited to come for a day of free dental services. We hope you will help us spread the word with the children and families you serve. We have room that day for 150 children to receive services, and registration will be first come-first served. Services available that day include exams, fluoride application, teeth cleaning, sealants, fillings, crowns…..the full range of dental services for children 6 mos. through age 18 (and through age 20 if the child has special needs.) In addition, any services needed for the child will be covered for a full year after Dental Home Day. For this day, we will have a variety of fun activities for the children, their siblings and friends, as well as the dental services — ‘characters’, a storytime, games, oral health education and more. The Mariner Moose will be joining us! The Center for Pediatric Dentistry is located at Magnuson Park — with free, easy parking and on a bus line. If a child is enrolled in Apple Health/Medicaid, we will also be able to help arrange transportation if needed and interpretation in 120 languages. Please help us fill the chairs by encouraging the families your serve to bring their children for this day of service. REGISTRATION/APPOINTMENTS OPEN MARCH 23 AND WILL BE FILLED ON A FIRST-COME/FIRST SERVED BASIS. TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS, PLEASE CALL: …

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Coalition Support helps the Homeless Student Stability Act stay Alive!

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Katara Jordan of Columbia Legal Services shared the following message with supporters of the Homeless Student Stability Act (HB 1682), which is alive and well (currently scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 8am, Thursday, March 19).  She especially wanted to thank Coalition members for their great support, calls, and postcard signing which was critical to keeping this bill alive and moving.   Keep calling in and letting your legislators know that our state needs better support for students experiencing homelessness and this is possible with the Homeless Student Stability Act! Visit our bill tracker for most up to date info. Friends, Friday, February 27 was critical in the fight to increase state support for homeless students. That morning, it appeared that the Homeless Student Stability Act would not receive a hearing in either the House or Senate budget committees. The 27th was the last day for bills to pass out of state fiscal committees. And generally bills must receive a public hearing before they are allowed to do so. Your effort calling your Representatives helped us secure a public hearing in Appropriations on the Homeless Student Stability Act —a necessary step to increase state support for homeless students. You were genuinely instrumental in securing a hearing for this bill! THANK YOU!   We have even more exciting to news to share! On March 6, the House overwhelmingly passed HB 1682 (the Homeless Student Stability Act) in a vote of 82-16! Representatives Fey, Stambaugh, and Magendanz all gave great speeches on the importance of supporting homeless students and their families! This bill would provide increased in-school support for homeless students as well as create new housing partnerships between school districts and community organizations. With this bill, we could not just shelter …

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