youth and young adults – Page 2 – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

2014 Coalition Recap: What a great year!

February 16, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

As the Coalition on Homelessness is poised for another big year we invite you to reflect on the work you have helped the Coalition complete in 2014. If you would like to become a member (as an organization or individual), please find our membership information here. Join us to advance our shared mission: ensuring safety and survival for people who are homeless, and working collaboratively to end the crisis of homelessness in our region. Project Cool for Back-to School 2014 helped 1,373 homeless students start the school year right with new backpacks, school supplies, and dental kits. We’re preparing for Project Cool 2015, and continuing to move beyond the backpacks, connecting advocacy with service! We organized and mobilized over 1,100 people and dozens of organizational partners to carry out the 2015 One Night Count of people who are homeless outside. We documented 3,772 people outside overnight ~ a shocking but not surprising increase of 21% over last year. Within a week we brought the results to Olympia with our Ring out for Revenue and Roofs action. We ensure that these results inform and inspire action year-round. Our two years of advocacy for a low income Metro fare paid off: the OrcaLIFT program launched March 1, 2015! OrcaLIFT is the broadest, deepest public transit access program in the U.S., allowing people earning up to 200% of FPL to ride for half-price. Six Coalition member agencies are helping sign up riders! Visit www.orcalift.com for eligibility and location information. Four times a month, our General Membership and Population Committee meetings serve as lively and collegial forums for Coalition members to talk through timely issues and common problems and collaborate to find practical solutions. Our workshops on Helping Homeless Students: McKinney-Vento 101 and Beyond the One Night Count provided over 200 people with tools to …

2015 Legislative Priorities

January 27, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

The 2015 One Night Count identified 3,772 too many people outside from 2-5am early morning Friday, January 23. This cannot be considered normal and we need YOU to take ACTION. We are now in the third week of the 2015 Washington State Legislative Session and your elected state legislators need to hear from you today! Call the Legislative Hotline to leave a message for your representatives and let them know that you support legislation that is crucial to helping people experiencing homelessness in our community. Hotline Number: 1-800-562-6000 – real (and kind) people answer the phone! Hotline Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-8pm Please find below short messages to use when you call your representatives and senators as well as links to PDF versions of one-pagers with information about the important acts and programs that are on our legislative agenda. Click here to view the Coalition’s Legislative & Budget Priorities in a printable version. Here are our legislative priorities in no particular order. Thanks to the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Columbia Legal Services, The Mockingbird Society, and the Statewide Poverty Action Network for these one-pagers. State Housing Trust Fund: Invest $100 million to create good homes and local jobs through our State Housing Trust Fund Housing & Essential Needs (HEN), Aged, Blind, & Disabled (ABD) and SSI Facilitation PROTECT Crucial Programs & Prevent Homelessness for disabled and elderly Washingtonians: Maintain Housing & Essential Needs (HEN), Aged, Blind, & Disabled (ABD) and SSI Facilitation at current funding levels. Seniors and people with disabilities must be able to meet their basic needs and access recovery resources. Fair Tenant Screening Act (SB 5123 / HB 1257): ELIMINATE Barriers to Housing: Pass the Fair Tenant Screening Act (SB 5123 / HB 1257), and laws to prevent discrimination based on how people pay rent and ensure fair reporting …

Youth & Young Adults Committee 12/9 recap: Survival Sex Workshop

December 16, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Last Tuesday about 50 community members gathered at the Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee (YYAC) monthly meeting to share in a powerful workshop about Survival Sex facilitated Queer Youth Community Organizing Interns TJ Petrik and Jackie Sandberg from PSKS. (These two participated in the YYAC’s Youth Advocacy Summit this year, and it was great to reconnect!) As a topic that is very prevalent in the lives of many in our community, but not discussed as much as it should be, it was good to share this conversation with service providers, case workers, advocates, and more so everybody could get tips for how to share important information with those they work with. Some highlighted tips for service providers: Find full list of tips from TJ and Jackie here Survival Sex can loosely be defined as “needs-based sexual activity” and is often traded for assurance of safety, a place to stay, money, protection, and drugs among other reasons. Needs based sexual activities are very complex and personal, and are especially prevalent among homeless youth and LGBTQ youth. Service providers can and should provide information and resources about sex work while being sensitive to those they are serving. Many people may not be open about sharing so it is important to make sure everyone knows that resources are available by using space in your facility to educate people via fliers, events, and non-derogatory language. It was suggested by many in the room that one approach for intake workers and service providers to share information would be by asking: “Would you or anyone you know like information about resources for those involved in survival sex.” Asking questions such as this allow space for individuals to access resources without having to disclose personal information. When working with a young person who’s engaged in needs-based sex work, it’s important to discuss risk reduction. …

Queer Youth Healthcare Fair Sunday Nov. 16th

November 13, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Our friends at Seattle Counseling Services and HEYO are hosing a Queer Youth Healthcare Fair this SUNDAY the 16th at the Seattle Downtown Central Library from 2-5pm. Please spread this information to your networks, clients, guests, and the community by printing & posting or emailing the flyer and this message from SCS! There will be FREE HIV testing, FREE food, #MYHIVMOMENT photo booth, and in-person healthcare navigators available to answer questions and help individuals enroll in qualified healthcare plans. Everyone is welcome to this event!

Take Action Now: Tell Councilmembers people need Safe, Indoor places to stay

November 12, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Check out this article with a Call to Action from Alison Eisinger to contact your councilmembers today! Councilmembers vote on the budget this week and need to hear from you. Scroll down for messaging. As Winter Approaches, A Push for More Shelter: Deborah Wang, KUOW In 2005, housing advocates in King County announced a plan to end homelessness within a decade. Since then, the community has produced 5,600 units of permanent housing for the homeless, more than anywhere in the U.S. except New York and Los Angeles. This year alone, more than 2,000 formerly homeless people have moved into permanent housing. Despite those improvements, and even as the economy booms in the region, the homeless population continues to inch higher. “Last year, we had 10,000 households that were homeless in King County and 5,000 of them were newly homeless,” said Mark Putnam, director of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County. This year’s One Night Count of homeless people found 3,123 people living outside, a 14 percent increase over 2013. At the same time, 6,171 homeless people lived in shelters or transitional housing. The reason? The fast rising rents, low vacancies and high cost of living in the Seattle area have pushed more people to live in their cars or on the streets, according to advocates. Some are newly arrived residents who were drawn to the area by the booming economy. “I’ve heard many a story of people that thought moving here with a couple thousand dollars would be enough for them to get on their feet, find a job settle and kind of settle in, and it’s not,” said Putnam. Putnam said housing advocates will be asking state lawmakers to put $100 million more into the housing trust fund in the next budget. That pays for the construction of …

Youth Housing Connection: Two dates to celebrate 1 Year for YHC!

September 15, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Attention Youth and Young Adults Committee members and other interested parties: Here are two opportunities this month to celebrate one year of great work by the Youth Housing Connection (YHC) and to offer valuable feedback about changes and next steps for their second year. Wednesday, September 17 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Tukwila Community Center (12424 42nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98168) OR Wednesday, September 24 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. 2100 Building (2100 24th Ave S, Seattle) Join the Committee to End Homelessness and the YHC team for YHC at Year One: Learnings and Reorientation to review lessons learned, correct misconceptions, and review opportunities for community feedback and training.This event is open to all stakeholders, community members and service providers, but funders, agency leadership, supervisors and front line staff are especially encouraged to attend. We hope you will be able to make it!

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

August 20, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

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 …

The Importance of the Affordable Care Act for Youth & Young Adults

March 11, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

The deadline of March 31 for signing up for the Affordable Care Act is quickly approaching. However, if you are eligible for Medicaid, you can enroll at anytime, and do not have to meet the March 31 deadline. Our Youth & Young Adult Committee learned this, and much more from Tabitha Jensen, Executive Director of Teen Feed, who came to their meeting this morning and gave a presentation on the importance of signing up young people for the Affordable Care Act. If you are interested in learning more, you can see her presentation: Teen Feed Youth & Young Adult Healthcare Presentation. Also, please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, April 8 from 10-11:30am at the Capitol Hill Public Library or on any first Tuesday of the month.

What does it take to fill nearly 1,300 backpacks?

August 22, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

What does it take to fill nearly 1,300 backpacks? A lot of planning, a lot of supplies, a lot of backpacks, but most of all A LOT OF FANTASTIC VOLUNTEERS! During our five volunteer days, we had over 90 volunteers help stuff backpacks for nearly 1,300 homeless children. We had volunteers from age 4 – age 70+ volunteer with Project Cool this year to make sure that every homeless child served by Project Cool could go back to school in September equipped with the same tools for success as every other child in his or her class. Our youngest volunteers were truly some of the best volunteers, they worked hard and had excellent attitudes, even through the long 3 hour shifts when they had to carry heavy backpacks up long flights of stairs. One of our youngest volunteers even came up and asked me, “Can I volunteer with you again soon?” I told her that we would be happy to have her again next year, and she quickly told me, “But next year is SOOOOO far away!” Project Cool is truly a volunteer-powered project, and without these fantastic, hard-working, and enthusiastic volunteers, we would not be able to provide something so critical – a brand new backpack with school supplies – at the beginning of the school year to 1,300 homeless children in preschool – twelfth grade. The gift of a new backpack gives both the parents and the kids one less thing to worry about – the parents don’t have to worry about one more thing to purchase that they can’t afford, and the kids don’t have to worry about being stigmatized at school because they can’t afford the right supplies or a backpack. Even though the backpacks are all stuffed, Project Cool isn’t over yet! As you are …

Huge Success for Youth! But there’s still work to be done.

February 20, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

It is true, bipartisanship really does still exist! The 72-hour notification bill (SB 5147/HB 1250), one of the Coalition’s legislative priorities, passed the Senate unanimously and easily passed in the House this past week with only seven voting against it. This bill sought to reinstate an important part of the Becca Bill which gave youth shelters up to 72 hours to notify a youth’s guardian after she or he checked into a youth shelter. Because the law “sunset,” the number of hours before a shelter staff person had to contact authorities suddenly decreased from three days to only eight hours. Eight hours is not enough time for the adult staff working at a shelter to engage with youth and be able to develop rapport. Many youth come to shelters after they have run away from disturbed or dangerous family situations, and they need time to feel secure, calm down, and assess their options in a safe place. Thanks to the legislators of our State, youth will now be less likely to avoid shelters for fear that their families, police, or child protective services will be alerted right away. Advocates are now asking Governor Jay Inslee to sign the bill into law on Youth Advocacy Day this Friday, February 22, to show the youth of Washington State that their governor and legislators are behind them. Even though we have a very exciting win, our advocacy does not stop here. As Youth Advocacy Day approaches, one of the Coalition’s priorities, the Youth Opportunities Act (HB 1651 / SB 5689 ), is still under consideration. Currently Washington is one of only eight states that makes juvenile records open to the public and available to be published online. This means that people with criminal records from their youth, before the age of 18, are subject to additional barriers accessing …