The state Senate has proposed a devastating $39.3 million cut to the Housing Trust Fund.  At least $32 million of this will come from funding that has already been allocated and projects that may already be underway.  The Housing Trust Fund is Washington’s most important means of providing safe, decent, and affordable housing.  Without the Trust Fund, we can’t make progress towards our commitment to end homelessness.  A cut this deep to projects that are already underway will not only put access to affordable housing at risk but will also cost us jobs when we can least afford to lose them.

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The Senate needs to hear that an investment in the Housing Trust Fund now will provide housing for thousands of families in need, many of whom are struggling more than ever because of the recession.  It will provide homes for people leaving homelessness, low-wage working families, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

It’s critical that Senators hear this message loud and clear.  They need to know that now is the time to INVEST in the Housing Trust Fund, not cut it. Please take a moment send your message and also forward this email to at least three of your colleagues and friends.  Ask them to join you in this critical action today.

Yesterday, the IRS released a statement indicating that there are more than $1.3 billion in unclaimed federal tax refunds for people who did not file for 2006. This includes approximately 37,000 filers in Washington state! If you are one of those people, you need to file your 2006 return by April 15, 2010, or you lose that refund…

Our sites can help!  Don’t miss out on your money!!

My logic tends towards the illogical, as many of you know, so try to stick with me here:

• A ‘credit-default swap’ (also, I think, known as a ‘derivative’) is basically a contract that allows financial institutions to GAMBLE on whether or not a company will default on its debt.  If said company does go into default, owners of the contracts (aka, bankers, traders, etc) stand to make a sh**load of money.  The same practice also is common in the lending and mortgage industries…hmm.
• The fact that this type of activity has been and continues to be allowed has lead directly to our economic troubles, and now appears to be at least partially responsible for the downfall of an entire country.
• In other words, this result of our supreme belief in the ‘civilizing liberties’ of the free market AND THE PEOPLE/INDUSTRY that practice it cost us our savings…and our homes…and our jobs.
• And our government (both the previous administration and the current one) responded by tossing in excess of $800 billion in tax revenue at these same PEOPLE/INDUSTRY.
• Now, whenever someone has the audacity to question the boys at AIG or Goldman Sachs about their use of the money, or offer up thoughts on more regulation of these PEOPLE or that INDUSTRY, the stock market reacts as if the Bolsheviks are storming the castle.

So, I read about all of these things, and try to understand it all…and then, in the face of a certain other set of realities intent on making it illegal to be homeless or to even help the homeless, I stumble into this question:  is it just me, or are we looking to pass laws that put the wrong people in jail?

What Is Affordable Housing? from the Center for Urban Pedagogy on Vimeo.

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a nonprofit that uses design and art to improve the quality of public participation in urban planning and community design, created a great video and website that explains what the term “affordable housing” means.

For those of you who didn’t already know, the government defines affordable housing as housing that costs no more than 30% of your income.

The video goes on to discuss the implications of affordable housing has on low-income families in different regions.

CUP also created a nifty website that shows the MFI of different parts of New York City, what the income distribution is, and how many people wouldn’t be live in affordable housing in certain areas.

Overall, the video and the site gives a visual and dare I say fun way to better understand the issue of affordable housing.  Check it out if you have a chance!

Many of you have heard me talk about “permanent supportive housing” in previous posts.  Washington state’s Housing Trust Fund is the essential tool for the creation and preservation of permanent supportive housing. In order to keep up with the community need, an additional $100 million in funding should be added to the Housing Trust Fund. More than 70 percent of people served by the Fund make less than $17,540 per year, making it a vital resource in the fight to end homelessness.

Funding the Housing Trust Fund now with $100 million would allow Washington state to build at least 2,231 units of housing. According to the National Association of Home Builders, that would generate:

• 2,722 jobs (mostly in construction)
• $124 million in wages for workers
• $51 million in income for local business owners
• $18 million in taxes paid to local governments

Take action:

• February 12 is Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day. Register today!
• Find out more about a current bill to support the Housing Trust Fund here.
  o http://bit.ly/actioncenter
• Call 1-800-562-6000 and tell your legislator to support the Housing Trust Fund.

(Photo from the SKCCH website)

Here are the early results of last night’s One Night Count in King County.

Last night, hundreds of volunteers for the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness fanned out throughout the County.  Between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM, more than 130 teams of volunteers found 2759 people sleeping on the streets, in parks, in their cars, in temporary shelters and in makeshift campsites.

More later…

(Part 1 can be found here)

Updated at 11:10 AM, Friday January 29th:  Here is the article from today’s Seattle Times.

(Photo from the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness)

In addition to all of the great feedback on the site this week about our Hunger Challenge, here are a few other items that I wanted to let folks know about:

• Last night in King County and this week in many places around the country, volunteers headed out into the night to perform the annual One Night Count.  Information gathered from these ‘moment in time’ assessments is used to help guide resource allocations for homeless services in this and other communities.  The counts are also required in order to receive federal funding for these programs from HUD.  I haven’t seen any results for our local count yet, but will get them out as soon as I do.

  *EDIT* We got some initial numbers.  They can be seen here on Part 2.

• Are you headed to the Olympics in Vancouver, BC next month?  Still don’t have a place to stay?  Give this website a look-see.  I haven’t done any further research than this article, but it’s worth considering for a good cause.

…of Dolores Gancher, a homeless woman taken under the wing of Seattle Times staff members. It’s a good reminder that in solving homelessness, both individual kindness and systemic efforts play their part. By Nicole Brodeur.

I am a big fan of skill-based volunteering. While warm-body volunteering is great, I really like it when people take a skill that only they have and use it to help others. Even a seemingly unrelatable skill can be used to make a difference. Help-Portrait is a great example of this.

Help-Portrait was a simple 4-step project that banded photographers together for a good cause. Here’s how it went:

1. Find someone in need (shelters, hospitals, the streets, etc.)
2. Take their portrait
3. Print their portrait
4. Deliver it to them.

Many people experiencing homelessness have never had their portraits taken and small tokens like these are truly appreciated.

I personally know how much of a difference a simple photograph can make.  At our Community Resource Exchange events, we’ve always had a professional photographer on hand to take portraits and it’s always been a big hit.

So if you’re a photographer, consider using your unique skill to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness!