Anna Moore, 42, Ballard, Drowned

James Dolan, 73, Seattle, Fall

Randy Leonard, 52, Seattle, Overdose

Matthew Crook, 41, Normandy Park, Suicide by drowning

Chad Venegas, 32, Auburn, Shot to death

Brandi Lambert, 35, Downtown Seattle, Infection

Jeffery Kukkonen, 29, West Seattle Junction, Overdose

Dereje “Teka” Beri, 29, Ship Canal Bridge, Suicide by car

Robert Hansen, 58, Seattle, Natural causes

Tyree Bellinger, 27, White Center, Shot to death

Jason Gaspaire, 33, Seattle, Overdose

David Jensen, 51, Seattle, Overdose

John Huff, 35, West Seattle, Asphyxia

Carlos Candia-Morale, 41, Highway 99, Hit by car

Peter Radford, 27, Lake Union, Drowned

Lee Wheeler, 47, West Seattle, Overdose

That’s why United Way’s Community Resource Exchange, or CRE, is one of the most powerful direct service events we organize here in King County. I am incredibly excited that our fifth CRE is less than a month away. This year’s event will be taking place Friday,  September 24th from 9AM to 2PM at QWEST Field

What is the CRE?

Not just another nonprofit acronym. The CRE is a mega-event where people who are experiencing homelessness can come to receive a wide variety of services all in one place and all in one day.  Because everything is gathered under one roof, what would normally take days is done in a few hours. Last year, we  had over 1,100 homeless families and individuals from all over King County (not just the downtown core) come to the event.

Services We Have Offered

We’ve always had a little bit of everything available at the CRE. Here are some examples of the services we have had in the past:

• On-site benefits applications (things like food stamps, low-cost healthcare, etc.) by DSHS
• Community Voicemail Accounts from Solid Ground
• Long-Distance Phone Calls from AT&T
• Employment Searches and Counseling by YWCA WorkSource
• Haircuts by Northwest Hair Academy
• Free dental care by Medical Teams International and the UW Oral Health Collaborative
• Mini-Manicures
• Footwashing
• A hot meal provided by Farestart
• A“store”  filled with everything from socks to sleeping bags to hygiene kits. Guests have been able to stop by and grab what they need.

This year, we are also proud to introduce some new features at CRE, including a “Tell Your Story” corner utilizing NPR’s StoryCorps and a fully staffed restaurant experience (with hosts and waiters).

Obviously, this is only a small sample of what has been at the CRE. We work with over 70 organizations for this huge event. The CRE always has a great mix of vital services as well as quality-of-life services. We are constantly trying to improve and increase capacity for what we can offer.

Engaging Volunteerism

With an event that has 70+ agencies and 1,000+ guests, you could imagine we need an army of people to make it all run smoothly. And we do have an army — an army of volunteers! We usually have 200-350 volunteers that help in different capacities.

A handful of volunteers organize donation drives. They take a lead at their workplaces, at their places of worship, or in their community groups and collect supplies for our care packages and “store”. The work they do is vital; without them, there wouldn’t be any care packages or a “store”.

Another group of volunteers come out the day before the event to help set up. The biggest job that is done that day is sorting through the donations and setting up the store. It’s a fun, relaxed day with pizza and mingling (and sorting!).

The biggest bulk of our volunteers come on the actual day of the event. Volunteers greet the guests, answer questions, assist agencies, run the store, and handle the outtake process. Our volunteers really make sure the whole CRE runs smoothly!

The CRE volunteer experience is unique because we really encourage the volunteers to sit and talk with the guests. They can play board games, eat lunch together, or just chat. People going through homelessness all have diverse backgrounds and unique stories to tell. Our volunteers get to take all of that in first-hand. For many, it’s an eye-opening experience.

September 24th, 2010

On Friday, September 24, we are hosting our fourth Community Resource Exchange. We really hope to make it an even better one than our last. If you are a service provider and want to get involved with the CRE, please email cre@uwkc.org as soon as possible!

Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?

The cover of this week’s issue of the Seattle Weekly features identical photos of a young smiling woman. The first photo has the word “Screwed” by it, and the second photo is accompanied by the phrase “Still screwed.”

The art is a spoof of United Way of King County’s long-running “Choose the Way” ad campaign, and many of us at United Way think it’s very well-done. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the campaign, here’s an example:

More importantly, the Seattle Weekly cover art is related to an in-depth article by Laura Onstot about the many problems our community faces as unemployment benefits expire for thousands of people in the Puget Sound region.

For many, unemployment benefits are their last source of income, and they’re going to social service agencies for help–something they’ve never had to do before. It can be a scary, embarrassing and frustrating experience. It’s equally stressful for local nonprofits that are faced with increasing demand and dwindling resources.

Despite it all, there are places to turn to for help. If you, or someone you know, has fallen on tough times–whether it’s due to job loss, medical emergency, or any other reason–United Way’s “Where to Turn” website can connect you to services that you may not have even known about. It provides a wealth of information related finances, housing, food, health and employment.

• Here’s an interesting thought.  How crazy am I to even think this cold work??  Go to town, naysayers!
• Last Sunday, YouTube featured our old friend Mark Horvath and his invisiblepeople.tv site on their main page to help bring some social media exposure to the issue.  Successful?  I stopped counting at 500,000 views.  Mark continues to give voice to the people who we too often ignore at our convenience.
• And along the lines of what one day can do, United Way of King County will host it’s 5th Community Resource Exchange on September 24th as part of our annual Day of Caring.  You can help by conducting a Supply Drive and dropping off your collections at our downtown office by Friday, September 10th.  For the Tweeters among us (you know who you are), be sure to follow us throughout the day on September 24th at #uwkcdayofcaring.

Sprague Israel Giles at Petite Daycare for Day of Caring 2009

On September 24, over 9,000 volunteers will join together with colleagues, family and friends for our annual Day of Caring. It’s an amazing day of hope, unity, action and accomplishment, the largest single day of volunteering in Washington. You can be a part of it, too! 

Registration is now open, but projects are filling up fast. Right now, you have hundreds of projects from which to choose! Help paint a house for homeless families, clean and organize an area at the Union Gospel Mission for women and children or stock the shelves of a food bank.
Learn more and sign up here >>

[Our public policy director Carol Wood takes a look at Congress' mixed bag for social services].

The Good News:  On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted in support of the federal bill to fund FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) after they were called back from their August recess by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  This House action mirrored that taken by the Senate on August 5.

The bill extends the increased FMAP for a 6 month period beyond the current December 31, 2010 termination date (to June 30, 2011) as well as creates a $10 billion education jobs fund in an effort to save 140,000 educator jobs, keep class sizes down and ensure students have access to librarians, nurses and afterschool programs.

As part of last year’s Recovery Act, states received federal assistance through an increase in federal matching dollars on state Medicaid spending.  This aid has helped our state weather the impacts of the national recession by preventing damaging cuts to health care services and saving jobs in the public sector.

The bill would mean $338 million additional federal dollars for Washington Medicaid.

Passage of the bill comes at a critical time.  Washington along with many other states had built in receipt of this enhanced Medicaid in their current year budget.  Given declines in the state’s revenue forecast and in recent revenue collections reports, this amount would likely be enough to barely balance the current state budget — obviating an immediate need for a special session or Governor-ordered across-the-board cuts.

The state has already cut over $4 billion in response to the effects of the recession and faces an additional shortfall in maintaining essential services in the coming biennium.  Without the funding, the state would have faced an even bigger budget challenge in preserving priorities like education, health care and environmental protection.

The bill would also include an additional $200 million to prevent teacher layoffs at a critical time.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates released Tuesday night show the revised bill would pay for itself, even reducing future deficits by $1.37 billion over the next decade.

The not so good news: In seeking ways to support priority legislation like FMAP and Children’s Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) and make them “pay as you go” programs, Congress and the Administration have cut future monthly enhanced benefit amounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), beginning in 2013.

More than 40 million vulnerable Americans depend on SNAP. They have very low-incomes and nearly half of all SNAP recipients are children. Nearly one in ten is age 60 or over.

Traditionally, SNAP benefit levels have not been adequate to provide a minimum healthy diet throughout the month, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) boosted benefit levels for these vulnerable people. Even with the ARRA boosts, SNAP benefits average less than $4.50 per person per day. While the cost of food may not have risen at the rate anticipated (one of the reasons given for making the cuts), reverting to previous benefits levels could return millions of families to the situation where their SNAP/ benefits typically run out well before the end of the month.

Recognizing that volunteer management and infrastructure require financial resources, the Reimagining Service Funding Action Team has created a resource guide with two objectives: 1) to help nonprofits make the case for funding to support volunteer management; and 2) to share information with funders on the value and need for providing this type of financial support to nonprofits… the Funding Action Team is also pursuing other strategies to direct more funding to volunteer management and infrastructure support.

 That is music to volunteer management professional’s ears!  The folks at Reimagining Service seem to be listening.  The volunteer management profession may actually have a powerful new partner moving forward. 

 Check out the resources and research on the Reimagining Service site and let them know what you think, because feedback on the usefulness of the resources is welcome and encouraged.  While I know you’ll all head straight to the Guide on Volunteer Management Funding (a common request I get from volunteer managers), make sure to also look at the Nonprofit Service Enterprise Diagnostic Tool and the Nonprofit Service Enterprise Research Summary, which informed the development of the diagnostic tool.  Designed to help assess whether yours is a Nonprofit Service Enterprise, the tool is also intended to be a “first step” in helping funders, nonprofit leaders, board members and staff understand the basics of what’s needed to be a strong volunteer organization. 

Can this approach help move our profession from relative obscurity to a key organizational strategy?  I’m definitely hopeful, and I definitely think we shouldn’t let this opportunity pass us by.  What do you think?

I have a friend who loves Halloween and carefully plans his costume months in advance. Some of his outfits have been very elaborate, but by far, one of his most well-received costumes was one of the simplest–UPS driver.

People love UPS drivers. When a UPS driver arrives, usually that means you’re getting something important or maybe a nice surprise–like an unexpected birthday gift from a far-off friend.

There’s another reason to love UPS drivers, their co-workers and the company itself–they are incredibly generous with their time and money. Since 1982, UPS and its employees have donated $1 billion to United Ways across the country.

“To my knowledge, UPS is the first company ever to have contributed $1 billion through one organization, a tremendous accomplishment both for our employees and the communities that benefit from United Way services,” The UPS Foundation President, Ken Sternad, said. “Wherever there is a stop light or stop sign in America, there is likely a UPS driver passing by. They are part of the community, they see the needs, and they have been a key part of the $1 billion story.”

In 2009, UPS’s total philanthropy reached nearly $100 million, including more than $55 million from their 2009 workplace campaign. UPS has been the top corporate giver to United Way for nine of the last 10 years. UPS employees and their families also contributed more than 1.2 million hours of volunteer service last year through the company’s Global Volunteer Month and Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. UPS has twice won the United Way Spirit of America Award, United Way’s highest national honor for corporate citizenship and measurable community impact.

Locally UPS employees have volunteered with our Free Tax Prep Campaign, helping working families build savings. We’ve also had UPS employees join our Volunteer Reader Program.

UPS is also sponsoring our Day of Caring on September 24, which is the largest single day of volunteering in Washington state.

In 1907, 19-year-old Jim Casey borrowed $100 from a friend to start a small company in Seattle that would later become UPS. From the very beginning, UPS has been about people helping people to do great things in the community. We are proud to join United Ways across the country in thanking UPS and its employees for donating their money and volunteering their time. Congratulations on reaching the $1 billion milestone!

To get a handle on how to best approach the serious decisions that need to be made, the Governor has implemented several key changes to the budget planning process which was outlined at three “Transforming Washington’s Budget” hearings held during the past week in a half. Before inviting testimony, the Governor’s staff reviewed the state budget and actions taken to solve the budget gaps. These actions affected all programs in state government but fell most heavily on health and human services, higher education and K-12 education.

Moving forward, the state will use a “zero-based budgeting” process which requires each agency to submit a budget proposal that justifies each program (rather than assumes current funding levels) with the help of eight questions. The questions focus on whether a service is essential, state government needs to provide it, and if it operates most efficiently and effectively. To get a fresh perspective, the Governor has appointed a panel of leaders to evaluate all agency/program budget proposals and to assist in the budget creation process.

So far, interest groups have showed up en masse at each public hearing to advocate for their particular cause. While this makes sense given the economic climate we find ourselves in, Mike Doherty, an elected Clallam County official appointed to the Governor’s Committee said it would be more helpful for people to report on cost-effective projects and management ideas such as specific performance measures that would show whether money is being spent effectively.

The last hearing is scheduled in Spokane on Thursday. Individuals can also comment in writing or online at the governor’s website which asks for ideas;  the site received more than 600 comments in its first day.