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…

[Image from LA Eastide]

Did you know that in L.A. County, certain “restaurants” accept food stamps? It is part of their Restaurant Meals Program that has been running since 2005.

For those that don’t know, food stamps (aka EBT) is generally only allowed for food products that must be prepared. So allowing benefits to be used at restaurants is a pretty radical shift in the program’s scope.

I put the word “restaurants” in quotation marks above because the participating restaurants in the program are almost all fast food chains —…

Get your taxes done for FREE!!

Now through April 15, 2010, United Way of King County will operate 17 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Tax assistance will be provided by over 550 volunteers who are trained and certified by the IRS.

Who is eligible for this service?

What services are available at tax sites?

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…

Kristin Nelson, along with her her husband and four children participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge last week. Below she shares her reflection on the experience. For more ways to take action against hunger, visit http://www.uwkc.org/newsevents/events/haw/

Well, here we are at the end of the Hunger Challenge, having fed our family of six (including one infant) for an average of $25.21 per day.   With a dad who used to work full-time for a food bank, our kids hear regularly about how lucky we are to have…

One of the main issues facing local food banks and the clients who rely on them is a lack of fresh produce. Commonly donated items tend to be canned and dry goods, which are great, but don’t make for a very well rounded diet.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways to help stock food banks with healthy, fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Programs such as Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link aim to improve access to fresh produce to low-income individuals in Seattle. Lettuce Link coordinates with local P-Patch…

Here’s a nice re-cap of how the Earned Income Tax Credit can actually help break the cycle of poverty for someone, and why it’s so incredibly important to help people who receive the EITC to understand how to use the credit to build personal wealth and assets for the future.

Get your taxes done for FREE!!

Starting on January 12th, 2010, United Way of King County will operate 17 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Tax assistance will be provided by over 550 volunteers who are trained…

…and soars overall. Here’s a sobering piece from Bob Herbert, the NY Times columnist, describing how 5.2 million Americans have joined the ranks of the poor (200% or less of the poverty line) in the last 8 years. Half of these newly poor are in the suburbs, not — as might be supposed — the inner cities or struggling rural areas. Altogether, more than 90 million Americans live in poverty now — a third of the country’s population. Wow.

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have
a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to
serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

I’ll admit, I’ve heard and read this quote many, many times over the years
without giving it much thought beyond ”what a nice sentiment”. It wasn’t until I spent yesterday afternoon packaging around 7,000 pounds of frozen corn cobs with 35…

Do you have pennies lying around? I’ve got them everywhere: in my car, at the office, and in my jacket pockets. Well, a group of local students is taking those pennies and making change – in our community.

Students from 65 schools recently collected more than 14 tons pennies totaling $78,836.45! That’s a 22% increase over last year. That’s pretty amazing and what’s even better is that the students get to decide how to invest those each and every one of those pennies in the community.

The…