This is the reality that many homeless individuals and families face as the winter months come closer. With a little effort from the community we can help to bring hope to the homeless. Spearhead a supply drive, and bring some hope to our community that needs it the most.

Help spearhead a supply drive for the Community Resource Exchange at your company, church, school or within your neighborhood—and make a world of difference in the lives of the many who so desperately need it. Simply choose an item from the list below and register here.

Supply Drive Items Needed:

• New Socks
• Hats and Gloves
• Hygiene Items (deodorant, soap,
  comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, and razor)
• Books

Department of Social and Health Services Research: GA-U (DL was formerly known as General Assistance-Umemployable) clients overall have high medical expenses and frequently use inpatient hospital services. GA-U clients with mental illness or substance abuse problems frequently visit the ER. GA-U clients with substance abuse problems are arrested at high rates. However, mental health and/or substance abuse treatment has been shown to reduce medical expenses, ER visits and numbers of arrests for GA-U clients.

Nonprofit Housing Providers: We contacted ten non-profit permanent and transitional housing providers to get a sense of how they might be impacted if tenants lose cash assistance. Providers were most concerned about access to transitional housing for DL recipients, as ability to pay rent and maintain a savings account are required for most programs. Without cash assistance, these requirements will severely limit accessibility of housing for this population. Additionally, providers are concerned about long-term loss of rental income. Although some programs may be able to absorb minimal losses over a short period of time, many are doubtful that they will be able to continue operating with long-term reductions in income from tenants who are on DL.

Recipients of Disability Lifeline: We interviewed individuals who rely on cash assistance to learn more about what cuts will mean for them. We found that recipients most often use cash assistance to pay for basic needs, transportation, food and cell phone service. Many reported that transportation and a cell phone are necessary to use medical services, so medical coverage without cash assistance may result in less accessible medical care for recipients. There is concern that elimination of cash assistance will lead to increased homelessness and crime as people become increasingly desperate to meet their basic needs. For more about our interviews with DL recipients, click here.

Last Friday United Way of King County held it’s 6th Community Resource Exchange (CRE) at Qwest Field. While we’re still crunching the numbers, it is estimated that about 1,700 people experiencing homelessness accessed services, from foot washing to dental work, at the event. Seattle’s Q13 Fox News was on site covering the event and interviewing guests. Check out their short piece below.

Last September, over 2,400 people experiencing homelessness came to the Community Resource Exchange at Qwest Field for a day of hope and help.

View a KOMO 4 News video about the event here.

The demand far exceeded our supplies, and many had to leave empty-handed. We don’t want that to happen again—and with your help, it won’t.

Our next Community Resource Exchange will take place at Qwest Field this April. 

Each year, we ask community groups, businesses, schools and volunteers to help collect supplies for care packages that are distributed at the event.  We need your help to make sure we have enough care packages for everyone who attends. 

You can help by organizing a supply drive at your company, school or community group.

We’ll send you materials to help get the word out about your drive.

You can also donate supplies online here.

For more information, visit unitedwayofkingcounty.org/cre or e-mail cre@uwkc.org.

Other Ways to Get Involved in Ending Homelessness:

• Find out more about our work to end homelessness
• Subscribe to our Out of the Rain bi-weekly e-mail
• Volunteer throughout the year

In a guest Seattle Times editorial, United Way of King County CEO, Jon Fine, and Board Chair, Dan Fulton, “see a community brimming with creativity about how to make things better for those who are struggling” and call on people to resolve to do what they can to help their neighbors in need. Read the full editorial.

10 Ways You Did More in 2010

10. You were one of the 32,000 people in King County who volunteered your time and talents to improve the community.

9. You helped 7,000 struggling people get back on their feet through the Bridge to Basics Program.

8. You sparked the love of learning in 1,400 preschoolers by participating in our Volunteer Reader Program.

7. You brought $19.3 million back to our community with the Free Tax Prep Campaign.

6. You were one of 500 people who raised awareness and took action to end hunger in our community.

5. You canned 10,000 pounds of vegetables each week—that otherwise would have gone into the garbage—for local food banks.

4. You welcomed 1,000 people home to permanent housing with supportive services.

3. You expanded the Parent-Child Home Program to triple the number of families currently being served.

2. You were one of 10,500 Day of Caring volunteers who donated $1.3 million in labor at 425 projects throughout King County.

1. You helped 2,400 men, women and youth experiencing homelessness feel human again at the Community Resource Exchange.

If you would like your charitable gift to be accepted and recorded in calendar year 2010, you must make it by noon on Friday, December 31. Help your taxes and your community. Give now!

Guests at United Way's Community Resource Exchange

“Token days are not the ebb and flow of life.  They ease our feelings of regret about the way things have to be for the remainder of the year.  They do not really change the way things are.”–Jonathan Kozol, “The Shame of the Nation”

Last Friday was Day of Caring, my 13th with United Way of King County.  I was among about 300 volunteers (there were over 10,500 total throughout the county) that spent the day at Qwest Field for the Community Resource Exchange.  In case you don’t know, the CRE is an event that provides direct access to a variety of public and quality of life services to people struggling with homelessness, all in one place on one day.  Last year, we had approximately 1200 guests.  Last Friday, we had over 2000.  That’s a conservative estimate.  I stood in line with many of them, and I can tell you 2000 is low.  But I’ll wait for the official numbers next week.

I shouldn’t be surprised by the huge increase in need.  None of us should be, really.  As one of the organizers of the event, I was an obvious target for the emotions that naturally accompany something like this:  anger, fear, gratitude, sadness, hope, surrender, and love were all on display.  As the day came to an end, one of the final guests came up to me as I loaded materials into our UPS truck.  The sadness in her voice was masked by the smile on her face. 

“Bless you,” she said.  “I didn’t get everything I needed today, but you made me feel human again.  Just for a moment.  And that’s enough for now.  Maybe I can get up tomorrow and keep going, and do it again.”

I’ve always been a bit cynical about Day of Caring.  Kozol’s quote above puts my perspective in words.  And yet, this woman’s words stick with me, as well.  They give me pause, for which I now turn and ask of you.  To the more than 10,000 people who gave of themselves so graciously last Friday, I say “THANK YOU.”  And, “What’s Next?”  To the rest of us, I know that many of you allow yourselves those moments when you actually think things aren’t so bad.  But they could be better, right?  So I say “Bless YOU.”  And, “What’s Next?”  Here are two possibilities in our local area:

• The Bridge to Basics program connects volunteers to local organizations in an effort to help struggling families stretch their limited resources by getting signed up for public benefit programs.  As someone said at the CRE, ‘I may only qualify for $15 in food stamps per month because I’m working more, but that’s almost four days worth of food for me and my daughter’.
• Our Free Tax Campaign helps thousands of low-income individuals and families get every dollar back on their federal tax return that they’re eligible for, without having to pay someone to do it for them.  You can be one of almost 650 volunteers in King County this year to help make that happen!  Registration opens Friday, October 1st right here!  And as I love telling folks, NO tax experience necessary!

Whatever you might think about the amount of actual change that can occur on a ‘token day’, I hope you remember two things.  First, make today as good as you can make it.  Second, wake up tomorrow and do whatever you can to make it better than today.

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!

• 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.

Yuri started at United Way of King County as an Americorps VISTA volunteer with our ending homelessness team. He provided key support to the Community Resource Exchange and the Free Tax Preparation Campaign.

A year and a half ago, he was one of the first contributors to our fledgling blog, and he soon established himself as the king of social media at United Way. Yuri took our blog to the next level by completing redesigning it. In addition to blogging, Yuri is the person behind @homelesskc on Twitter. He helped make our first tweetups to volunteer at Food Lifeline and at Marra Farm successful.

Yuri played a key role in our first Hunger Action Week in 2009 by reaching out to food bloggers and getting them to participate in the Hunger Challenge. This laid the groundwork for an even more successful Hunger Action Week this year. He’s written many thoughtful posts for the blog about hunger and poverty.

Yuri was also part of the launch of our Bridge to Basics program, which sends volunteers out into the community to help people in need access food, utility assistance and health care. To further help people severely affected by the economic downturn, Yuri put together the Where to Turn website which connects people who have fallen on tough times to resources and services that can help them get back on their feet.

Yuri is a New Jersey native and is returning to the East Coast to go to grad school. His last day at United Way of King County is May 21, and although we knew this day was coming for months, it’s hard to believe it’s finally here.

Thank you, Yuri, for all that you’ve done to help United Way of King County and to help people in our community. I look forward to eventually seeing you on Time’s “Most Influential People” list and even possibly seeing a fat sandwich named after you.