March 2013 Groundviews: “A place where you can begin”

Groundviews is Solid Ground’s quarterly newsletter for our friends and supporters. Below is our March 2013 lead story; visit our website to read the entire issue online.

Johnnie Williams: Scholar, track star, coach, mentor (John Bolivar Photography)

A collegiate academic and athletic star, Johnnie Williams is a nationally-recognized track coach and mentor to thousands of at risk young people. But years ago, while he himself was at Eckstein Middle School, his mom was getting untangled from drugs and a violent relationship. Williams was close to failing out and getting sucked into the vortex of generational poverty. But when he moved with his mom and siblings to Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing for women and their children – escaping her husband and the drugs – the family began to rebuild their lives.

A safe space for a new start
Williams says one of the most important aspects about Broadview was that “it was a women-only shelter, and there was no way my young brother’s dad could have any more impact on my family. For me, that was the turning point: the safety and security.

“It was a complete 180 for us. Our grades turned around. There weren’t as many distractions in the home. My mother wasn’t on drugs anymore. We had people down at the [Broadview] front office we could talk to. And all the staff knew; they seemed to care. I felt like I wasn’t the only kid who grew up in this type of situation. I had people that I could relate to, so I didn’t feel singled out.”

Declining a prep-school academic scholarship, Williams went to Nathan Hale High School. “It was where a lot of my friends were. And a couple of Hale students were living at Broadview at the time, so I wanted to keep the connection with them.” As a young boy, Williams had taken up recreational running. By high school, he was a local track star destined for a big-time collegiate career, maybe more.

Overcoming obstacles
Williams started college at Washington State University (WSU), far enough from his family to focus on his studies, but close enough to help if needed. Academics at WSU and then Eastern Washington University did not prove enough of a challenge, so he ultimately transferred to Columbia University, where he earned a degree in Forensic Anthropology in 2003.

After graduating, he ran professionally for two years, but then another enormous life challenge knocked him off track when he was diagnosed with leukemia. Yet he even took this in stride: “I think that all of the struggles we went through made me a stronger person in general. Dealing with what I had to deal with, I feel like, if I can overcome something like that, there is nothing in my life that I can’t overcome. Whatever I do, I don’t want to fail.” So Williams regained his health and turned his energy and skills to coaching.

Johnnie Williams trains with one of his students (John Bolivar Photography)

From mentee to mentor
While coaching at Garfield High School, the City of Seattle recruited him to work with their youth programs. He says, “I would only take it if I was working with youth who grew up in the same situation that I did. They placed me at Yesler Terrace Community Center. Ever since then, I’ve been working at all the low-income sites in Seattle Parks and Recreation.”

Thirteen years later, young athletes come from across the country to work with Williams’ High Voltage Amateur Athletic Union Track Club. “As a coach and as a person, I’ve become very protective of my kids. I am understanding of a lot of situations; I know what goes on in certain households.

“I’ve become a mentor to a lot of my kids and I have the same perspective as the Broadview Shelter staff: If there are issues – and there are – well you can come and talk about it and we can provide a safe environment for you. If you are looking for a turning point in your life, this is a place where you can begin.

“We work with a lot of kids that are homeless. We work with a lot of kids that are HIV positive, [or] that grew up in the same situation that I did, with their parents on drugs, with domestic violence,” he says. “If you save one kid, you have done your job. And I can name 14 kids right now that, under my coaching, are on Division One college scholarships. Two of them are running professional track and field; some of them are in Division One universities now. I have national champions in the high jump and long jump.”

What makes the greatest difference in their lives? Williams speaks from firsthand experience when he replies, “Just having somebody to talk to, someone that they know, that cares that they can make the best out of that situation. I think the kids appreciate that more than anything.”

For more information about Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing, visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Housing/Broadview.

November 2012 Groundviews: “Thank you for all of your help along this journey”

Groundviews is Solid Ground’s quarterly newsletter for our friends and supporters. Below is our November 2012 lead story; visit our website to read the entire issue online.

November 2012 Groundviews cover

The impact of Solid Ground’s work is no more powerfully expressed than through the words of gratitude from the people who access our services. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we have collected here a tiny sampling of thank you notes passed on to program staff by people who have come to Solid Ground for a wide variety of reasons, and who were moved to let us know how their lives have positively changed through their experiences here.

To Family Shelter staff:
     “I would like to start off by thanking you for always treating me with the utmost respect, for always returning my phone calls, for the advocacy you provided for me when my voice wasn’t that strong, for going above and beyond, for researching other resources and options when I felt like I had nothing left. I could only imagine if there were more individuals such as yourself how much greater it would be. You’ve helped me, so that I can be able to help my son in life. Thank you.”
~ Family Shelter mom

To Apple Corps ‘Eat Better, Feel Better’ nutritionists:
     “My favorite food we cooked was the Frittata because it was very tasty and has a lot of veggies. I learned a lot about different foods in the world like tofu and sushi. At first I was nervous to taste it but when I did it was good. Don’t be afraid to try anything from another culture! Thanks ‘Eat Better, Feel Better’!”
~ Seattle Public Schools 5th grader

To Washington Reading Corps (WRC) staff:
     “I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart. My year with WRC Solid Ground prepared me beautifully for what I would encounter later in my MIT program at Evergreen. We have been having beautiful discussions related to race and privilege and our role as teachers to be inclusive. I feel I would have not been prepared if I did not go through all the trainings and workshops you and the team leaders arranged for us. This is why I just wanted to thank you and Solid Ground for doing such a great job making people reflect on assumptions and biases related to race.”
 ~ Graduate student & former Washington Reading Corps Member

To JourneyHome staff:
     “I am grateful to you for comforting me and my family during the unexpected domestic violence incident and the overall follow up. It was one of my luckiest days that I came to know and work with you. Running away from the threatening and hostile Ethiopian political scenario, [our] family has experienced several ups and downs. But, human beings could be tested in various scales, and it would be rewarding and educational to pass through challenges and be able to stand on both legs safely. I remember a note below a picture of a very big woody-stemmed plant with branches saying that, ‘Like a tree, we each must find a place to grow and branch out.’ Yes, in our case, it reads as we need freedom to use our maximum potential to educate our offsprings. All is to say ‘Thank you’ for your exceptional multitude of help.”
~ JourneyHome family from Ethiopia

Thank you art for Lettuce Link staff by kids at Concord Elementary School

To Lettuce Link staff:
     “Thank you for helping me with my vegetables. Also giving me my own garden. Also help my mom save a few dollars. P.S. Thank you”
 ~ Concord Elementary School 3rd grader

To RSVP Knit-It-Alls volunteers:
     “Two years ago I was homeless and living in a garage during the winter season, and gifts of socks and hats kept me warm and able to go on. It was not only the material goods but the thought behind the gift which was important. I was given a gift of an especially warm blanket to keep me warm and it not only warmed me but warmed my soul.”
 ~ DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) shelter resident

To Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) staff:
     “Thank you for all of your help along this journey. If it wasn’t for you and the help that Solid Ground has given me, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. Hell, I may have still been on the streets somewhere and that isn’t a good place to be. But you were able to give me the tools to move forward. Now I also know that it was a hard road getting here, and I had to put in a lot of the work myself. But the support that you gave me along the way is what really got me moving forward.

     “When you look over the sound, there seems to be no way to the other side without taking some kind of boat. Well Solid Ground was able to give me the tools, and a lot of little stepping stones, to slowly move across the bay to get to where I will need to be in life. Thanks to all of you there, even the ones that don’t know me. For it is the ones in the background that really do the work to keep things moving so that you can do the job that is set before you every day.”
 ~ Housing Stabilization Services participant

To Community Voice Mail (CVM) staff:
     “Community Voice Mail has literally been a life saver. I’m presently an outpatient cancer person. And the phone to contact with my pharmacy and with my doctor, as well as my primary doctor that referred me, was absolutely necessary. Without your phone assistance, I couldn’t have done it I don’t think. And also, a safe place to live – I found this place. So anyway, thanks a lot. I sure appreciate it.”
 ~ Community Voice Mail participant

To Broadview Shelter staff:
     “I still believe that there is power in gentleness, that there is more to us than flesh and bone, that life will bring more happiness if lived for peace and not possessions. I still believe people of gentleness and faith can change the world – one unseen, unsung, unrewarded kindness at a time – and nothing in this world can make me stop. Thank you for proving me right.”
 ~ Broadview Shelter mom

Financial Fitness staff:
     “Thank you for getting the pay day loans off my back! I really am feeling blessed for finally reaching out for help. Thanks to your phone calls, the pressure is off and I have a manageable payment schedule.”
 ~ Financial Fitness Boot Camp participant

Housing Stability Program staff:
     “Solid Ground, thank you so very much for helping me and my two autistic twin sons remain in our home. Were it not for your generosity we would be in a very dire situation. I am so thankful to everyone at Solid Ground who works so diligently to keep this project going. It was such a HUGE relief when I received that grant. I had not slept in days from worry which was making me ill and since I have Multiple Sclerosis and I work, I need to get sleep to remain healthy and mentally alert. You are my earthbound Angels – Thank You!”
 ~ Housing Stability participant

Growing change agents

Solid Ground’s September 2012 Groundviews newsletter highlights our Penny Harvest program through the experiences of program alums, and the Big Picture News insert introduces our new leadership. To read past issues of Groundviews, please visit our Publications webpage.

Penny Harvest students at Washington Middle School circa 2008

Solid Ground’s Penny Harvest doesn’t fit neatly into a thematic box – but this innovative program packs a powerful impact engaging young people (ages four to 18) in philanthropy and service learning. Youth collect tens of thousands of dollars in coins, then carefully review and make grants to causes they care about (such as housing for people experiencing homelessness, cleaning up Puget Sound, promoting animal welfare, and many other efforts).

Penny Harvest strives to nurture a new generation of caring and capable young people who strengthen their communities and create personal and social change. With a strong emphasis on social justice, the program gives students of all backgrounds the opportunity to come together and make a difference – creating a generation of leaders who think critically about community issues and take action.

To paint a picture of the long-term impact Penny Harvest can have, we spoke to three program alumni who served on a Penny Harvest Youth Board in 2005 – now young adults – to find out what their experiences with the program mean to their lives today.

Taken back in May 2005, Penny Harvest Youth Board members (l to r) Leah Heck, Ana Lucia Degel & Maddy Carroll-Novak

Leah Heck
When she first got involved with Penny Harvest, Leah says, “I don’t think I really had an understanding of philanthropy. I did have an understanding of community service,” but she adds, “Mostly I associated community service with something older people did.

“One of the main things it showed me was that I didn’t have to wait till I was rich or older, but that I could make an impact already. I could do something. That was very important for me. Penny Harvest helped open my eyes to many things which just aren’t really talked about or, since I hadn’t experienced, I didn’t know about. My involvement has impacted my life in a number of ways. I really enjoyed participating in the Youth Board and everything we did. It is one of the reasons I have become interested in the nonprofit sector and social injustice and how important it is to get involved.”

A recent university graduate living in the Netherlands, she says, “I just started interning at a nonprofit, which focuses on human rights and women. Penny Harvest in a way jumpstarted my career decision. It showed me what is possible and what I can do.”

Damon Arrao
Like Leah, philanthropy was a new concept for Damon prior to joining the Youth Board. “I dabbled in community service and didn’t have a great idea of what interested me. Penny Harvest really enlightened me to what it meant to give back. It wasn’t even necessarily money, but time and empathy towards other people. The idea to me then, and now, of allocating precious time (much less, money) towards good causes is the foundation of community and having a good life.”

He speaks to the program’s equalizing affect and how it shatters the idea that only the wealthy can engage in philanthropy. “I think that’s probably one of the greatest things Penny Harvest does. On the Youth Board, I worked with students from many different socioeconomic backgrounds. Having moved from a low-income part of Portland, Oregon, I participated in philanthropy with students who lived in suburbs, went to private schools or who had the same background as me. The same goal brought us together, and the rest was trivial.”

He says, “During my time at Penny Harvest, I learned well my ability to make the hard decisions and come up with innovative ideas. I’ve been a role model for serving my community, and younger members of my family have followed in my footsteps. Career-wise, at this point I am still undecided, however whatever I aspire to, I know an underlying goal would be to support philanthropic causes and organizations that enrich our communities.”

Ana Lucia Degel
At the other end of the spectrum, Ana Lucia comes from a family that runs its own philanthropic foundation. She says her family’s social ideology taught her, “When you have, you must give.”

However she says, “It was through the experience of Penny Harvest that I really understood more about the process of philanthropy – the difference between advantages that I had, and things that I didn’t really have to consider or think about because it was a given for me. What stood out to me then was the social justice aspect of it.

“Along with that – being 17 years old and feeling angsty, like nobody listened to me – I felt taken seriously by adults. And that sense that you have the power to do something, that adults are going to listen to you – it’s HUGE. When a kid can have that experience, I think it sticks with you for a long time.”

Today, Ana Lucia teaches Special Ed through Teach for America and says that Penny Harvest strongly influenced how she approaches her role. She says, “It doesn’t work when you come in and think that you’re going to transform a community that isn’t your own.” She pushes herself and the organization to “mobilize families and people and students within that community to work together to create some changes” through “true connection and dialogue and listening.”

And creating opportunities to make lasting, positive change is exactly what Penny Harvest does best. ●

For more info on Penny Harvest, visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Legal/Penny or contact pennyharvestseattle@solid-ground.org.

They are our family

Solid Ground’s Transportation Department operates Seattle Personal Transit (SPT), one of King County Metro ACCESS program’s subcontractors. To catch a glimpse into a day in the life of SPT ACCESS drivers, we spent an afternoon talking with drivers and passengers as we rode along on a Metro ACCESS van, then featured the story in our June 2012 Groundviews Newsletter.

SPT driver Roland Remolana raises a passenger, Mr. Moore, and his wheelchair onto a Metro ACCESS van.

They are our family

Every rider has a story, as does every driver. But when riding the regular King County Metro bus system, it’s easy to remain anonymous – to blend in with all of the other riders and slip away when you get where you’re going. No one has to know your name. Riding on a Metro ACCESS van is a different story. Your name and destination are known – necessary information for the driver.

And when you rely on a wheelchair or walker to get around, support from your driver can be critically important. Fortunately for ACCESS riders, SPT drivers are not only thoroughly trained in safety procedures for assisting passengers living with disabilities, they also show a deep respect for the people they serve. As one SPT driver, Mohammed, says of riders, “They are our family.”

So on an overcast spring afternoon, we ride along with driver Roland Remolana to get a sense of the SPT experience. As we hit the road, Roland turns on the radio to a 60s/70s station – the soundtrack backdrop for the day.

♪ ‘What becomes of the brokenhearted…’ ♪♫
Although this is his first day on a new route, Roland greets all passengers warmly, as if they have previously met. His face lights up as he says, “I love my job. I love to meet different people every day – talk to them.”

Roland assists the first passenger of the afternoon, Mr. Moore, who is in a wheelchair. Using the lift, he raises Mr. Moore – still sitting in his chair – onto the van, helps him walk to a window seat, then secures the wheelchair in place. Mr. Moore gazes out the window. He’s headed home, where he lives alone, after a long dialysis treatment.

A lifetime ago, in 1947, he moved to Seattle from NYC. When an old Motown tune comes on the radio, he taps his toe and sings along in a surprisingly clear baritone for his age. For the past three years, he says, he has spent “half my life” on dialysis – three times a week for four hours at a time.

Viewed through the windshield, Roland escorts Rogelia to the van.

In fact, the majority of the riders we meet are also on dialysis. Rogelia, a slight, cheerful woman with perfectly coiffed hair, has received treatments (and SPT ACCESS rides) for about six months. “I’m new,” she says. She describes the difference between Metro bus and ACCESS rides: “Oh, the regular bus, it takes time to wait. So this is more convenient – as long as they don’t pick up somebody!” she jokes – but often, she’s the only passenger. “It’s comfortable.” And of the drivers, she says, “They are all nice. They are very helpful. When I go to the dialysis, I have to be there on time. When we miss, they have to set up again the machine for the next  person.”

SPT driver Keith Dewey says, “You appreciate your health when you realize all the things people have to deal with and they don’t complain. A lot of them don’t want any help. They want to assert their independence, want to feel as independent as possible.”

♪ ‘And I ain’t got no worries, ‘cause I ain’t in no hurry at all…’ ♪♫
Roland quickly assesses each passenger’s need for assistance. In the International District, a young Filipina woman with a cane climbs on the van without Roland’s help. Tagalog is his first language, so they chat quietly while he stands by – not intervening – to make sure she secures her seatbelt safely before he gets back in the driver’s seat. At her home in Skyway, he walks at her side all the way up a long ramp to her door. He takes the necessary time to meet each rider’s individual needs.

When a woman boards in a wheelchair and chooses to stay seated in it, Roland patiently secures both her and the chair in place, and triple checks the six-strap system. He says, “It’s easy to put in there, like two minutes, if you know how to do it!” Then, he goes back to her home for a pillow to prop up her arm and make her more comfortable.

At the Spiritual Miracles Food Bank in Skyway, a passenger wants to board with a full grocery cart and two loose boxes balanced on top, which is against Metro’s safety rules. Roland radios in to check with his supervisor for permission first, then straps down the boxes in an empty seat. He jokes with the passenger that her very light box is heavy. She tells us, “I volunteer at the food bank,” explaining that she gets extra food to share with her co-residents in senior housing.

After she gets off, Roland says that if the boxes had been too heavy to secure, he would have had to call his route supervisor to come pick her up in a smaller van. He points to where he belted her boxes onto a seat. “See, it worked! I just strapped the box. I’d feel bad if I left, ‘cause she needs that food, you know?”

♪ ‘We’re on the road to nowhere…’ ♪♫
Roland’s route in a single afternoon winds from Capitol Hill to Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, the International District, Skyway, South Lake Washington and Magnolia, and finally ends in Burien. He pilots the van through tight neighborhood roads, brutally torn up streets, odd-shaped cul-de-sacs.

He is the epitome of focus, whether navigating cavernous potholes or chatting with a rider while he secures her wheelchair. Roland is part technician, part case manager, and a safe driver. As dispatch calls in new pickups, he patiently handles route changes. On this day, he worked an 11-hour shift, with little time for adequate breaks. It’s a challenging job.

Roland admits, “It’s hard for the ACCESS drivers. Sometimes they’re gonna throw you in Shoreline, then go to Bothell.” He jokes, “I’m thinking, ‘Do you think I can fly?’ But he is humble: “I’m not a perfect driver, but I love everybody. Sometimes people yell at the drivers. Then I talk to them; they start laughing.” In the few short hours we spent with Roland, he certainly did leave all of his passengers smiling. ●

For more information on Seattle Personal Transit (SPT) and Metro ACCESS, visit: www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Transportation/Transit.

She was always by my side / Ella siempre estaba a mi lado

Solid Ground’s February Groundviews newsletter and Big Picture News insert highlight our agency’s Language Access work. The lead article below shows Language Access in action via our HSS (Housing Stabilization Services). To read past issues of Groundviews, please visit our Publications webpage.

Laura Torres in her building lobby with her Case Manager, Pamela Calderón

She was always by my side
(Interview interpreted & article translated by Pamela Calderón)

When Laura Torres moved to Seattle from Mexico City, she dreamed of a better life for herself, her baby boy and her husband. But eight years later and now separated from her husband, she desperately needed a stable place to live. “It all started when I lost my job,” Laura says. “I was living with my siblings, but we had a lot of problems – and my son and I needed our own space.”

Through her health clinic, Laura learned about Housing Stabilization Services (HSS), a Solid Ground program that provides financial and housing search support to Seattle-area people who would very likely lose their housing without the assistance. HSS helps people either hold onto housing or find a place to live, and prevents the spiral into homelessness.

HSS also highlights our Language Access efforts in action: Through HSS, Laura connected with a Spanish-speaking case manager, Pamela Calderón, who is originally from Bolivia. Laura says, “I always try to speak a little English, and I always ask questions, because I like it and I want to learn it.” However, when it came to the stressful process of searching for a place to live in a hurry, the opportunity to work with a case manager in her own language was invaluable.

“It is definitely not the same when you are getting help from a Spanish speaker than an English speaker, because working with an English speaker delays the process,” Laura explains. “I don’t understand English very well, and it is much easier to receive help with someone who speaks the same language.”

And beyond shared language, Laura is thankful for the cultural understanding Pamela was able to bring to to her situation. She tells Pamela, “You are Latina – you understand our needs. And being able to talk to you about my problems, you were able to help me.”

Laura says, “Once I was enrolled in the program, Pamela gave me a list of places that I could go and apply. She made sure that everything was fine; she did a good job. She was always by my side, helping me find a place.”

Pamela points out that Laura herself found the apartment she ended up moving into. Laura says,  “I was also doing my own housing search to find an affordable place with a good location so my son can be OK. The most important thing to me is to make sure that my son is fine and safe. So walking around, I found this place, and we really liked it.”

Laura now has a steady job with good hours. Her new housing is located in a brand-new, mixed-income apartment building with community spaces and resources for residents.

She says her 4th grade son is very happy: “We don’t have a computer, so here in the lobby area, he can access the computer. And they have games for him, and there is a gym. So he goes and takes advantage of it.”

Laura Torres in her apartment

Her apartment itself is spotless. “Look around,” she says. “Everything is really clean here and it is nice. I’m just very thankful for the program. It helped me a lot, and you can see the difference. I’m really happy here, but without Pamela, this wouldn’t have been possible.” ●

For more info, visit the HSS (Housing Stabilization Services) webpage, or contact Pamela Calderón at pamelac@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6841. 

Click more to view this article in Spanish!

On an upward continuum

Our November 2011 Groundviews newsletter features a remarkable young woman who is both one of the first residents in permanent housing at our Brettler Family Place and is giving a year of service through our Washington Reading Corps. To read the entire issue, visit our Publications webpage.

By serving with WA Reading Corps and living at Brettler Family Place, Penni Carter accesses services while giving back.

A year of AmeriCorps service can be challenging for anyone. Members of Solid Ground’s Washington Reading Corps, for instance, tutor children who read below grade level five days a week – and take intensive leadership development, social justice and anti-racism trainings – all while living on a subsistence stipend. For Penni Carter (not her real name), add to that the struggle of landing on her 27-year-old feet, fresh from escaping domestic violence.

“I was with her dad,” she says, pointing to her two-year-old cutie pie in a pink tutu. “And it was not a healthy relationship. I just got to the point where [I felt], ‘I can’t do this anymore and I don’t want my daughter to end up getting hurt.’ So, I packed up a suitcase and a stroller, and I literally just walked away from my life.”

Accessing support while giving back
Solid Ground provides a range of services that meet people at various stops along their life journeys. When Penni was preparing to exit her domestic violence shelter, she connected with a Solid Ground JourneyHome Case Manager who helped her apply for permanent housing in our new Brettler Family Place program. In addition to housing, Brettler provides support services and case management for formerly homeless families. People accepted to live there must have stable jobs or be moving in a positive direction in their work lives.

Penni moved into Brettler last spring. Soon after, she learned of Washington Reading Corps (WRC) through a coworker and became a volunteer in its summer program, Cities of Service. From there she applied for and was accepted to serve a year with WRC. Thus, she became both a program participant and an AmeriCorps Member with Solid Ground.

Opportunities for self-awareness & growth
Like all Solid Ground employees, Penni and her fellow WRC Members were sent to Undoing Institutional Racism (UIR) training, an intensive experience that unpacks the impacts of racism in America.

“I went to the UIR training and that was life changing,” Penni says. “Being white, you have to look at yourself. It is not them that is the problem, it is me, too. And I have mixed kids, so it really hits home. A lot of these things that people of color are expressing, my kids are going to go through, too. I’m a white woman, so it is hard to find that balance: How do I support them and not let them think that being white is bad or being black is bad?”

And Penni says the UIR training helped her learn how to talk to other white neighbors about racial dynamics and make better connections with neighbors of color.

“Talk about being an ally; Brettler is the best place to do it,” Penni says. “It is good to talk to my neighbors about white privilege, and let them know there are people out there that know it is real. It is going on and it is not OK – and you are not crazy for thinking it. It is nice to know that I can be an ally to so many people in my community that live just where I live.”

Building bridges at Brettler
Over the summer, Brettler Family Place turned from a location where 51 formerly homeless families live into a true community. Penni says, “This summer was incredible. A lot of families had just moved in, so they were just trying to get on their feet.”

One night, “Everybody was outside and I just said, ‘I really want to play kickball.’ We ended up having a big kickball game. I think the youngest kid playing was three, all the way up to the parents and everybody in between. People were sitting on the sides even if they didn’t want to play. We had wheelbarrow races and jump rope and handstand contests – just fun stuff. And all the moms got together and everybody watched everybody else’s kids.”

From this stable sense of community, Penni has started to rebuild her life and imagine her new future. “Last year during my internship, I learned so much,” she says. “I definitely want to do my second year in WRC, then I want to go back to school. I want to either be a teacher or work with DV [domestic violence] abusers or inmates, and help them go through treatment, and realize, ‘Just because you did these things, you are not a bad person – but what do we need to do to help you not fall back into that pattern?’ ” 

Raised by a single mom in Section 8 housing, Penni’s experience could have been one of succumbing to generational patterns. But a continuum of Solid Ground programs supported her in finding stable housing, establishing a goal plan, and getting employment training, community service and leadership development that will help her family thrive.

For more information, please visit:
● Brettler Family Place
● Washington Reading Corps

Reaching Solid Ground: An unexpected world

Dan Terrance, a former participant in Solid Ground’s Family Assistance Program, shared his story with us for our July 2011 Groundviews newsletter. To read the entire issue, visit our Publications webpage.

A vintage snapshot of Dan Terrance, Family Assistance program participant, during his Alaskan fishing industry days.

If anyone can vouch for the reality that there are holes in the social services safety net, it’s Dan Terrance. He learned the hard way about assumptions our society makes about people living in poverty, and the dehumanizing effect this has. Back in 2005, a fall on the job shattered his left arm and ended his 21-year maritime career: as a Merchant Marine, then on cruise ships, and then on fishing boats. “Six surgeries later,” he says, “I ran out of money – and this shoulder started to act up two years ago – and the next thing you know, you’re in a world that you’d never expect to be in.” A hardworking, college-educated, former world traveler, Dan spiraled into homelessness, with public assistance as his only source of income.

While the surgeries restored some use of his arm, his shoulder is inoperable. Dan describes his injury: “What I’ve got, it’s a soft tissue injury, the tendons are all messed up – and because it hasn’t been taken care of, it’s just deteriorating. Basically, it can’t be fixed. Steroid injections, they don’t work. They put me on pain pills. Physical therapy just made it worse – so I was just stuck.”

Fight for restored dignity

Dan first connected with Solid Ground’s Family Assistance program – whose staff attorneys provide free legal help to people being unjustly denied public assistance benefits – when he was fighting to prove to the Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) that he couldn’t go back to the fishing industry. DSHS wanted to cut his Disability Lifeline benefits for people unable to work.

“DSHS, from the get go, said there’s nothing wrong with me. They had me have an assessment. Their doctor said there’s pretty much nothing wrong with me that aspirins can’t cure.” But the pain he experienced told him otherwise. So, he says, “I stayed persistent at it. Then I got an MRI in November of 2009 that showed that I had serious problems.” So, finally, his benefits were temporarily extended.

But then a year later, DSHS determined him no longer incapacitated. So after consulting with Family Assistance Senior Attorney Stephanie Earhart, Dan successfully defended himself at an Administrative Hearing, and his benefits were restored once again. “I won because [DSHS] tried to say that I could go back to doing the work that I did. Now the fishing industry is the most vicious, hardest work there is. And I don’t care what your job position: Everybody has to be physically capable on a ship for emergencies – you cannot be up there with a bad limb – you become hazardous to your fellow crew members. And the judge sided with me.”

Born in Alaska, Dan holds a piece of his artwork in the Haida/Tlingit style.

A world of hurt

After he won his hearing, Dan spent his time productively, studying to get MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) certification, volunteering with the Pike Market Food Bank and maintaining computers in the Senior Center there, and creating his native Alaskan artwork. But then, while taking a shower at the men’s shelter where he was staying, he says, “I got a backpack stolen: laptop, all my schooling, my medical records, my drawings, cell phone, my pain pills. I gotta start all over again.”

Things seemed to be looking up when he moved out of the shelter into low-income housing in late October 2010, but then he learned in November that his benefits were going to be cut again, because he hadn’t returned paperwork. As it turns out, DSHS had mistakenly sent the paperwork to the men’s shelter where he no longer lived, and then penalized him for their mistake.

“Without my money, I can’t pay my rent; without paying my rent, I’m going to get evicted. So then what they’re doing is putting you right back out on the street, in harm’s way.” To make matters worse, DSHS “… began to say that my MRI was irrelevant. Within months, it was too old!” So he had to fight to get another MRI, costing $3,000.

With all of this stress, something had to give – and in January 2011, Dan suffered a heart attack. “I was here at six in the morning, waiting to do my maintenance on these computers, and it felt like a fire poker going right into the center of my chest.” Yet just a week later, with bandages still on his surgical wounds and no money for bus fare, he found himself walking over a mile uphill to obtain medical records, because DSHS demanded he prove he had a heart attack. When he got to the hospital office, he learned it would cost $1 a page to print his records – and there were 40 pages. Hospital staff, realizing his desperation, printed it for free.

At the breaking point now, Dan got back in touch with Stephanie. “I called her and said, ‘I’m in a world of hurt with these people.’ ”

Navigating the system

Dan says, “Stephanie knows the system, she knows what’s right, how to take care of things. She kept saying, ‘This is outRAGEous!’ So, she immediately sends a request for an extension. And then she got me in touch with Tony [a Family Assistance Legal Intern]. And then after that, it was all phones and emails and letters. ‘Can you do this?’ And I’d do it. And he would ask me to fill this out so he could get medical records, so I’d fill this out and send it back.

“They saved me a world of all that grief, stress. And I suppose they do that for a lot of other people. I still don’t know the system! And I finally got the MRI in July. As this radiologist says, it’s worsened since the last MRI. They found me incapacitated for another year. And so Stephanie and Tony got them off my back. They handled all the interoffice communications. So that’s what they did for me; they got the stress off.

“This was a completely honest injury, on the job. There’s a lot of people in a bad way that are not there because of drugs, alcohol or crime. It’s just the facts of life. And anyone could end up there.

“Here I am, five years later, six surgeries later, trying to get back into the workforce, trying to get a home going, a daily ritual. I do what I can, I volunteer. I give back what I can so I’m not just leaching off the system. And without their help, who knows where I would be.”

For more information about Solid Ground’s Family Assistance program, contact Senior Attorney Stephanie Earhart at 206.694.6714 or familyassistance@solid-ground.org, or visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Legal/Family.

Raising food, connecting cultures

(Editor’s note: This is the main story reprinted from our July 2011 Groundviews newsletter. To read the complete newsletter or past issues of Groundviews, please visit our Publications webpage.)

On a cool, drizzly June day, Sudi convinced his 7-year-old brother to join him at a work party at the new farm nestled within their housing complex. They helped move the last load of dirt into neat rows, soon to be planted. Scott Behmer, Seattle Community Farm Coordinator, says that when he started in the fall of 2010, the Farm was little more than “a grass field and a parking lot” near Rainier Vista (a mixed-income housing community just off MLK Way in South Seattle). Today, after two+ years of planning, community meetings and “a lot of physical work moving in 200 cubic yards of soil and tens of thousands of pounds of other materials,” the 1/3-acre Farm is fully planted and celebrated its official Grand Opening on June 25.

You can’t always do it alone

Faustina Robinson, a former participant in Solid Ground’s Seattle Housing Stabilization Services, shared her story with us for our May 2011 Groundviews newsletter. For more information on Seattle Housing Stabilization Services, visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Housing/Stabilization-Sea.

Faustina Robinson in the courtyard of her apartment building

During the two years that Faustina Robinson lived in her car with her cat, there were two things that helped her keep perspective. First, she says, “I had some years in social work – as a counselor for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. It put me on the other side, so to speak.” She asked herself, “‘What would I tell that client?’ I also heard their voices; I became the student of the people that at one time I had helped. I was learning from their experiences.”

And secondly, “I’m a filmmaker, so I was engaging my art even when I was living in my car. I took interviews of people, took pictures, I had release forms signed. I transcended into this other personality, and that allowed me to look at a larger picture.”

She says, “Living in your car, it’s very survivable – and so it can become a way of life.” During one stretch, while broken down at a highway rest area for 92 days, she connected with others who were also “camping” there. “Out of that experience developed this little community. We realized we were not alone, and we began to find ways to assist each other.”

A turning point

Thanks to her new friends, Faustina eventually found the strength to face facts: “I had been in complete denial. I kept thinking, ‘You can’t be homeless. You do have a little bit of money coming in. You can stay in a motel if you want to. You have a roof over your head. You’re really intelligent.’ I was rationalizing my way through the experience. But I was still homeless!”

However, navigating out of homelessness wasn’t easy. She says, “I had taken all the necessary steps – contacted all the social services, shelters, transitional housing. There’s always some snafu, strange policies. You have to call at a certain time, twice a day.” And with no reliable phone, it didn’t work for her. Finally, she asked her friends to rope-tow her car and park her right outside a housing agency.

She says, “I only had to do it once. I said, ‘I can’t call you twice every day, so I’m just gonna walk in twice a day and let you know I’m still homeless. And if you want me, I’m right out there on the side street!” Laughing, she says, “That got me a really quick appointment! And that was the turning point that got me off the street.”

As a person living with disabilities, Faustina did qualify for and eventually moved into a Seattle Housing Authority apartment – but her journey to stability wasn’t over. She says that by the time she contacted Solid Ground, “It revealed that I was dealing with a lot of issues I had not acknowledged. I have a history of depression. But when I was homeless for those two years, not one day was I depressed. I couldn’t understand that!

“One doctor said there are personality types that when faced with certain kinds of stress, it releases hormones that almost produce a euphoric feeling. So I had been sucking on that adrenaline rush for two years – and when I got the apartment, the first thing that happened was I crashed. There were days I couldn’t even roll out of bed. It happened so quickly.

“I wasn’t taking care of myself or my day-to-day needs; I wasn’t paying my bills. I got behind in my rent; I needed housing assistance. I was going through a number of challenges, because DSHS [was considering] eliminating GA-U [now called Disability Lifeline]. I filed an appeal, so my benefits didn’t stop – but the psychological and emotional stress of facing eviction and loss of some financial support – it had me in rare form.”

Leave your baggage at the door

After calling Solid Ground but not connecting with resources right away, an attorney at Housing Justice Project contacted our Seattle Housing Stabilization Services on Faustina’s behalf – a program that provides case management and support to people at imminent risk of housing loss. “Within a week,” Faustina says, “Sukanya contacted me.”

Working with Sukanya made a world of difference. “One, she believed in me. And she didn’t patronize me. She valued my input and respected my own experiences and perception in the matter. So I felt like I was making a contribution to my own welfare – and that empowered me.” Faustina also learned it’s OK to seek support. She says, “When I need assistance, I really do need to ask for assistance. You can’t always do it alone. And there’s no shame in that. I had been always the one helping others, and now I needed help.

“I also had to accept that I had made poor choices in some cases. But, you forgive yourself, and then you move on. Leave your baggage at the door. And it’s OK! Extend the same compassion I had for the people I was working with towards my own self so I could heal. And she helped me do that. Solid Ground helped me do that.

“I made a promise to myself: I am so fortunate to have this space, and someone helped me, and I wanted to honor the gift, the assistance. So I volunteer my time. I’ve gotten back into my writing and my filmmaking, and I’ve been working on a number of projects. I do all the media [pro bono] for JusticeWorks. And do you know, I’m doing much better now – I’m in a much better space financially, emotionally, spiritually – than I was! Sometimes when you can’t do it for yourself, it’s OK to do it for others.”

For more information on Seattle Housing Stabilization Services, visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Housing/Stabilization-Sea.