Foreclosure Fairness Act: Foreclosure mediation is now the law

The Foreclosure Fairness Act (HB 1362) was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire on April 14, 2011, creating a foreclosure mediation program in Washington State. Mediation will give struggling homeowners the opportunity to meet with their lender to discuss options before losing their home and most valuable asset. This law will truly make a difference for thousands of homeowners in our state. Foreclosure mediation programs have been shown to be extremely effective in allowing families to save their homes. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall (D-Normandy Park) and had overwhelming support in the legislature.

Governor Christine Gregoire signs the Foreclosure Fairness Act

Throughout the housing crisis, homeowners and housing counselors have repeatedly reported that banks and loan servicers do not answer the phone, lose homeowners’ information about loan modifications, and have different staff people from different offices talking to a homeowner. This new law will eliminate the problem of struggling homeowners being unable to get in touch with their lenders as they fight to stay in their homes.

“Approximately 45,000 families will receive notices of foreclosure this year, but we are providing new hope for many of them with a fair process and resources to help them explore every option available and keep their homes whenever possible,” said Rep. Tina Orwall.

Are you facing foreclosure? Unable to get your lender to respond? Want to know your options? Read on…

Washington State has a new law to prevent foreclosures.
As of July 22, 2011 you can now ask for a face-to-face meeting with your lender by requesting foreclosure mediation. To request a meeting with your lender, contact a housing counselor or attorney by calling 1.877.894.HOME (4663).

What is foreclosure mediation?
Foreclosure mediation is a process where a neutral, third-party mediator assists the homeowner and the lender to reach a fair, negotiated agreement.

Why request mediation?
If you have not been able to get in touch with your lender, you can now request a face-to-face meeting to discuss alternatives to foreclosure. During mediation, the lender is required to negotiate with you in good faith.

Who is eligible?
• Homeowners who are in default on their mortgage and have not yet received
   the Notice of Trustee’s Sale are eligible
• Homeowners who live in owner-occupied properties

How can I request mediation?
Foreclosure mediation must be requested by a housing counselor or an attorney on behalf of a homeowner. To find a housing counselor, call 1.877.894.HOME (4663).

How much does it cost?
The homeowner and the lender each pay a $200 fee for the mediation. The fee must be paid prior to the mediation.

Share your Story!
The foreclosure mediation law was passed because struggling homeowners shared their stories with lawmakers. Poverty Action is collecting stories from community members like YOU! Are you facing foreclosure? Having trouble with payday lenders? In danger of losing benefits like TANF or Disability Lifeline? Share your story and help lawmakers understand the issues Washingtonians are facing. For more information contact Poverty Action at 1.866.789.7726 or visit the Statewide Poverty Action Network website.

More information

• Foreclosure Fairness Act brochure 
• Foreclosure Fairness Act: Read the full text.
• Washington State Department of Commerce Website: For more information about the Foreclosure Fairness Act and/or Mediation Program.
• Washington Homeownership Information: For more information on foreclosure prevention, avoiding foreclosure rescue or loan modification scams and alternatives to foreclosure.
• Washington State Housing Finance Commission: To contact a homeownership counselor – or call 1.877.894.HOME (4663).
• Contact the statewide civil legal aid hotline for legal assistance and referrals by calling 1.800.606.4819.
• Like the Foreclosure Fairness Act Facebook page or follow the FFA Twitter account at  @WAStateFFA for information on foreclosure prevention events and updates on the Foreclosure Fairness Act Mediation Program.
• Watch this television public service announcement recorded by Washington Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen.

Tenant Tip: Legislative advocacy

Tenant Services is part of a group of Housing Advocates working to help shape policy and decision making at the city, county and state levels in order to make changes in housing laws impacting thousands of tenants in Washington State. Our biggest focus is to address and eliminate housing barriers that many individuals and families face.

Our legislative agenda priorities are:

• Change the law to protect individuals who are denied housing due to wrongful and unlawful evictions on their records.
• Eliminate repeated costly application and screening fees that force tenants with low incomes to choose substandard rentals or prevent them from getting housing.
• Address an alarming concern that domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault survivors are illegally denied housing based on their status as survivors.

We are happy to discuss these issues in detail with community members who are interested in becoming involved in our advocacy efforts and who want to learn more about how they can share their stories to help change the laws. While our advocacy efforts are strong and we are working directly with state legislators and community advocates, the most influential stories are from individuals who have been and are still being denied housing and want to voice their concerns.

Tenants who are interested in sharing their stories with legislators can contact Solid Ground’s Tenant Services staff directly to learn more about our legislative advocacy work and ask questions about how they can become involved. Our program can help prepare individuals to share their stories and engage legislators in listening to all tenants who face these issues.

Contact our direct advocacy line at 206.694 6748 and leave a brief message with your information and how you have faced barriers to housing. You can also email us at: tenantwa@solid-ground.org to find out more about the different ways to become involved.

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.

Additional housing coming to Magnuson Park

The Solid Ground Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to move forward with the final phase of housing construction at Magnuson Park/Sand Point. Fifty-four new units are planned. This will bring the total number of housing units for formerly homeless people at the former Navy Base to the 200 outlined in the City of Seattle’s Reuse Plan.

Site plan for Sand Point

We will begin pre-development activities and submit funding applications to the City of Seattle, King County and State of Washington, as well as an application for federal tax-credits. If all goes as planned, we hope to break ground in February 2012 and complete construction in late 2012.

This part of the project will be constructed on two sites, one building which dovetails with the Brettler Family Place footprint and another across the street from Santos Place. The 54 permanent housing units will be for families and singles.

Solid Ground will continue working with the developer, Common Ground, and architect firm, Tonkin Hoyne, who partnered with us on Brettler Family Place.

Brettler Family Place: The finished product!

We’ve recently celebrated the Grand Opening of Brettler Family Place and shared with you photos of the event. But we realized that those shots were primarily of speakers and guests, so we wanted to give you a better view of what the completed Brettler Family Place looks like. The following slideshow gives you the goods. Also, we have been documenting the past year of construction. Can you tell that we are proud of this development?

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While Brettler Family Place ends homelessness for 51 families, we are not quite done with our housing development at Magnuson Park. Stage 2 of this project will include 20 additional housing units for families, as well as 34 units for single men and women, including veterans, seniors and people living with disabilities.

The overall cost of the entire project is in the neighborhood of $30 million. Thanks to many generous people and institutions in our community, we are very close to completing our fundraising. In fact, we have only $515,000 in private funding left to raise! If you would like more information on the project, contact Ali Friedman: alif@solid-ground.org.

Brettler Family Place opening bash!

More than 150 people joined us at the Grand Opening for Brettler Family Place Thursday night! Thanks to Mayor Mike McGinn, Speaker Frank Chopp, Governor Mike Lowry, Dan and Cindy Brettler and others for contributing to the program. Of course, the most moving part of the evening was Joy Sparks’ speech about what living at Brettler Family Place means to her and her family. With about one month of residency, Joy is an “elder” in our new community here, and she speaks with wisdom about the journey she has undertaken and the value of safe, affordable housing. Following is a transcript of Joy’s comments. Before you read, get some tissues ready…

Joy Sparks

I would like to first thank Solid Ground for even considering my journey a success story. That’s validation for me, that I’ve worked hard to get to where I am, and that me and my family are more than deserving to be new residents of this beautiful community.

My daughters and I went through several different stages of homelessness – ranging from couch surfing, sleeping in cars, hotels, shelters and transitional housing. I think one of the reasons I was able to move forward and overcome my biggest barrier, which was homelessness, is because of the overwhelming support that I received from Solid Ground and all the other staff and organizations that embraced me during my time of need!

My caseworker Katie Showalter especially played a big part in keeping me grounded. She found out what my needs were on all levels! She was always there using her words to uplift me and motivate me!

She’d say to me, “Joy you are artistic and beautiful, smart and resilient.” She’d use all these powerful words describing characteristics that she’d seen in me that I hadn’t even seen in myself! Katie doesn’t know this, but whenever our meetings were over, I’d always pull out my dictionary and search for the definition to her words of choice, and I’d always feel so awakened and uplifted by their meaning!

There’s a quote that says, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.” And Katie has demonstrated just that with her words of comfort and encouragement. She was always there with her mirror telling me to look at myself and love the person I see, and that I am worthy.

I’m not sure if you all are fans of Deepak Chopra, but I’d like to share something he wrote about toxic relationships. He talks about the three kinds of people in your life: Those who leave you alone, those who help you, and those who hurt you.

People who leave you alone are dealing with your suffering as a nuisance or inconvenience; they prefer to keep their distance in order to feel better themselves.

Those who hurt you want your situation to be the same because they do not have your wellbeing at heart.

Those who help you have the strength and awareness to do more with your suffering than you are able to do by yourself. He also says having made a realistic count, take the following attitude:

1. I will no longer bring my problems to anyone who wants to leave me alone. It’s not good for them or me.
2. I will put a distance between myself and those who want to hurt me.
3. I will share my problems with those who want to help me. I will not reject genuine offers of assistance out of pride, insecurity or doubt. I will ask people to join me in my healing and make them a bigger part of my life.

Whenever I read this I feel so thankful for the people who’ve played a role in my life and who’ve found ways to help me overcome and move forward.

Creating my vision board was another thing that kept me focused. I made my vision board 1/29/2010; we had only been homeless three weeks. But the very first thing that you’re able to see on my vision board is a magazine clipping that reads “Homeless to Happiness.” That remained my vision and my # 1 goal.

On March 7, 2011 my vision became reality. I went from being homeless to being stable, and secure, which to me is happiness!

Brettler Place to me, means happiness. The beautiful scenery, the view of park, even the green grass and access to the beach have meaning to me. It means family and togetherness! The energy here feels good. There’s a peace of mind here!

I have peace of mind knowing that I don’t have to pack my bags in a few months and I don’t have to transfer my kids to another school again. I don’t have to sleep in a car again or call to put my name on a waiting list for shelter. I don’t have to expose my children to unhealthy living anymore!!!

One more quote before I go: “Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” I have that now and it’s all thanks to you, the Brettler Family, Solid Ground, Mercy Housing, Katie Sholwalter and all of you!!! Thank you so very much!!!

Here are additional images from the event:

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While Brettler Family Place ends homelessness for 51 families, we are not quite done with our housing development at Magnuson Park. Stage 2 of this project will include 20 additional housing units for families, as well as 34 units for single men and women, including veterans, seniors and people living with disabilities.

The overall cost of the entire project is in the neighborhood of $30 million. Thanks to many generous people and institutions in our community, we are very close to completing our fundraising. In fact, we have just $515,000 in private funding left to raise! If Joy’s speech moves you to help us close the gap, or if you would like more information on the project, contact Ali Friedman: alif@solid-ground.org.

Goose bumps and our annual Luncheon

Moving in to Brettler Family Place!

I hope you saw the recent B-1 feature in the Seattle Times about Brettler Family Place, entitled Families’ new lives a sign homeless isn’t hopeless. Everyone who has been to Magnuson Park to see Brettler Family Place gets goose bumps just looking at the beautiful development and realizing what a life-changing opportunity it is for the 51 formerly homeless families who are moving in this month. As a community, we can all take pride in coming together to end homelessness for these folks.

On Friday, May 6, we’ll gather at the 11th Annual Solid Ground Building Community Luncheon to celebrate efforts like this and focus on the work ahead. We want you to be there to share in the powerful stories of our programs’ success.

In fact, please consider hosting a table of 10 and inviting your friends, family and colleagues to join you. There is no ticket price, but we’ll ask you to donate $150. The Luncheon is 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. To sign up for the Luncheon, contact Megan Locatelli at meganl@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6862.

Our keynote speaker is Dan Savage, an outspoken and sometimes controversial speaker who at times challenges even things we hold dear! Dan will inspire us with a talk about his It Gets Better Project, which provides support and guidance to LGBT youth who have been bullied – in fact to anyone seeking a relief from isolation and oppression. Table Captains will be invited to attend an exclusive Q&A with Dan following the event.

For more information on the event, go to our website.

Operators are standing by; contact Megan Locatelli at meganl@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6862!

Here is one sample video from the It Gets Better project. Just try watching this without being moved!

Tear down the wall between banks and homeowners facing foreclosure

The Foreclosure Fairness Act currently working its way through the Washington State Legislature gives homeowners facing foreclosure a valuable tool in the struggle to keep their homes. For more on the problem/solution, check out this video.

Legislators need to know that you support this bill!

Contact Statewide Poverty Action Network, call 1.866.789.7726, or email Danielle Friedman to take action to support The Foreclosure Fairness Act.

Tear down the wall!

 

Mortgage counselor Marita DeLeon knocks down the wall between lenders and homeowners.

Thanks!

 

Skins, interiors & Community Center at Sand Point

All of the buildings on our Sand Point campus are now framed in, including the Community Center. Brick and siding is progressing on the 52 units of affordable housing for formerly homeless families, while interiors are making great progress as well. Some of the townhomes have cabinets installed and are feeling nearly finished! The apartments are still getting wired, insulated and buttoned up with wallboard. It is a real hive of activity, with completion date about four months away! Enjoy the photos…  And if you want to support the project, go to our website and click on the orange donate button! Thanks!

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Composite view of apartments from the west

A great place to live for people who need a home!

This Saturday is the Open House at our new housing development at Magnuson Park – Sand Point. This video explains more about the project, which initially will include Brettler Family Place, 52 apartments and townhomes for formerly homeless families, as well as a Community Center.

MORE INFORMATION:

• Directions to Santos Place
• On Solid Ground at Sand Point website

Family Open House at Sand Point: Sat., 10/16/10, 1-3:30pm

Have you wanted to check out the construction of housing for formerly homeless families at Magnuson Park / Sand Point but just haven’t gotten out there yet? Do you work in the area and want to show your friends what’s going on? Have you donated to the On Solid Ground at Sand Point Capital Campaign and want to see the progress to date? Do you want to introduce a friend to volunteering or supporting new housing at Sand Point or Solid Ground in general?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, this FREE Open House at Sand Point is for you! We’ve invited about 12,000 neighbors and all of our donors.
Join us to celebrate the construction of new housing for families and individuals at Magnuson Park / Sand Point!

Block party at Sand Point, summer 2008

WHAT:
Family Open House

WHEN:
Sat., 10/16/10
1:00 – 3:30pm

WHERE:
Santos Place
Community Room
6940 62nd Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115

TOURS:
Starting every 30 minutes, tours include a 20- to 30-minute walk up to see the progress of the construction (not a hard-hat tour!).

COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS:
~1:30pm: Learn how to create a fun, healthy kids’ school lunch.
~2:30pm: Learn how to make a delicious, budget-friendly, French appetizer from the new neighborhood restaurant, Chloé, a French Bistrot.

SUPPORT FAMILIES:
Please bring gently used or new pots, pans or dishes for the Sand Point Housing resource room to support formerly homeless families and individuals.

RSVP to Zanne Garland:
zanneg@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6862 – but it’s also fine to just show up! Several Solid Ground staff will be present to answer questions about the progress to date, timeline, fundraising goals, volunteer opportunities, and other ways to support formerly homeless families and individuals. This is not a fundraiser, but we’ll be happy to sign people up for our mailing list for progress updates.

VOLUNTEER at the EVENT:
We can use help with checking people in, assisting with cooking demonstrations, assisting or leading tours, set up and clean up, etc. Interested? Also let Zanne know!

MORE INFORMATION:

• Directions to Santos Place
• On Solid Ground at Sand Point website

Brick and siding work begin on Brettler Family Place

Framing is almost complete on the housing units Solid Ground is building at Magnuson Park/Sand Point. As this photo essay shows, the exterior brick and siding is just starting to go on. In the middle of the site, the Community Center is starting to take shape; its walls ought to be raised next week. Here are the latest images from Brettler Family Place:

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Hope

Hundreds flock to Mortgage Help Day

Volunteers gather consumer stories at Mortgage Help Day

More than 200 homeowners met this past Saturday with representatives of banks and HUD-certified housing counselors to try and find solutions to their mortgage problems. Housing Counselors and bank reps tried to create work out plans to keep folks from foreclosure. At the same time, advocates provided information about other options available to homeowners facing default and highlighted the need for changes in public policy that will protect Washington homeowners from foreclosure. The meeting, dubbed “Mortgage Help Day,” was organized by Solid Ground’s Statewide Poverty Action Network and a large group of governmental entities and nonprofits. The event was held at South Seattle Community College.

Throughout the day a recurring theme was that the Federal Government’s Home Affordable plan was not working to help homeowners the way it was envisioned.

KOMO News’ coverage showcases some of the challenges homeowners are facing.

The Statewide Poverty Action Network also collected stories from frustrated homeowners to take to the Washington State legislature this coming session in an effort to get legal help for struggling homeowners. Specifically, they are promoting legislation that would create a mandatory mediation process in Washington State. This would give homeowners every opportunity to avoid foreclosure and maximize the ability for loan modifications. In 23 other states and municipalities around the country, this mediation process has helped 60 percent of participants avoid losing their homes.

In memoriam: ‘Through our deepest time of need’

When former Solid Ground King County Housing Stability Project client Patricia Birgen-Redwolf shared her story with us last winter, her situation was looking up, and she was excitedly moving forward with her life goals. Sadly, Patricia passed away in late July 2010 from complications following surgery related to her Multiple Sclerosis. We spoke with her former case manager at Vashon Youth & Family Services, Debbie Rieschl, who said that Patricia would have liked to see her story published so that it might help others.

Patricia Birgen-Redwolf

I am a single mom to autistic twin teenage boys. In addition to the stress of raising high-need teenagers, I myself struggle daily with the physical and emotional pain of Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, hypothyroidism, a heart condition and health issues related to the MS. Although recently awarded SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) from the 20+ years that I have been a small business owner, and the taxes paid into the system, that same system penalizes me financially with high medical co-pays due to the hours I still work – yet I need to continue to work in order to survive, regardless of my physicians’ requirement that I stop working. It has me in an endless cycle of declining health and stress.

In late December of 2005 I found myself the victim of domestic violence when I left a relationship and ended up in the hospital with a concussion, fractured ribs, multiple contusions, and the police and victims advocates telling me I needed to move and move fast, as this man had eight prior felony convictions and (unbeknown to me) had been in prison four times, once for running a girlfriend over with her own car.

So, I ran. I came back to King County as that is where my support system is, friends – some whom I’ve known for up to 20 years.

I tried desperately to find an affordable home and within a week I found a house. Although it was outside my price range, it was available immediately, so I took it rather than having my boys and my ADA-assist dog remain homeless and living on friends’ couches and my car in the middle of winter. Also, I was deeply concerned as my autistic twins were beginning to have severe stress reactions due to the lack of stability of a home.

I paid the hefty deposit with loans from friends and first month’s rent from my own money, but when the rental agent came back to tell me that I had to pay an additional, HUGE deposit in order to move in because of the restraining order I had on the man who attempted to kill me (because he was still on the run from the police), I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. I couldn’t go back home, even though I had paid my rent through the end of the month because of the fear of this very dangerous man. I had laid down an electronic trail to make him believe I was in a different state altogether, and later when friends and I went down to move, this was indeed smart as he came to the house with a shotgun in his truck, and we had to get the police to protect me while I hid in my car up the road.

After many, many calls to resource networks, I finally discovered Solid Ground and the King County Housing Stability Project. I needed to get into my new house so I could get back to work and try to get life back to some semblance of normalcy. After nearly two weeks of constant high stress and homelessness while trying to heal from serious injuries, seek housing and calm my boys, my prayers and those of my friends were answered when Solid Ground approved my application. They paid the funds needed to help me secure stable safe housing in a neighborhood that is safe and somewhat difficult to find, even for locals.

I don’t know how I can ever repay what they gave as it wasn’t just about the money, it was also knowing that a community of strangers who did not know us or the details of our story cared enough to step in and ensure that a hardworking single mom with an enormous amount of stress and life struggle – and her two children – would have a safe place to call home. I will be forever deeply indebted and appreciative of this gift, and in all my works will continue my own personal mission to ‘pay it forward’ when I see others in need.

Thank you to all the invisible Angels out there who were responsible for ensuring that this program had the funding to help my family through our deepest time of need. Bless you all! ~Patricia

Note: Patricia’s boys are safe, living with family friends, and receiving ongoing support.

To find out if you or someone you know might qualify for assistance through the King County Housing Stability Project, please call the Community Information Line at 2.1.1 or 206.461.3200.

Mortgage counselor on KUOW

Solid Ground’s mortgage default counselor, Erin Rearden, appeared on KUOW’s The Conversation yesterday, discussing federal efforts to help folks who are facing foreclosure and talking to homeowners about their specific situations. Lots of good info and perspective. You can listen in here.

Solid Ground’s Statewide Poverty Action Network is co-producing Mortgage Help Day, this Sat. Oct 2 at South Seattle Community College, to give folks an opportunity to meet 1-on-1 with Erin and other counselors as well as representatives of area lenders. Details here.

4 banks participating in Mortgage Help Day, Oct 2

Representatives of four banks are expected to join a dozen nonprofit, HUD-certified housing counselors at Mortgage Help Day this coming Saturday, October 2, to help homeowners facing foreclosure to understand their options and make good decisions.

If you are worried about making your next house payment, please come.

If you are currently delinquent on your mortgage, please come.

If you have received a foreclosure notice, please come.

We are expecting representatives from Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and PNC. If your mortgage is with one of those lenders and you are facing a rate adjustment or other factors that are making it difficult to make your payments, please bring your loan documents and other important papers to ensure that you can make the most of this opportunity. Counselors from Solid Ground and other HUD-certified housing counseling organizations will also be available to help.

Organizers from the Statewide Poverty Action Network and other partner agencies suggest that you bring along:

• Photo ID
• Social Security Card
• Last 2 years’ W-2 and tax returns
• Last 2 months’ pay stubs
• Last 2 months’ bank statements
• All mortgage documents, including closing documents and statements
• AND if you have them: layoff notice from employer and/or medical letter from doctor.

Mortgage Help Day is from 10am – 4pm on October 2 at South Seattle Community College’s Brockey Conference Center (6000 16th Ave SW). You can get there on Metro bus lines 125 & 128. Free childcare and translation services can be provided, but please call to arrange them in advance: 206.694.6794.

For more information go to www.povertyaction.org.

Sharehouse truck cleaned!

Thanks to the good folks at Greenlake Pressure Washing, The Sharehouse’s truck has been cleaned and is back on the road. You can read about how it was tagged here.

The Sharehouse's truck after cleaning!

Sharehouse truck tagged, services curtailed. Please help!

It’s such a simple idea: recycle good quality used furniture and household items to folks who are transitioning out of homelessness to help them start new homes. For more than 20 years, The Sharehouse has pioneered this work, turning housing into homes for thousands. Started by a group of hearty volunteers, the program has developed into a cornerstone of our community’s response to homelessness. And I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for The Sharehouse, as I was the first director and ran the program for four years.

Last night their delivery truck was tagged by graffiti, and the program needs to take it out of commission until it is cleaned up. That means no more picking up donated furniture and no more deliveries to help families move into a new place.

But they don’t have the resources to pay for a cleaning. So I’m asking folks to help. If you know of someone who could clean the truck pro bono, please email director Michal Nortness. Or consider joining me in making a donation to help cover the costs. You can do it online through The Sharehouse’s donation page. Thanks!

Brettler Family Place framing almost complete

Here are the latest photos of the new housing Solid Ground is developing at Magnuson Park for formerly homeless families. The townhomes and apartments are almost completely framed in. The Community Center will shape up soon.

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Composite of northern units

Testimony

An interesting story about taking personal responsibility for addressing homelessness on the Aurora corridor. Nice work by ben k. on the Aurora Seattle blog.