We're introducing our first weekly feature! Think of it as a theme for a specific day that you can come to expect. Today we begin "Photo Friday." From people to places, we'll be sharing images that tell stories. With this week being National Volunteer Appreciation Week, how better to start it off than by highlighting a community volunteer!
Featured
Making Change By Telling True Stories
Dan Lamont is a photojournalist. In 2010 he created multimedia stories on family homelessness as a Seattle University Journalism Fellow funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Mechanisms and avenues for telling these stories have changed. The old publishing venues and supporting business structures have crumbled. What has come to take their place is exciting and rife with potential but still unformed and unpredictable. Those who want to report on important social issues must find new ways in this noisy new media environment. Here Dan shares some creative new media opportunities for supporting social change.
Social Media and Community Building: A Homelessness Advocate Perspective
(Photo thanks to InvisiblePeople.tv)
Carey Fuller manages multiple social media accounts with vibrant online communities. She is also experiencing homelessness. Living in Kent, WA, with her two daughters, Carey shares her perspective on online community and social media advocacy that can positively impact the homeless community.
Session Ends and Advocacy Works!
Great news this morning. After working through the night, legislators agreed upon a budget and session has come to a close! What's in the budget? $67.1 million for the Housing Trust Fund, Housing Essential Needs fully funded, no cuts to TANF and Disabililty Lifeline Medical saved!
Advocacy works and we are so grateful for everyone who added their voice during this last session. Our two Firesteel priority bills, the Housing Trust Fund and EHB2048 document recording fees, both received the support they needed. It's time to celebrate all the hard work that was put into these passing!
Technology Tackles Homelessness
We are seeing technology used more and more to do something about homelessness. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced within the last few days a new Innovation Initiative competition for an app that will "provide easy access to resources that the homeless need, when they need it, and where they can get it." Project Reach (Real-time Electronic Access for Caregivers and the Homeless) challenges contestants to create a free and accessible app that shares real-time information on where someone can meet basic needs such as a bed or place to eat. This tech competition comes on the heels of the South by Southwest Homeless Hotspots, the controversial digital take on a street newspaper model. Here I'll share a bit more on these two tech projects that address homelessness, along with a few more that have been around longer.