When Thomas was living in a homeless shelter in Tacoma, he saved up to get an apartment. He had first and last months' rent, a deposit, and enough money for three tenant screening fees each month. An error on his screening report got him rejected by landlords time after time, though, and he spent hundreds of dollars on tenant screening reports. Thomas was stuck in the shelter months longer than he needed to be. A proposed law making its way through the legislature solves this problem by creating portable screening reports -- find out what you can do to support this solution!
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Spark Change Podcast Episode 5: Unselfies and Photo Booths
“Unselfies” and photo booths make advocacy fun! We’ve seen an explosion of selfies, or self-portraits, as camera phones have become ubiquitous and people want to share photos of themselves on networks like Facebook and Instagram. Now, nonprofits have flipped the term and asked people to share unselfies -- photos of themselves advocating for a cause. In today’s Spark Change Podcast, we share our experiences with unselfies, as well as photo booths for advocacy.
Educators Speak Up for Homeless Students
Education is a major focus of this legislative session, in part because policymakers have been directed by the state Supreme Court to invest billions more dollars in funding K-12 education. But lawmakers and advocates alike recognize that as long as family homelessness is a problem in our state, students and schools will suffer. In this video, educators explain how they've seen homelessness affect students, and how these experiences motivated them to join Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day.
One Night Count Results Galvanize Action
Each year, volunteers across the country fan out through their communities to count people who are sleeping outdoors. 3,117 homeless men, women and children were out in the cold in King County between 2 and 5 a.m. today.
Real Change, a homeless empowerment project and newspaper based in Seattle, organizes a "Sounding of the Gong" event the morning after the count to bring attention to the problem of homelessness. Firesteel spoke with Real Change Founding Director Tim Harris about the count results, which reflected a 14 percent increase from 2013 in the number of people sleeping outdoors. We also interviewed Rachael Myers, Executive Director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, about advocacy efforts to end homelessness in Washington state. Join Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day on Jan. 28 in Olympia to meet your legislators and encourage them to support policies that will end homelessness.Using Social Media on Advocacy Day and Beyond!
Calling all twitterers and Facebook fans! Social networks are a great place to share your thoughts on housing, and to rally your friends to advocate for policies that will end homelessness. Take social media to the next level! Join our free Social Media 201 Google+ Hangout this Monday, Jan. 13.