Recent Blog Posts

Low income renters in Washington face a staggering shortage of affordable homes, contributing to housing instability and homelessness across the state
Legislature Failed to Make Significant Progress on Housing Crisis
Hundreds of Thousands of Washingtonians at Risk of Displacement and homelessness by Excessive Rent Increases
Relief for renters clears important hurdle with WA House passage of measure to prevent excessive rent increases
Washington’s housing wage rises to $36.33 per hour – fifth highest in the nation 
The shortage of affordable housing has worsened for renters with extremely low incomes, especially in Washington
State lawmakers must make bold investments this year to solve the affordable housing and homelessness crisis
Bill to Stop Rent Gouging Approved by House Appropriations Committee, Landlords Join Housing Advocates Pushing for Floor Vote
Governor Inslee’s budget takes bold steps - significant housing investments are also needed in this biennium
The vision, mission, and values that guide our work
housing action
Top 10 Housing Alliance Moments of 2014 (5-3)

Share:

As we get ever closer to the 2015 State Legislative Session, we look back on the top ten Housing Alliance moments of this year. We're presenting the list to you in segments. Here's Part 3, moments 5, 4, and 3.

 

 

 

#5 - Medicaid Supportive Housing Benefit White Paper Release.

Summer in Seattle can be...slow. But policy staff were hard at work on a research paper exploring the concept of creating a new Medicaid benefit to both help end chronic homelessness and bring permanent supportive housing (PSH) to scale. PSH pairs affordable housing with intensive tenancy support services, housing case management, and care coordination. It’s designed to serve people who are experiencing or are at risk of chronic homelessness and who have a severe and persistent mental health disorder, a chemical dependency disability, or chronic and complex physical health conditions. Although permanent supportive housing exists across Washington, there is not enough funding currently available to bring this model fully to scale.

 

 

#4 - 2014 Conference on Ending Homelessness Sets Records.

The 2014 Annual Conference on Ending Homelessness (COEH) in Yakima on May 21-22 was record-setting in many ways. We had the highest number of attendees for Yakima ever: 617 housing and homelessness service providers and private sector employees from all over Washington attended the two days of workshops. Attendees could pick from 50 workshops, our highest number yet. And 22 of them offered Continuing Education Unit credits, also a record.

Our 2014 COEH keynote speakers were especially entertaining. Nonprofit blogger Vu Le first made attendees laugh when entering the stage to the epic theme music from the cable television program “Game of Thrones.” But his reflections as a young child raised in a family that recently immigrated to the US were both humorous and thought-provoking. And Rex Holbien’s presentation of the striking images and stories he’s documented for his Facing Homelessness project led to a standing ovation and not a dry eye in the house.

 

 

#3 - Emerging Advocates Program Reunites!

Our Emerging Advocates Program (EAP) trains individuals who have experienced homelessness or housing instability in a range of skills for effective advocacy. EAP participants from all three 2014 programs joined with last year's attendees for an October celebration with Housing Alliance staff. In addition to a display of art created by EAP graduates, we had a visual timeline that charted organizational and personal milestones since the program began in 2013. There was also an open mic for anyone who wanted to share their personal experiences during or since the EAP program.

 

Tune in next Monday, December 22 as we reveal the top "two" moments from this past year.

Do you have your own housing & homelessness advocacy highlights from 2014? Share yours at our Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

 

Share:

Add new comment

About text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
CAPTCHA