Making The Ten Year Plan Real

 

When St Pats endorsed the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County (see the Spring 2006 issue), many of us thought: OK, we've endorsed the plan - now what?  We don’t want this to be just words on paper, but something we are actively engaged in.  What can we, as people of faith and just plain folks do to end homelessness?

Addressing that question was the focus of a recent conference sponsored by the InterFaith TaskForce on Homelessness entitled "Making the Ten Year Plan REAL:  Creating the Political Will to End Homelessness".  The conference, which was targeted to faith communities such as ours, began with a panel that addressed the many ways in which faith communities can be involved in the movement to end homelessness. 

Members of faith communities from a number of faiths spoke about their communities' involvement in emergency services, housing and advocacy.   The day continued with workshops that dealt with each of these topics more in depth, and ended with a lively debate about the plan and the broader context of housing affordability and poverty.  Each workshop and panel resulted in recommendations for how faith communities can work to end homelessness in each of these areas. 

Those present represented more than 140 faith communities that are interested in ending homelessness.  As King County Executive Ron Sims said in his opening remarks, "people of faith can shape and move an agenda".  Working with others, we at St. Pats will be part of shaping the agenda to end homelessness.  Be watching for more opportunities to participate later this year.

Become Knowledgeable about the Issue of Homelessness

In Endorsing the Ten Year Plan, one of the things we committed to was to become knowledgeable about the issue of homelessness.  Following are some facts about homelessness locally, and resources for learning more.

• 1,946 people were found surviving outside without shelter in the One Night Count of the Homeless held on January 26, 2006.  On that same night, 5,964 men, women and children were in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs.

• Nowhere in the US is the federal minimum wage enough to afford the fair market rent for a two bedroom apartment. In 2005, at minimum wage you would need to work 88 hours a week in order to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in our region.  That's more than two full-time jobs. 

• In the first year of the Ten Year Plan 563 new housing units for formerly homeless persons were opened in King County.

A few places to begin learning more:

Seattle King County Coalition for the Homeless:  www.homelessinfo.org

National Low Income Housing Coalition:  www.nlihc.org

Committee to End Homelessness in King County:  www.cehkc.org