Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Seattle March
Thousands took the streets in Seattle on Monday for the 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr Day March. KBCS’s Gol Hoghooghi and Yuko Kodama gathered sounds and interviews from the celebration.
Yes! Magazine: Fighting Homelessness With The Block Project
Yes! Magazine’s Bailey Williams speaks with Valerie Schloredt about her article in the magazine’s Spring 2018 “decolonize” issue, on what a neighborhood project is doing to address homelessness.
Food Rescues to Feed Seattle’s Homeless
America leads the world in wasting food. It’s estimated almost half of all produce in the U.S. is thrown away. “OSL – Operation Sack Lunch“, a nonprofit in Seattle, is trying to combat that problem by rescuing food before it’s wasted. KBCS’s Casey Martin traced how leftover food from local businesses became meals for the homeless.
#SEAHomeless: Fleeing Home from Domestic Violence
When KBCS asked Eastside homeless services how homelessness looks on the Eastside versus west of Lake Washington, we were told that Eastside homeless doesn’t usually look like cardboard signs at freeway on-ramps and sleeping bags on the street. They said it looks more like the commuter in work clothes on the bus or the person standing in line with you when you buy your morning coffee.
Unmute the Commute: The Night Owls
Washington state has the fifth largest homeless population in the country, at about 20,000 individuals as estimated in 2016. When night comes, there are few places where housing insecure individuals can go to keep warm. Especially in the colder months, buses often provide warmth and dry shelter for a few hours. Today on Unmute the Commute, The Night Owls. Produced by Hans Anderson. (more…)
Eastside Homelessness
Homelessness is probably not the first image that comes to mind when you think about the vigorous economy of the Eastside. We highlight voices from the largely unseen homeless population of Bellevue and Kirkland. This 5 part series was originally broadcast in October 2015.
Episode 1 – Congregations for the Homeless Bellevue Executive Director, David Johns Bowling (October 19, 2015)
Episode 2 & 3 – Lake Washington United Methodist Church Pastor, Kelly Dahlman Oeth (October 20-21, 2015)
Episode 4 & 5 – Eastside residents and parents of three, Tim and Jami Kemp share their experience of living in safe parking in Kirkland. (October 22-23, 2015)
Eastside Homelessness: a Different Story
Homelessness may not be one of the first things that come to mind when you think of the booming cities and suburbs east of Lake Washington. But shelters on the Eastside estimate they’ll serve well over twenty five hundred people this coming year. Congregations for the Homeless Executive Director David Bowling describes how being homeless on the Eastside differs from being on the street in Seattle.
A new Eastside Men’s shelter and supportive housing is proposed in Bellevue’s Eastgate area.
Eastside Homelessness
Homelessness is probably not the first image that comes to mind when you think about the vigorous economy of the Eastside. We highlight voices from the largely unseen homeless population of Bellevue and Kirkland.
Episode 1 – Congregations for the Homeless Bellevue Executive Director, David Johns Bowling
Episode 2 & 3 – Lake Washington United Methodist Church Pastor, Kelly Dahlman Oeth
Episode 4 & 5 – Eastside residents and parents of three, Tim and Jami Kemp share their experience of living in safe parking in Kirkland.
Today’s Native Activism
Our region’s Native community is vibrant, and a force to be reckoned with. From art and education, to social services and political advocacy, we feature some of the leaders empowering the Native experience.
Episode 1 – Last October, local Lakota activist, and Co-founder of the blog, Last Real Indians Matt Remle made a breakthrough in Seattle with the replacement of Columbus Day for Indigenous People’s Day. The event made national and international headlines. Remle discusses the importance of recognizing Native Americans on Columbus Day.
Episode 2 – This year, all Washington public schools are mandated to teach Native American history and governance in the curriculum. Mike Vendiola is a Swinomish member and Washington State’s Native Education Program Supervisor for the Superintendent of Public Instruction. He explains the need for the legislation.
Episode 3 – Pahnee Tribal Member and Chief Seattle Club Executive Director, Colleen Echohawk explains one of the core reasons why there’s a disproportionate number of Native Americans on the street and without a home.
Episode 4 & 5 – Louie Gong is a Nooksack member, arts entrepreneur and educator who founded Eighth Generation. He breaks down cultural appropriation and the impact on the native community.
Image – Courtesy of artist, Louie Gong “Modern Day Warrior”
Music – Rushus “crimson turtles”, “05-29”
Producers – Ruth Bly and Yuko Kodama
State could conduct major study of homeless children
By John Stang
The state would undertake a sweeping count of the number of homeless kids from birth through 10 years old, under a bill working its way through the House.
The bill by Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, would order the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to tackle such a census, including determining the average length of a child’s homelessness. The institute would also have to make recommendations to the Legislature on the best ways to address the problems of homelessness for the children. If passed, the bill would set a Dec. 31 deadline for a preliminary report to go to the Legislature.
“We do not know much about these families and children prior to them entering school,” Fey told the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee at a hearing on Tuesday. Melanie Smith, representing Wellspring Family Services, added, “We don’t know how many children who are homeless.”
Smith noted, “This is a population with intense needs.”
The House passed the same bill last year, with a Senate committee also giving it a green light. However, the 2014 session ended prior to a Senate floor vote on the bill.
The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction annually collects information from each school district about the number of homeless students. Estimates of Washington’s homeless student population range from roughly 30,000 to roughly 42,000. The OSPI figure from the 2012-2013 school year was 30,609. That included 1,254 students who had no shelter at all, 8,202 who reported some kind of temporary housing and 21,153 who were living with friends or non-parent family members on a temporary basis. One statewide spot count found 1,872 homeless students in Seattle’s schools, 1,220 in the Spokane public school system, 508 in Wenatchee and 557 in Vancouver.
A staff analysis of Fey’s bill says that there has been no “robust” study of younger homeless children statewide by the institute since 2002.
Distributed by Crosscut Public Media
Click here for more 2015 Olympia coverage.
