As programs that help the state’s poor shrink or vanish amid the budget crisis in Olympia, Gov. Chris Gregoire has said it will be “up to us as a community” to fill the void left by the state.
“It’s up to the nonprofits, it’s up to the faith community, it’s up to us,” Gregoire said as she proposed another round of cuts in December. “It’s up to our families and our friends and our neighbors to help out those we know, and those we don’t know or never met.”
It’s a tall order. Many of those families, friends and neighbors have been affected by the recession, too. Nonprofit groups are already stretching to meet greater needs, even as many regular donors have fewer dollars to give.
Which makes the latest venture of Housing Hope, a Snohomish County-based nonprofit supported by a network of individuals, faith organizations, companies and agencies, a particularly welcome effort.
Housing Hope, which since its founding in 1987 has successfully lifted families from homelessness toward stability and self-sufficiency, this month launched an affiliated nonprofit called HopeWorks Social Enterprises. It expands a primary focus of Housing Hope — to reduce the cost of housing for needy families — to include expanding their income. The goal, as it has been at Housing Hope, is to help vulnerable families help themselves by setting expectations, providing pertinent services, and rewarding diligence and hard work.
Several innovative initiatives will support that goal, each made possible by the wide and deep community support it will take to make meaningful repairs to a fraying social safety net. Among them:
•Ten Degrees, a program at the new Mt. Bakerview Apartments near Jackson Park in Everett, where affordable rent and other support is offered to 10 families with a member attending college.
Property Works, in which participants combine internships with college credits at Everett Community College to earn a certificate in property management. A grant from the Workforce Development Council of Snohomish County will allow the program, launched last year, to expand in 2011.
YouthBuild, another partnership with the WDC, offers construction experience through Housing Hope’s sweat equity home ownership program to high school dropouts while they earn their GED at EvCC.
Housing Hope’s history of success and effective use of resources drew the support needed to get these ventures off to a strong start. Federal stimulus money helped with the purchase of the Mt. Bakerview Apartments, but generous local gifts of money and know-how have made the biggest difference.
HopeWorks is a timely blueprint for how communities can combine the best of their hearts and minds to create not just a temporary lift for struggling families, but lasting solutions.
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