The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is beginning a series of community conversations and meetings to solicit input and participation in the development of the department's Strategic Plan, "Healthy Families, Healthy Communities.  Input from these meetings will help advance the community priorities identified through the City's Youth and Families Initiative. They will also guide strategies to align HSD and other resources to connect people with the resources and solutions they need to build healthy, safe and thriving families and communities.

The outreach and engagement will include two phases:

1.     Community Meetings and Focus Groups (February - March): HSD seeks to engage with a broad and diverse range of stakeholders including human service providers, advocacy groups, community coalitions, funders and other system partners, as well as individuals and families using human service programs.

2.     Action Teams (March 2011): Interested community members and subject matter experts will help identify and develop strategic plan deliverables, for instance, how specific areas such as early learning and senior programs can collaborate and develop measurable outcomes.

If you are interested in participating, you can:

·         Convene a focus group or meeting of constituents

·         Participate in a focus group or meeting

·         Join an action team

Please contact Marie Kurose for more information at marie.kurose@seattle.gov or 206 386-1010.

When he was still able to work, Mr. "M" and his wife and two children lived in a two-bedroom apartment in a Seattle suburb. Money was tight, but the M family had a decent place to live and a good, safe neighborhood in which to raise their kids. Then Mr. M became ill with AIDS, lost his job and was forced to rely on Social Security disability income -- less than $600 per month. Unable to continue paying full-market rent for their apartment, the M family tried without success to find affordable housing in the same vicinity. They were close to being evicted when they were given the opportunity to move into a "scattered-site" housing program funded by the federal Housing Opportunity for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program.

More than 550 individuals, most of them single adults, received supportive services in King and Snohomish counties from the (2009) HOPWA program grant administered by the Seattle Human Services Department. More than one-third of these people also received rental assistance (204 households or 37%), which helped to prevent evictions/homelessness and enabled homeless individuals to move into affordable housing.

For Mr. M and his family, this housing has brought peace-of-mind and stability. "We are very happy and extremely grateful [to live here]," Mr. M said. "The location is very convenient, close to the best schools in the area, and very safe." 

For more information about the HOPWA program, please contact Jim Betts, Seattle Human Services Department, at 206-684-0273 or jim.betts@seattle.gov.

The recently released Hunger and Homelessness Survey published by the U.S. Conference of Mayors provides information on 27 cities in the country, including Seattle. Among the featured "best practices" is Seattle's Landlord Liaison Project (LLP) which connects families and individuals who are homeless to rental housing. LLP was developed by the Committee to End Homelessness; it is funded by the City, King County, and the United Way of King County, and managed by the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County. LLP is a partnership among landlords, property managers, participating human services agencies, and homeless people with barriers to accessing permanent housing. The goal is to house homeless families and individuals who could not otherwise access housing due to rental barriers. For details, see the complete report.

Photo courtesy of Puget Sound Food Network

The Farm to Table program celebrated its first delivery in January when staff at Chicken Soup Brigade/Lifelong Aids Alliance received 50 pounds of freshly harvested leeks from 21 Acres Farm in Woodinville.

The Chicken Soup Brigade provides home-delivered meals and grocery bags to older adults and people living with HIV/AIDS and other life challenging illnesses, and is a partner in Farm to Table, a project funded by Public Health - Seattle & King County through a federal grant from Community Putting Prevention to Work (through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The intent is to make healthy foods affordable for senior congregate and home-delivered meal programs and child care centers by cooperatively purchasing fresh produce directly from local farmers. The Seattle Human Services Department's Aging & Disability Services division is the project lead for Farm to Table and is working in partnership with HSD's Early Learning & Family Support division, King County Housing Authority, Seattle Parks & Recreation, and HSD-funded senior meal program and child care centers.

Many thanks to Farm to Table partner Puget Sound Food Network whose staff helped connect 21 Acres Farm with Chicken Soup Brigade.  Read more about the first Farm to Table produce delivery on the Puget Sound Food Network's blog: http://psfn.org/blog/.