We've been hearing a lot lately around social media that as a community we need to be harder with negative consequences for people who "don't want treatment" or "don't want to help themselves" or "refuse the help they are offered". Please take 5 minutes out of your day to hear Maia Szalavitz, world renowned author, addictions specialist, and long time chaotic, heroin and cocaine user, speak about addiction as a learning disorder. Addiction by definition is not only a physical dependence to a substance, but it is also compulsively using substances DESPITE negative consequences. If we want to change the behavior of people who use substances in our community, we need to bring them in without judgement, teach them how to be responsible and self aware about how their actions affect those around them, and teach them different ways to cope with the world around them. If compulsive use despite negative consequences is the definition of addiction, why would more negative, punitive consequences get people to change their behavior? We've tried that for decades and it hasn't worked. This framework for understanding addiction helps to de-polarize the conversation of what is right and what is wrong and see this issue in a new light. If you spent time to watch Seattle is Dying, please give this video the same courtesy. To be clear, we believe there is no one pathway for people in their road to recovery. For some people abstinence based, 12 step models are vital. For many others, alternative treatments are necessary and life saving. We meet people wherever they are at on that spectrum and support them in getting connected to the resources they need and want in a  non-judgmental and de-stigmatized way. I want to acknowledge that this is a nuanced and painful discussion for many of us with loved ones or personal experience with addiction and recovery. As a community we must find ways to bridge the divide in this conversation, to recognize that what works for one will not work for another and that we all need each other to continue shifting towards a safer, more supportive community for all of us. <3 <3 <3

• Vulnerability is transformative.

I think it's safe to say that people who have fought for resilience through serious hardship have been transformed by their experiences. The most resilient people I know have survived unimaginable hardships. Part of their stories include moments of being stripped down, broken open, being physically alone or maybe in a crowded place feeling a profoundly lonely void that can't be filled. There's generally at least one other person (or furry being) that was a key support beam during the crisis that kept us alive. There tends to be a moment where the truth smacked us so hard in the face that we had a life or death choice to make... Turn towards it or run the hell away and lose people we love. Turning towards hardship and choosing to see the daily transformations in our guests and in ourselves due to the relationships we have formed through this work, has been dramatically transformative in both tiny and gigantic ways. I am forever changed.

• We can and must do better. 

Thurston County is growing at an enormous rate. We are currently seeing the push and pull of what it means to be a small, under resourced town, with big city issues playing out on our streets and in our neighborhoods everyday. While Interfaith Works does our best to carve out spaces for people who are on the streets to just be, to be included as part of the broader community, to reduce isolation, to hold up a mirror to our community about the realities of how many people are suffering right in our own backyards, to get access to what they need on their terms, to see everyone as human and worthy of love, we often fall short. We are not perfect. We have a long way to go in our understanding of how racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism and all the intersections of oppression cloud our judgement and the way we see people in our community. We don't always treat our guests or each other with the unconditional respect that is so core to our values as a program because this work is emotionally draining, we're human, and we all bring our baggage to the table at some point. Our work is messy and has impacts on other sectors in the community. We are operating within an oppressive system that creates more problems than it solves, and requires the under resourced "solutions" to eternally push beyond our means, yet never get ahead of the issues we are dedicating our lives to solving. Admitting that this work is dichotomous with both light and shadow sides, with tides that rise and fall, with complex outcomes... Doesn't mean that we have failed, or our work isn't important, or that none of our efforts have brought us closer to understanding what a solution for each person experiencing homelessness could look like. It means that we are willing to walk into a consciousness that doesn't have a linear pathway in or out. It doesn't have a playbook yet because we haven't evolved enough as a society to write it. It means that we are turning toward the truth which is scary, and requires strong, beautifully cultivated armor. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and challenged us along the way. We could not have gotten here without you. <3

We are here to report another amazingly successful year with Rainshadow Running at the helm of the June 16th, Millersylvania 10K/30K/50K trail race in support of the Interfaith Works Homeless Services Program! The 2018 race proceeds doubled last year! You helped raise $10,000 for the IW Homeless Services Program! Thank you to James so much but especially for high fiving each runner as they crossed the finish line, Elizabeth for all your wrangling and bottom lining of the event, all the other Rainshadow staff and volunteers for holding it down, Deborah the IW Office Manager for sharing info on our program, IW Support Staff Evilyn and Midden for driving the van full of guests to cheer runners on, all the guests who came to cheer people on, and ESPECIALLY all the runners who made this event possible! Special shout out to Doug and Jack for repping the IW team in the 10K two years (literally) running! We are so grateful and feel so connected to our community on days like this. Thank you thank you thank you, everyone! <3 <3 <3 

​The Community Care Center is hosting it's second monthly community workshop! This month will be led by our partners at SideWalk. 

Housing First approaches are based on the concept that a homeless individual or households first and primary need is to obtain stable housing, and that other issues that may affect the household can and should be addressed once housing is obtained. In contrast, many other programs operate from a model of "housing readiness" — that is, that an individual or household must address other issues that may have led to the episode of homelessness prior to entering housing.

SideWalk and its community partners adopted this model and strive to find housing for individuals first, while working to secure other resources to meet the person’s ongoing challenges or needs.

​This workshop will discuss the tenants of Housing First and demonstrate the methods that are working and the challenges experienced in the process. 

​We hope to see you there!

Visit our Facebook event page!  www.facebook.com/events/629954054006793/

On May 1st, a group of protestors distributed a flyer in Olympia's South Capitol neighborhood that supported a demonstration at Mayor Cheryl Selby's house. The flyer specifically named Interfaith Works Warming Center funding decisions as one reason behind the protest. We want to reassure our community that we do not condone this action, nor had any knowledge about it beforehand. Please click the image below to read our full statement to the community on this issue, and join us as we recommit ourselves to partnership, bridge building, and community healing, just as we have done for four decades in Thurston County. Thank you. <3 <3 <3