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Thank you to our amazing staff team!
Our staff are on the front lines everyday supporting people through crisis, connecting them to vital shelter beds, hygiene, housing, and clinical support services so that they may find their right path to a higher quality of life. Our staff lead with love, humor, compassion, pragmatism, and a strong work ethic everyday to mitigate the many harms associated with the housing crisis that our city is facing. We believe that although our work isn't easy and it has impacts in the community, inaction has much greater impact to us all, and is not an option when there are people literally dying on our streets and in wooded areas due to weather, chronic health conditions, overdose, fatal accidents, major medical events like heart attack or stroke, and more. Thank you to our stellar staff team who show up everyday to face, head-on, one of the biggest and most complex challenges our community will ever face. IW Stance on May Day protestsThere is a long history in most cities, as is true of Olympia, of protests on May Day that can often lead to property damage, vandalism, and in extreme cases, violence. Interfaith Works has stated before, and we would like to state again, that we unequivocally denounce violence or threats of violence of any kind. Additionally, we believe that any action that further divides our communities ability to work on solutions to our greatest challenges undermines the hard work of so many (non-profits, government, businesses, neighborhood coalitions, unhoused and housed residents, etc.), who want to see our city be safe and welcoming for all people. Further, it puts our most marginalized neighbors at higher risk of harm and criminalization. Last year we put out a statement and many parts of it still ring true today. We would like to share those excerpts again:
"Interfaith Works has worked for peace and justice for 45 years in this community through diverse and intentional bridge-building. Working to heal community pain and bring people together through interfaith understanding and providing emergency shelter and services to vulnerable people on the streets has always been at the core of our role in Thurston County. We are deeply saddened at the strong divisions that are present in our community today. We face huge challenges posed by population growth and a changing economy. We have a humanitarian crisis on our streets, business owners are struggling, affordable housing is severely lacking and people with serious challenges related to their mental health and substance use remain on the streets while they experience long delays seeking help from an overwhelmed health care system. This is a time, more than ever, to draw on our individual and collective strengths to weather these challenges together, without violence and/or threats of violence tearing us apart and weakening our ability to make long-term, sustainable change. The residents of Olympia and governmental, non-profit and community leaders have a deep well of compassion and strong motivation to make positive, effective changes -- we always have. We have overcome differences many times before in this community to come together for the greater good. We’ve done this by having open and civil conversations, respecting each other even if we are not seeing things from the same side, hearing each other out and allowing for the raw emotion that is inevitably part of these complex issues to be valued. Interfaith Works remains steadfast in our commitment to bridging divides and staying grounded in our core values of peace, justice and partnership among all facets of our diverse community." Enjoy the beautiful weather, and please be excellent to each other! Have a great May Day, everyone! Come join a team of committed, caring, funny, continuously growing and strengthening group of folks supporting and advocating for some of our most at-risk community members. We are looking for empathetic and self-aware individuals dedicated to being a part of a team, who can lean into supporting dynamic individuals in complex situations with unconditional respect, integrity and humor.
We are currently accepting applications for on-call fill-in staff. Fill-in staff will be on call for day, evening or overnight shifts when support staff needs time off for any reason including vacations, personal requests for time off, or if they call in sick. Fill in staff have designated days that they are on-call and prepared to go in. Interfaith Works Homeless Services (IW HS) provides overnight shelter services and daytime hygiene and basic needs coordination for adult individuals of all genders experiencing homelessness. IW HS is an equal opportunity employer working towards representing the community we serve and building a diverse work environment. People of color, older folks, people with disabilities and people of diverse gender expressions and identities are strongly encouraged to apply. Rooted in the principles of harm reduction, IW HS is dedicated to providing emergency services and support to those in need, not as charity but as an act of social justice. Visit our job page for more information. PLEASE READ THROUGH FULL JOB DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS. https://www.iwshelter.org/jobs.html ... and why it matters.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 4 reflections... one for each year.
(Jeanne, Dave, Tarryn, Brittany and myself) are still employed at IW. That's 45%! That's a really big deal for such high stress and emotionally demanding work with an dramatically high turnover rate nationwide. What I love though, is that of the staff who have moved on; Jack and Max are in nursing school, Cassie completed certification as an EMT and is working towards becoming a paramedic, Krista and Tarryn (Tarryn is still with us, but still...) are in MSW school, Jeff is a school social worker for homeless youth in a rural, underserved county, Sadie is a radical, body positive esthetician, Rebecca is an artist and activist who is part of an Indigenous artist collective and recently performed at the SAM as part of the Double Exposure Exhibit, Kai is in school to become a doctor of eastern medicine with a focus in acupuncture, Denver started grad school in community organizing, economic development and city planning, Dan is the veteran's case manager at Drexel II, Kipp is involved with a long standing syringe exchange program in Philadelphia, Olive is a core staff member at the Thurston County Food Bank, Eva is a parent and director at Together working to advance opportunities for marginalized kids, Colin works at Rosie's Place and has been with CYS for years, Jenny Lee is a Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC) Supervisor to case managers at the cutting edge Seattle Navigation Center, Simon is supporting at risk youth through a wilderness survival program in Pennsylvania, Aaron works for a youth shelter in NYC, and Ella is the primary caregiver to a family member who suffered a major medical event. The amazing thing is that this list isn't even inclusive of all the amazing things that our staff have gone on to do, and influence in the world beyond the walls of the IW EOS. Thank you for letting us be a step along your way to greatness.
HUGE thank you to Outdoor Arts and Rec!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 This year doubled last year, raising $10,000 for the IW Homeless Services Program! |
Author
Meg Martin, MSW, MHP, is the Shelter Program Director for The Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter. Archives
November 2019
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