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A New Triage Tool Comes to Thurston County!

3/28/2022

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Evaluation

Here comes The HEAT! 

CHALLENGE
In Thurston County, we follow national best practices of vulnerability-based placement for the precious housing and shelter resources in our community. While we wish beyond our wildest dreams that there was an abundance of shelter beds and affordable apartments for everyone who needed them, we have a continuing lack of options for people and solutions are not keeping pace with the increased costs of housing and income that has remain stagnated or decreased for so many during the pandemic.

PRIORITIZING VULNERABILITY
Since there are so many more people that need resources than there are resources available, we utilize a triage system to prioritize those at the highest risk of death, injury, violence, and exploitation out on the streets. Those prioritized by this system are generally a combination of people who have been experiencing homelessness for a very long time, are living with serious medical fragility, permanent disability, chronic illness, and serious, persistent challenges related to their mental and substance use-related health. Think of it as an Emergency Room -- someone with a heart attack will be seen before someone with a broken leg. Both are serious and deserve attention, time and care, but the resources need to be prioritized for the person with the highest risk of death. In Thurston County, we have used a prioritization tool called the VI-SPDAT or Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool since 2014.
After utilizing the VI-SPDAT for three years and using it with so many more people than the original pilot pool (130 people in 2014 for placement into 30 low-barrier shelter beds), it became clear that predominantly white; cisgender males were scoring the highest on the vulnerability index. This created an imbalance in how precious permanent housing and shelter resources were being allocated, and further exposed the large racial disparity in the Thurston County Homeless response system. Nearly 40% of people entering the  system are Black, Indigenous and all People of Color, while the people exiting to shelter and housing at the highest rates are predominately white.
SOLUTION
A group of front-line homeless service providers in Thurston County began a thorough study and revision of the VI-SPDAT assessment tool in 2017 because, after three years of using the tool, these providers consistently saw disparities in housing prioritization. It was evident that predominantly white, cisgender males were scoring the highest on the vulnerability index, which was incongruent with the vulnerability front line workers saw with their own eyes. Thurston County was not the only community to see these disparities; homeless response systems across the US were reporting similar trends.

In 2019, the VI Racial Equity Team aligned their practice in response to the “Coordinated Entry Systems Racial Equity Analysis of Assessment Data” study published by C4 Innovations. The C4 Innovations study examined the following questions:
  1. According to CES (Coordinated Entry System) assessment data, are White people more likely to be prioritized for permanent housing compared to BIPOC?
  2. Which subscales of the VI-SPDAT predict vulnerability, and thus housing needs, across racial groups? Are there methods or proxy variables that can be transformed to result in more equitable prioritization? (Wilkey)

​The results of the C4 Innovation study showed:
  1. On average, BIPOC clients receive statistically significantly lower prioritization scores on the VI-SPDAT than their White counterparts;
  2. According to VI-SPDAT data, White individuals are prioritized for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) intervention at a higher rate than BIPOC individuals, though this is not true for families;
  3. Race is a predictor of receiving a high score (i.e., an assessment for Permanent Supportive Housing/ Housing First), where being white was a protective factor for single adults;
  4. VI-SPDAT subscales do not equitably capture vulnerabilities for BIPOC compared to Whites: race is a predictor of 11/16 subscales, and most subscales are tilted towards capturing vulnerabilities that Whites are more likely to endorse. (Wilkey)

To holistically reduce disparities in housing prioritization, the VI Research Team in Thurston County began discussing and evaluating whether certain assessment questions disproportionately impacted higher scoring, giving a predictable advantage to white people. In line with the recommendations from the C4 Innovation study, the VI Research Team worked to incorporate the following vulnerabilities into the new tool: “prior child welfare involvement and foster care history, criminal justice and juvenile justice involvement, history of trauma and adverse childhood experiences, and eviction histories.” (Wilkey) With this information in mind, and a wealth of lived and professional experience, the Thurston County group developed a new assessment tool (The Housing Equity Assessment Tool - HEAT). The tool, authored primarily by Interfaith Works staff, includes a core vulnerability and risk assessment along with four supplemental surveys. These supplemental surveys are triggered upon answers to specific questions. The four supplemental surveys include BIPOC, GNC LGBQ+, Substance Use, and Families. The HEAT was tested on a small but dynamic sample size group and was found to more accurately capture an individual's vulnerability than the VI-SPDAT. The HEAT generates a score of up to 100 for single adults and 106 for families with dependent children, and then people are triaged for shelter and housing resources based on their scores. 

As of March 1st, the Thurston County Coordinated Entry system officially implemented the Housing Equity Assessment Tool (HEAT) and is in the process of converting previous VI-SPDAT scores to the new index. This is a big step forward for equity in our community and we are hopeful to see improvements on a system wide scale that will create more access for the most marginalized people in Thurston County in need of shelter and permanent housing resources. We have a ton of talent and dedication in Thurston County and we are super excited about the work that is emerging!
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REST End of Pilot Final Report

3/28/2022

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REST Program
At the end of February we wrapped up the 6 month pilot phase of the Interfaith Works REST medical respite program. This was a very successful pilot between Interfaith Works, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Multicare-Capital Medical, and the Thurston County Office of Public Health and Human Services to provide dedicated beds for medically fragile people exiting the hospitals who are unhoused.

We are very happy with the outcomes and we want the community to know more about this exciting, innovative program that is only one of 9 that are like it statewide. It's the first of its kind in Thurston County and is strengthening both the homeless response and the hospital systems effectiveness and efficiency in supporting medically fragile people who are leaving the hospitals.
Often when people have nowhere to go they end up staying in hospital beds for longer than may be necessary because they are still too fragile to go back to the streets.

The REST program provides a transitional place to land with wrap around case management and 24/7 support so that people will be more likely to follow through with aftercare instructions, and reduce recidivism back to the hospital.

This also helps to ensure that all of our precious community hospital beds are being utilized for the people who need them the most. 

REST Reports

Please check out a quick facts sheet and the full end of pilot report below! 
REST Quick Facts
REST Full End of Pilot Report
HUGE Thank you to the authors of, and contributors to the REST Pilot End of Pilot Report:
  • Ivy Ayers - Business and Administration Manager
  • Ti'eri Lino - Homeless Services Program Coordinator
  • Tarryn Bieloh - Navigation Team Program Manager
  • Beau Antonelis - Navigation Team Operations Administrator
  • Rick Scrivner - REST Navigator
  • Wendy Conway - REST Navigator
  • Emily Shippee - REST Navigator
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Unity Commons PHASE 2 Update & Neighbor Meeting

3/12/2022

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Unity Commons PHASE 2

Do you live or work near Unity Commons?

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Informational Community Meeting
Please join us for an informational community meeting If you live or work near Unity Commons, located at 161 Pattison Street NE. PHASE 1 of Unity Commons opened in December 2021, and PHASE 2 will begin construction later this year. 

About
This meeting will be about building another 65 units on the same property as Unity Commons PHASE 1. It will be a 58-bed, 24/7 shelter on the ground floor with 65 apartments of permanent affordable housing above.

Who
This meeting will be hosted by the City Planning Department and held on Zoom. We hope you'll join us to learn more!

When
Wednesday, March 16, 5:30 pm
REGISTER HERE
Notice of Land Use Application
Download PDF
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Reflections on Unity Commons Grand Opening

12/21/2021

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Unity Commons Grand Opening
Today, on December 21, 2021 - the Winter Solstice and National Homeless Persons Day of Remembrance was the grand opening of Unity Commons.

Unity Commons is a 58 bed low-barrier supportive and enhanced shelter on the first floor with 65 apartments of permanent supportive housing. Many of our current shelter guests will soon move into forever homes of their own after staying in shelters for many years in some cases.

In Partnership
This would never have been possible without our partnership with LIHI. Partnering with LIHI has been a great experience so far and we hope to continue to develop that relationship as we get into the groove of daily operations. 
Learn More
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Unity Commons
This is undeniably a huge day for our community. Depending on your perspective, this moment has been nearly a decade in the making dating back to the People's House effort and even before that the volunteer based shelter program hosted by faith and spiritual communities throughout Thurston County, and grassroots volunteer based organizations like Bread and Roses and EGYHOP. The HOME Fund campaign is finally seeing brick and mortar outcomes and it's genuinely a huge deal. We welcomed HoHoHobos to sell wreaths in the parking lot today (we love you!) and we did our very best to be respectful of people's living space and autonomy. It was so beautiful and overwhelming and represented so much of the best of this community.

Yet, tonight as I start to deeply feel the intense exhaustion from our shelter move on December 17th into the new space, and the intensity of today, I'm feeling very similar to how I felt the night before our shelter at First Christian Church opened 7 years ago. I'm so sad that we need to do this at all. How can we live in such a wealthy society and yet hundreds still will sleep outside in the snow this holiday weekend in our community? That harsh reality doesn't cancel out this moment of massive celebration, AND If the lessons of the pandemic have taught us anything, it's that many truths can exist at the same time. So tonight, I'm holding many truths - in my joy - in my tears - in my grief - in my gratitude. 

My name gets thrown around a lot in moments like these. We tend to cling to charismatic leaders in this society and the by-product of that is we miss so much beauty and skill and recognition of vital leaders in our community. I wish the community could see and know all of the absolute gems who show up to this beautifully difficult work every single day to clean toilets, and clean up people's messes when they are uncontrollably sick, make beds, serve food, dive into to crisis, successfully reverse overdoses that would have otherwise resulted in death, sit with the coroner while a beloved guest is brought to the funeral home to never be claimed by their family. Our staff support people with a mastery that you can only understand if you've been there, in the space day in and day out and have done it yourself. Honestly, we have a team of truly diverse people in identity, in thought, in experience, and I cry when I think about how lucky we are to have the team that we have. We are multigenerational, we value hardship and resilience, we hold onto the hope that things can be better, and it matters that we show up.
Thank you to the employees past and present of Interfaith Works. I wish there was a more meaningful way to say it, but seriously, thank you. I wanted to list everyone's name but I don't have their permission yet. So I'll get that and then I'll post all their names because you need to know them. You need to see them. You need to recognize them for all the ways they hold this community together everyday. 

Here's the other part that is so bittersweet -- since we opened our shelter in 2014, we've lost so many people. People who would have lived here with us. People who we advocated to build this building specifically for because of the challenges they had in our old spaces. These are folks who we didn't build this fast enough for. Again, this truth doesn't take away from all the good that will come and all the lives that will be extended because of the clean safe space at Unity Commons. But the community needs to know, this is the reality. 

We love you all. We hold you in our hearts and minds with every decision we make at Interfaith Works. Thank you for sharing your lives with us. Tonight and every night we honor you.
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In Remembrance
​This is not an exhaustive list by any means. May we never forget why we are here, and what it's all about. We love you Olympia, let's move forward from this beautiful moment and keep getting after it until all people have safe, clean, affordable housing and the community support they need to feel a true sense of belonging. Goodnight!
Meg Martin
Meg Martin, LICSW, CPC
Executive Director
Interfaith Works

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The Olympia Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers

12/3/2015

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Non-stop Competitive Action and Drama

Returning to the Brotherhood on Sunday, December 6, 2013
This is an event not to be missed!

TICKETS
$10.00 at the door
Doors at 6:00 pm
Show at 7:00 pm

ADVANCE TICKETS
Available now at the Brotherhood!
(Please try to purchase tickets during happy hour 4-7)

A Benefit for the IW Emergency Overnight Shelter

This event's beneficiary is the Interfaith Works Emergency Overnight Shelter.
All proceeds will go directly to the shelter!!
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Bring your cash for awesome merch bundles!
Bring a pair of new socks to donate to the shelter!
​Can't wait to see you there!

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A Dinner at the Well...

2/19/2015

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Dinner at the Well

Please, won't you join us?


Together with Partners in Prevention Education,
the Interfaith Emergency Shelter is helping to host
a Dinner at the Wall to bring our communities together.

Each ticket provides an artisanal, gourmet meal for yourself
and
for someone living on the streets of downtown Olympia. 


Catered dinner is provided by
Dillinger's Cocktails & Kitchen, and other local restaurants
March 21, 2015
Seatings are at noon, and 3pm
In a heated tent at the

Artesian Well Commons Park
Downtown, Olympia

Buy a Ticket
Together we can transform our community and create 
the downtown we all want; safe, beautiful and accessible for all.


Questions?

Please email Renata Rollins
with any questions you might have.
Email Renata
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A Work in Progress

10/18/2014

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We have been working SO hard to get the shelter ready for our grand opening TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!!!

A million thanks to Breathe Easy House Painters owner, Jeff Thomas who started out as "painter guy Jeff" and has now become "floor guy Jeff". What would we have done without him?!

Also, HUGE thanks again to Dean, Collin, Michael and Jeremy of the Northwest Construction Cooperative for all of the remodeling and advice!

As always, thanks to all of our amazing volunteers from all over the community who have come to lend a hand. We could not do this without you!

Check out some of these great pics from all the hard work we have been doing!
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    Meg Martin

    Author

    Meg Martin, LICSW, CPC, is the Executive Director for The Interfaith Works.


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