Changes

I don't always get to blogging as quickly as I want to. This particular post I have started and restarted and I have yet to get it quite right. I realize that I won't get it right but all I can do is speak from my heart.

​Two of our founding members and shelter managers have decided to move on for now and to them I owe the deepest gratitude. Please join me in thanking them...

Our original staff lineup just before opening our doors last year--November 1, 2014. Thank you Cassie and Jeff for your commitment to this project.

Cassie Burke

Cassie has done a tremendous amount in our community over the past decade and was one of the core organizers that got our shelter project off the ground. Cassie has taught me an enormous amount because of her extensive experience building relationships with some of the most marginalized people in our city. Cassie works incredibly hard and has some of the fiercest love and commitment to people that I have ever seen. I have looked to her over the years as a friend that I love dearly, for guidance, for advice, as an anchor and as a navigator to ensure that this program went where it needed to go . We at the shelter wish her all the best in her next chapter and thank her for making this program what it is. Cassie--it would not exist in all it's beauty and complexity, thrive or be nearly as effective as it is without you. Thank you. 

More about Cassie Burke:
She earned her BA in sociology and political economy from The Evergreen State College. Cassie has been a core volunteer, outreach worker, organizer, and board member with EGYHOP for eight years, and created the training manual. Cassie managed the Bread and Roses Women’s Guest House Shelter, staffed the Bread and Roses Advocacy Center concurrently, while acting as an intern coordinator/ site supervisor with The Evergreen State College. Cassie participated in the initial formation of the Poor People’s Union and the original encampment of Camp Quixote and volunteered at the camp after it was sanctioned by the city of Olympia. Cassie held a workstudy advocacy position at the Family Support Center and coordinated the  Interfaith Works Women’s Overflow Shelter and the Family Support Shelter, while staffing both as a volunteer host. Cassie volunteered as an advocate at the Sidewalk Advocacy Center in Fall through Spring of 2012. Cassie was also a collective organizer with Queer Rock Camp, a project of Stonewall Youth.
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Jefferson Doyle

Jefferson makes up the third part of the core organizing team of outreach workers that came together to form the concept of the shelter program. He has put in many years of energy building relationships with people on the streets of Olympia. Jefferson was instrumental in building the strong theoretical foundation of the shelter program  that we implement everyday. He leads with heart and fire and I am very grateful to him for being a main stabilizing force to always remind us of why we were doing this in the first place. Thank you Jeff for your friendship, passion, commitment and your ability to hold the complexities people face with solidarity.
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​More about Jefferson
Jefferson has been a core organizer, outreach worker, and volunteer with EGYHOP for over 5 years.  Jefferson studied political science at Montana State University, and general studies at The Evergreen State College. He worked as an overnight counselor in the Young Adult Shelter at Rosie's Place in Community Youth Services in 2013.  Jefferson completed the advanced advocate training with Sidewalk Advocacy Center and volunteered as an advocate at Sidewalk in 2012. Jefferson has volunteered with Stand Up for Kids, a street based youth advocacy program in Oceanside, California, and also participated in the Poor People’s Union. Jefferson also assisted with the initial encampment of Camp Quixote.