09/16/2020 COVID-19 Stakeholders call recording.

Speakers:

•       Matt Garrett, Kitsap Community Resources 
•       Annette Rodriguez, Yakima Neighborhood Health Services 
•       Kirsten York, Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties 
•       Scott Crain, Northwest Justice Project 
•       Michele Thomas, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
•       Rachael Myers, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
   

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TODAY! 

State Advocacy:

• Get people inside now - With wildfires burning all over the west coast and air quality reaching hazardous levels in Washington -- on TOP of a global pandemic with respiratory impacts -- it is absolutely essential that Governor Inslee immediately deploy resources to get everybody inside NOW to protect their safety and health. Contact Governor Inslee via email to demand that he act urgently!
• Connect Washington - The Connect Washington Coalition has launched a petition to close the digital divide and end digital inequities for Washington families. You may recall Sharonne Navas from the Equity in Education Coalition spoke at length about these efforts on our last call, and they have a specific ask of all of us -- sign this petition! You can also read more about their asks and some background in the PDF attached.

Federal Advocacy:

• Send an email urging your Members of Congress to resume negotiations to ensure that we don't see a massive increase in homelessness during COVID-19. On the page there's an advocacy toolkit, story collection tool, and more. Take action here!
• Submit a comment on HUD's harmful proposed rule removing anti-discrimination protections for trans and nonbinary people experiencing homelessness. You can take action by submitting a comment via the #HousingSavesLives action page, and the National LGBTQ Taskforce has created a Partner Toolkit to assist you! The deadline for comments is Sept. 22nd, so don't delay.

Resources:

• Register for the Virtual Conference on Ending Homelessness, Oct. 7-8!
• The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is expanding their Disaster Cash Assistance Program (DCAP) to cover households affected by the wildfires in counties declared a disaster area: Douglas, Okanogan, Whitman, Lincoln, Spokane, Chelan, Pierce and Thurston at this point. Click here to see a letter from DSHS about this with more information. 
• For further info about Kitsap County's rental assistance program, please contact Matt Garrett.
• For further info about Yakima County's rental assistance program, please contact Annette Rodriguez.
• Click here for the slides from Kirsten York's presentation on Thurston County's rental assistance program. 
•  Scott Crain presented on the interactions between our state and federal eviction moratoriums. If you need legal help via Northwest Justice Project, you can get start by going here: https://nwjustice.org/get-legal-help

A message from Kirsten Jewell: Everyone should please be aware that the US Census is doing their unsheltered outreach on September 22 - 24. In most cases, they are doing a simple headcount in encampments - but this will be from 7pm - 7am.  If you work with people in encampments, please let them know that this is happening and the importance of the census - to improve safety for everyone.