News

Sharing Neighborhood House’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan

August 1, 2025

Neighborhood House’s 2025 Strategic Plan marks a critical juncture in our enduring mission to advance equity, opportunity, and community well-being across King County. At a time when the political landscape is increasingly volatile—marked by rising hostility toward immigrants and refugees, and growing threats to public funding—we remain steadfast in our commitment to our neighbors furthest …

Read more

Oral Health Justice is Health Justice

June 30, 2025
Janice Deguchi at What Matters Most 2024

Janice Deguchi Last month, I was invited to speak on a panel for the Arcora Foundation, whose mission is to bend the arc of oral health towards equity. I was honored to share the stage with Arcora Foundation Vice President, Sunshine Monastrial, and my co-panelist, author and activist, Ron Chew to talk about our deep …

Read more

Reimagining Human Services: Centering Families

May 30, 2025
Whole Family Approach graphic

No one intended for human services programs to cause trauma, or create barriers for families to gain economic opportunity and prosperity. But oftentimes, because of bureaucracy, lack of coordination and planning, and lack of input from those most impacted, many well intended programs do exactly that. The two-generation, whole family approach (2Gen/WFA) is one antidote …

Read more

Washington State Budget Cuts: How $12 Billion in Cuts Will Impact Health Care, Education & Families

February 28, 2025

The outline of an all-cuts budget released by the Washington State House Democrats, illustrates how difficult the task to balance the budget is. If passed, this budget will have a serious negative impact on Washingtonians with  $12 billion in cuts to health care, long-term care, child care, higher education, and more. What’s at Risk? Cuts to Health …

Read more

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Fight for Economic Justice: Lessons for Today

February 3, 2025
People protesting and someone holding a sign that says "enough"

Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his leadership in the civil rights movement, advocating for racial equality and justice. However, towards the end of his life, King expanded his vision to include economic justice. He understood that addressing racial discrimination without tackling economic inequality would leave many of the problems facing marginalized communities …

Read more

2025 Advocacy Goals

January 31, 2025
Neighborhood House staff standing in front of Hello Future banner at our summer health fair in Greenbridge.

Happy year of the snake! Washington is one of only a handful of states that recognize Lunar New Year as a state holiday. We live in a wonderfully diverse state that has made meaningful investments in early learning, innovative and cost-effective approaches to serving low income Medicaid consumers, and  new and sustainable community facilities. Just …

Read more

My New Year’s Resolution

December 31, 2024

Each year, my husband and I pick something new to do – in 2024, we watched 24 movies neither of us had seen, and in 2022, we ate 22 new fruits and vegetables. But in 2025, we’re doing something more altruistic – we’re each committing to volunteering 25 hours for organizations or causes aligned with …

Read more

The election is over. Now what?

December 2, 2024
staff in front of the WA capitol building

“Disrupt systems that keep people in poverty.” This is the first goal of our newly minted 2025-2029 strategic plan – aligning almost perfectly with the new administration’s tenure. Voters sent a clear message by electing a disrupter to the White House, against the status quo. The system as it currently exists isn’t working for most …

Read more

Thank you, Caregivers!

October 31, 2024

Last week, I dropped off some homemade matsutake gohan (mushroom rice) and tsukemono (pickled cucumbers) to my 90-year-old uncle and spent time looking at old photographs. He’s the last of my mom’s 8 siblings, and he lives alone and independently. Me and my sister, brother, and cousins take turns checking in on him, bringing him …

Read more

Initiative 2109 Threatens Education Funding and Our Children’s Future

June 28, 2024

This month, I’m “passing the mic” to our board Vice President  John Curry. John is an attorney with Adams and Duncan law firm and a lifelong Seattle resident. As a board member of Neighborhood House, I’m proud of our organization’s efforts in helping the community, from child development to housing assistance to aging and disability …

Read more

Bridging Belonging Through Community Action

February 29, 2024

Last month, I had the privilege of attending the National Community Action Partnership Management Leadership and Training Conference in Las Vegas with Board Vice President Cynthia Wang. We were both so inspired by the keynote speaker Dr. john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkley. The following is a recap …

Read more

Good News from The Other Washington!

January 30, 2024

Yes, you did read that correctly. Last month, Million Shiferaw, our Director of Child Development and I attended the National Head Start Association Winter Leadership Conference. We were able to visit with both Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell, both of whom fully support Head Start and the important work we do in our …

Read more

Looking ahead to 2024

December 21, 2023
Children playing with playground equipment

Neighborhood House staff with other organizations advocating for refugee rights at the State Capital in Olympia, WA Happy New Year! As we embark on 2024, strengthening our programs, serving our 13,000 clients and community members, and supporting our 350 staff members are our top priorities. Policies and policy makers at the federal, state, and local …

Read more

A Huge Win for the Coalition Fighting for Better Wages for Human Services Workers

November 30, 2023
ECS Team 2023

Neighborhood House staff members at the Education and Community Services team retreat Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Bruce Harrell, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, Council President Teresa Mosqueda, Councilmember Andrew Lewis, and the Councilmembers that joined them, Seattle has taken the first crucial step towards wage equity for human services workers and approved a 7.5% inflation …

Read more

Supporting COFA Citizens: Neighborhood House’s Advocacy and the Compact Impact Fairness Act (CIFA)

October 27, 2023

Neighborhood House employees, COFA citizens, and a White House representative When Cecelia (Cece) Heine started working at Neighborhood House in 2016, she was the first citizen of the Marshall Islands to work here. In 2020, Cece brought on Triple Js Kaminaga to help their community navigate the challenges of COVID. Together, hundreds of Marshall Islanders …

Read more

Latinx Dream Coalition Building Paths to Healthy Changes

September 29, 2023
Children playing with playground equipment

Members of the Dream Coalition posing for a photo after their launch. When advocates in King County’s Latino community realized they had few services focusing on substance use disorder and prevention, The Latinx Dream Coalition (La Coalición de los Sueños del Condado del Rey) was born in March 2021. Neighborhood House helped start the Latinx …

Read more

Most kids in King County don’t have access to positive youth development programs

July 31, 2023
Children playing with playground equipment

Neighborhood House is working at multiple levels provide a hopeful future for children and youth in our community by offering quality early learning, partnering with schools to help families experiencing homelessness, offering Guiding Good Choices parenting classes, and creating safe spaces for young people to learn, socialize, and build leadership skills. We know these strategies …

Read more

Vote Yes for vets and seniors on August 1st – renew KC Prop 1 Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy

June 30, 2023

Neighborhood House board voted to sign on with dozens of other community based organizations, elected officials, and labor unions to endorse proposition 1 to renew the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Service Levy (VSHSL) that provides $564 million over 5 years for essential services to across the region. In this video highlighting VSHSL services, our resource …

Read more