News

WA boost in student homelessness funding reaches more districts

March 14, 2024

Article by Greg Kim in the Seattle Times (published Feb. 21, 2024) “About half of the increased state funding went to nonprofits serving homeless students, such as Neighborhood House in King County, which received nearly $200,000. It’s using that to help homeless students and their families in Tukwila, where an immigration crisis has brought hundreds …

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The Power of Centering Community in Fundraising

February 29, 2024

By Roxanne Gossard (Director of Development) & Emily Tomita (Associate Director of Development) Greetings from the Neighborhood House Development Team’s new leaders! We are Roxanne (she/her) and Emily (she/her), and we are honored to have the responsibility of leading our agency’s efforts to build our community of supporters, grow awareness of the amazing work Neighborhood …

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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 …

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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 …

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Reflections on Black History Month

January 26, 2024

February is Black History Month. The shortest month of the year is dedicated to learning and teaching (sort of) the history of Black people here in the Unites States. When I was a kid, I loved Black History Month. For 28 days I got to learn about a history that was not often taught or …

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Looking ahead to 2024

December 21, 2023

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 …

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Neighborhood House 2023 Equity Summit!!!

December 1, 2023

We are so proud to report that Neighborhood House’s first Equity Summit was a success! 234 NH staff and guests came together to learn about topics related to equity, cycles of poverty, and what we can do to put our newfound knowledge to use for the communities we serve. Attendees had a choice of 5 …

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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 …

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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 …

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LGBTQIA Youth are Overrepresented in the Homeless Youth Population

October 27, 2023

LGBTQIA youth homelessness is a specific and critical issue that affects a disproportionate number of young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or other non-heteronormative orientations or gender identities. The number can vary over time but around 22% of youth are experiencing homelessness in King County1 and 20-40% of the …

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Latinx Dream Coalition Building Paths to Healthy Changes

September 29, 2023

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 …

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The Burning Effects of Colonization

August 28, 2023

When the first American businessman built a plantation in Hawaii in 1835, seeds were sown. Not just the literal seeds of cash crops, but also the seeds of devastation which have blossomed into the unimaginable tragedy we saw in Maui this month. How can that be? It starts with the way the Hawaiian landscape began …

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

July 31, 2023

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 …

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Working in the Silence

July 21, 2023

Some things happen with a big BOOM!!! Like Roe -v- Wade being overturned. Thus, once again giving government the right to legislate women’s bodies. Denying a basic health care need. For some women its not so basic. For some it is literally their life or death. Some things happen so quietly that we don’t even …

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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 …

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540

June 23, 2023

540, 41, 220, 75, 76. These are the numbers so far. 540 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced in 41 states. 220 pieces of legislation directly target transgender and non- binary folx (this is a record). 75 laws in over a dozen states directly target the LGBTQIA+ community. 76 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have become law this last …

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Human Services Professionals Help All of Us. It’s Time to Pay Them What They’re Worth.

June 20, 2023

“If your children have attended child care or after-school programs, if you’ve accessed a food bank, or if you are a renter (or a landlord) who received rental assistance during COVID, your life has been touched by a human services professional. Human services professionals support Seattle’s human infrastructure. They work in child care, emergency shelters, …

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Are you ready to stand behind women of color leading change?

June 8, 2023

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of being on stage at Town Hall with three other women of color leading change, “movers and shakers” behind our region’s most influential non-profits, Solid Ground, Byrd Barr Place, El Centro de la Raza, and Neighborhood House. This conversation, expertly moderated by TraeAnna Holiday of Converge, was deeply personal, …

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Reflections on identity from our Multiracial & Multiethnic affinity group

May 31, 2023

Greetings from Neighborhood House’s Multiracial & Multiethnic affinity group! In honor of Loving Day on June 12, we wanted to share some our experiences as multiracial and multiethnic people. A little about us: We are a diverse group of folks with many different identities. As multiracial/multiethnic individuals, we are united by our shared experiences of …

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