From Don Fornoff, The Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness:
Many thanks to those who stopped by the Task Force presentation and booth at Convene. Thanks to Tina Polf, Jean Swift, and Liz Adams, many of you were greeted and came away with ideas to deal with unhoused folks in your area. We know from the churches in the Diocese that there is a lot going on to serve the homeless. We know that more needs to be done, and there are churches that can do what is needed in outreach.
We have feedback that in East King County, for example, there is an increase of 68% in the use of food banks. It probably is the same in all parts of the Diocese. The Point In Time counts of each county in the state show large populations of unhoused. Whatcom shows a 27% increase over last year. Unhoused seniors increased by 141%, with one individual being 89 years old. In Clark County, 628 were sheltered out of the 1300 total counted—59% men, 40% women, with 344 chronically homeless, an increase of 84%. Victims of domestic violence count was up 122%. Snohomish counted 1285 total, Thurston 740 (their website shows 792).
It is obvious the Federal requirement for a PIT produces a huge variety of responses and ways it is carried out in each county. To see for yourself, just go to PIT counts on each county’s website. Also obvious is that the crisis with the unhoused is getting worse in each county. So what can we do?
The Task Force provided a handout of ideas. Churches and individuals can do a lot:
- Volunteer at a food bank one day a week or at least once a month.
- Donate food to your local food bank.
- Join your church’s social justice or outreach committee. Don’t have one? Start one!
- Stock hand warmers in your car and hand them out in winter.
- Stock water bottles in your car for hand-out.
- Find out what your city or locale should be doing about homelessness. Don’t take wishy-washiness for an answer.
- Volunteer at another church’s feeding program (or start one yourself).
- Advocate for state and local initiatives. Faith Action Network and Washington Low Income Housing Institute are two good groups to work through.
- Make safety pouches or Manna bags at church and provide them to parishioners to carry with them in their cars.
- Pray for the unhoused.
Be well and do good works, Diocese of Olympia.
Don Fornoff, member of the Task Force
mountaineerdgf@aol.com
