Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: As we all look to next week’s day of Thanksgiving, let us all be thankful for opportunities to engage with and serve our unhoused neighbors. If not having already done so, have our parish outreach groups made sure the homeless folks we have been helping are included in our feeding plans? Remember, the food doesn’t just nourish the body; it also brings our neighbors into community as valued neighbors. While doing so,

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: A good friend was visiting the past couple of days, with conversation often encompassing the current election. When I told him I was planning to write this column on behalf of the Task Force, he suggested I write about the necessity for responding to homelessness the same way regardless of who wins the election. Good idea, I said and thought further about it. So here goes! It starts with belief in our

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: I would like to reflect on the Diocese of Olympia’s Convention, as the Bishop’s Task Force experienced it. The Task Force made its presentation. It also peopled a booth with handouts and opportunities to discuss the homelessness issues of the day. Parish representatives met those who answered the call to serve the unhoused with the Task Force. As one who was at the booth both days, I was privileged to meet and

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: Good morning, Dear Ones. I trust your day is happy and productive. Please remember that this day has not been happy or productive for many of our neighbors. Our mission with the Task Force is to serve others who need a hand-up. Through the Task Force and within and outside of Convention, we are trying to establish lines of communication with all parishes in the Diocese of Olympia. Living into our Baptismal

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness is a federally coordinated project that addresses homelessness on the national level. Its directions also help local and state efforts. On September 23, 2024, the USICH released a new series called “Ending Homelessness Before It Starts: A Federal Homelessness Prevention Framework.” The framework was developed by several federal agencies and adopted by agency leaders. It is an action guide for ‘local, tribal and state governments;

I have recently been reading news and opinion articles relating to the unhoused, none of them particularly positive. Many E-news readers have probably seen them. National studies show the number of homeless continues to rise. Why? There is, of course, no one answer. Those who have lived the experience of suffering homelessness reveal a vicious cycle of job loss, a dearth of affordable housing, and a poor safety net. These outcomes reveal multiple structural and personal reasons. Structurally, the lack

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: Last week, I wrote about an ecumenical organization in Fairfax County, Virginia, of which I was personally familiar. I reached out to the founder to find out its origins and confirmed that FACETS’s base is the faith community. The County government knows that and counts on the base’s strength. It turns out that FACETS isn’t the only organization in the county system. Allow me to summarize the organization of the county’s community

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: As I look back over my notes on homelessness from the past 6-8 years, I see that the more things change, the more they stay the same. About homelessness, that is certainly a tired truth. The more that is done, the more we need to do. Yet, if ever there was a local, regional, and national issue (it all looks the same on every level, in every situation) that requires support by

From Don Fornoff, the Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: Last week’s column cited a Habitat for Humanity study and ecumenical action plan. This was highlighted because many, if not most, Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Olympia are small. I believe our ability to lead the way is inherent in God’s call to help the poor and needy. It takes many to do what needs to be done, hence the necessity for ecumenical outreach. That is if we believe in

From Don Fornoff, Bishop’s Task Force on Homelessness: Your Bishop’s Taskforce wants you, our dear parishioners and our beloved church communities, to do all they can to serve and assist the unhoused in returning to full strength of being in community. That is why I search for and research news and information to keep us up to date on thoughts and happenings about those who have fallen to the side of the economic road- being unhoused or heading rapidly in