Youth-Led Activism in Walla Walla

Posted on August 18, 2020 in Equity, Youth Leadership

The year 2020 has been a year of events that are unexplainable and out of this world. COVID-19 has forced the world to reshape how we go about our everyday lives and how we interact with one another. Being a college student, my spring quarter was online due to COVID-19. Then, George Floyd’s murder took […]

Spokane Tests Improvements to Coordinated Entry

Posted on August 17, 2020 in Anchor Community Initiative, Reducing Homelessness

Now that all Anchor Communities are on a path to achieve quality, real-time data, communities have started testing new strategies to reduce homelessness. In Spokane, the community’s Coordinated Entry Diversion Workgroup and Youth Advisory Board (YAB) are collaborating to test simple changes to the Coordinated Entry process and measure their impact on reducing homelessness. Coordinated […]

Our Definition of Ending Youth and Young Adult Homelessness

Posted on August 17, 2020 in Anchor Community Initiative, Equity

What does it mean to end youth and young adult homelessness? In the Anchor Community Initiative, we define ending youth and young adult homelessness as reaching functional zero – a state where a community’s youth and young adult homelessness system has the capacity to house every young person experiencing homelessness each month. Exact definitions for […]

Advocating for Racial Justice

Posted on July 20, 2020 in Equity

As nationwide protests have unfolded over the murder of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, and many more Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), the staff at A Way Home Washington have been reflecting on the intersection between the over policing of BIPOC and youth and young adult (YYA) homelessness. We cannot in good conscience stand in […]

The Anchor Community Initiative’s Equity Plan

Posted on July 20, 2020 in Anchor Community Initiative, Equity

Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and LGTBQ+ folx disproportionately experience homelessness. If we’re truly serious about ending homelessness, we must be equally serious about ending the systemic racism and discrimination against LGBTQ+ folx that lead to this inequity. Often, racial and LGBTQ+ equity are perceived as “extra work” that we do in addition to […]

Launching the Centralized Diversion Fund

Posted on July 17, 2020 in Centralized Diversion Fund

To end youth and young adult homelessness, we need a variety of solutions in our toolbox. Young people’s situations are unique, and that means communities must build the capacity to respond to all sorts of needs. That’s why we created the Centralized Diversion Fund, a source of flexible financial assistance to help secure housing for […]

When a Routine Changes

Posted on June 22, 2020 in Lived Experience, Youth and Young Adult Engagement, Youth Homelessness

Youth, young adults, and alumni with lived experience have the wisdom and expertise we need to develop effective solutions to youth and young adult homelessness. Jada is a member of the Yakima Anchor Community Initiative Core Team, and this is her story of how the current public health crisis has affected life and access to […]

How System Level Crisis Has Affected Youth And Young Adults In Pierce County

Posted on June 22, 2020 in Lived Experience, Youth and Young Adult Engagement, Youth Homelessness

Youth, young adults, and alumni with lived experience have the wisdom and expertise we need to develop effective solutions to youth and young adult homelessness. Brianna is a member of the Pierce Anchor Community Initiative Core Team, and this is her story of how the current public health crisis has affected life and access to […]

Orgullosa: The Intersections in Our Identities

Posted on June 16, 2020 in Equity, Pride

When I wrote about the reasons why I choose to use the word Latinx, for myself and for A Way Home Washington’s organizational voice, I touched on the fact that within the community there are vast differences of opinion on the word. You’ll likely find just as many cases for embracing the word as you’ll […]