Our Story

Solid Ground commemorative logo on a beige background with a circular dark green, peach and ivory graphic. It has silhouettes of several people in front of a pair of houses. The sun is shining from between two clouds. Text reads "50 years of changing lives, 1974-2024." Under the words are illustrations of an ear of corn, a megaphone, and a protest sign showing an equals symbol inside the outline of a house.

We're celebrating 50 years of progress toward solving poverty. We hope you'll join us throughout 2024 to honor our roots and look toward our transformative vision for our community's future.

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From FPA to Solid Ground

In the spring of 1974, a group of neighborhood activists and volunteers responded to growing economic desperation in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood by launching the Fremont Public Association (FPA). Tapping into the spirit and funding of the federal War on Poverty, they pledged to work for Freedom from Poverty through Action.

An outline of several people standing in a group set against the silhouette of the Seattle skyline.

In response to neighbors’ immediate needs for food and employment, the FPA started with a food pantry, clothing bank, and job referral service. The agency grew rapidly by asking the community what it needed, then aggressively pursued funding to develop programs and services. It branched out into many areas, including housing, transportation, and youth development. It convened partnerships and coalitions, created innovative service models, and continued to base its advocacy on the input of community members.

Black, olive green and orange Solid Ground logo with the tagline Building community to end poverty.

In 2007, FPA took a new name, Solid Ground, to reflect how its impacts went well beyond the neighborhood where it started. Today, we continue to partner with our community to develop services and advocacy efforts focused on overcoming barriers to thriving and supporting equitable access to opportunity.

Circular dark green, peach and ivory graphic. It has silhouettes of several people in front of a pair of houses. The sun is shining from between two clouds. Text reads "50 years of changing lives, 1974-2024." Under the words are illustrations of an ear of corn, a megaphone, and a protest sign showing an equals symbol inside the outline of a house.

In 2024, we celebrated our 50th Anniversary and reflected on more than a million success stories – and on the staff, volunteers, and supporters who helped build a community where all of our neighbors are able to thrive. Thanks for joining us in this reflection!

 

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Stories Celebrating a Half Century

A closing up of the face of a smiling women wearing a purple tshirt

Poverty Action Board Chair Juanita Maestas

10/28/24: This is how you make change

At Solid Ground, we believe that people living in poverty know best what they need and deserve to be involved in decisions that affect their lives. We believe in and trust their experience, knowing we can’t solve poverty without their wisdom.

Perhaps no one person better embodies this commitment than Juanita Maestas, chair of Statewide Poverty Action Network‘s Board of Directors. Her initial experience with the staff of our Broadview Shelter and Transitional Housing program planted seeds that later grew into her career as a community advocate and anti-poverty leader.

“A lot of people feel like they can’t change the system,” she says. “The ‘big people’ have all the power. But we’ve demonstrated for many years that actually, regular people can change things. You got your community who doesn’t have that power but has that heart, that strength. You know, we fight every day. And there’s never the right solution, but there’s always a possibility.”

READ MORE>>
9/25/24: Community engagement is key
A smiling woman with short brown hair wearing tan pants and a yellow-and-pink-striped blouse stands in a farm setting. Her white dog leans against her leg. Titling reads Lee Harper, former Assistant Director, FPA.

Image still from video by Timothy Hamp

When nonprofit leader Lee Harper joined Solid Ground/FPA in early 1998 as our Lettuce Link Program Coordinator, Marra Farm was a 4-acre tangle of weeds in South Park. Thanks to community engagement, today it’s back to a working farm that provides 10,000 pounds of organic produce a year to neighborhood food banks, programs, and health clinics.

“I love what this farm has become,” Lee says. “I love how much Solid Ground has learned over time about how to be in community, serve community, be farmers. And it’s just beautiful what happens here, and how much food is grown, and how many people are involved.

“I learned so much from all of my colleagues at FPA/Solid Ground and from people in the P-Patch world about how to be a good leader. When I joined the organization, I really had this somewhat naïve view of how to serve the community. It was ‘I am here to help you, I’m here to give you seeds, I’m here to grow food for you.’ “And I learned a lot over the years about how to be in community with people – and we grew so much stronger together. It’s about us growing together, and me learning from you, and learning how to serve you better, and learning how to be served by my own community.”

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Watch Lee's Interview: Community Engagement is Key

8/4/24: ‘Where your job is to create more leaders’
A screengrab from a video interview with a man in a green jacket and collared shirt in front of a stand of trees. At the bottom of the frame there's a banner that reads, "Eliseo (EJ) Juarez, Director of Equity & Environmental Justice, WA State Dept. of Natural Resources."

Image still from video by Timothy Hamp

A decade ago when he served as Community Relations and Development Manager for Solid Ground’s advocacy partner, Statewide Poverty Action Network, Eliseo (EJ) Juárez built Poverty Action’s membership base, managed online campaigns, and more. 

“When I was at Solid Ground, I spent a lot of time talking to people across the state who seemed to be talked about a lot but never talked directly to,” he says. “It sounds kind of cheesy, but I learned how to talk to people in a really authentic way, and I think there’s no better training than what I got at Solid Ground around how to interact with people no matter what their walk of life is.”

Today as  Director of Equity and Environmental Justice for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, EJ can actualize what he learned. “I was taught and mentored that when you create leaders, you are creating power that didn’t exist before. It’s not taking power – it’s creating new power,” says EJ. “And that’s where Solid Ground is so unique among organizations, in that it creates power by creating power in new places. And I think that’s the best way that we change the world.”

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Watch EJ's Interview: 'Your Job is to Create New Leaders'

7/15/24:  Cultivating community leaders
A screenshot of a woman with long dark hair and a red sweater giving an interview. A banner at the bottom of the image reads: "Neli Jasuja, Environmental Justice Programs Manager, Y-WE"

Image still from video by Timothy Hamp

Leadership development is a lot like gardening. You place people in a nutrient-rich environment, feed the soil, water them, maybe provide a trellis to guide their growth. Neli Jasuja is an alumnus of one of Solid Ground’s most intensive leadership development efforts, a decades-long experience tapping into the wellspring of federal funding for VISTA and AmeriCorps programs.

As an AmeriCorps Nutrition Educator she facilitated gardening, cooking, nutrition, and food justice workshops with elementary students and at Solid Ground’s Giving Garden at Marra Farm in South Park. And while she taught school-aged kids how to grow and prepare food, she was growing her own leadership skills as well.

Today, Neli works with Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) as the Environmental Justice Programs Manager. “Our mission is to cultivate the power of diverse young women and gender expansive youth to be creative leaders and changemakers in their communities. It’s very aligned with the work that I got to do with Solid Ground,” she says. “That verb ‘cultivate’ is really important to me and connects back to that idea that the beauty of a seed is that it’s all in the seed. And so every young person is that seed. Every human is that seed.”

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Watch Neli's Interview: Empowering Young Leaders

5/20/24: Solid Ground’s legacy of cultivating anti-poverty leaders and organizations

Solid Ground has touched countless lives through the anti-poverty leaders and organizations we’ve planted and nurtured over the last five decades. Take a good look at many of the organizations doing the most impactful work in King County today, and you’re likely to find a bit of Solid Ground in their roots.

At our recent 50th Anniversary Gala, Solid Ground debuted 50 Years of Cultivating Leadership, a video that examines how we’ve provided leadership development and supported fledgling organizations that have grown to profoundly shape our community. “Some of our communities’ most impactful social service and social justice organizations were first sown in the Solid Ground seedbed and now flourish on their own,” says Eva Walker, Solid Ground volunteer and KEXP DJ, who narrated the video.

Video by Timothy Hamp

Watch 50 Years of Cultivating Leadership

4/8/24: A seed of hope blossoms into an impactful career
An Indigenous woman with shoulder-length, salt and pepper hair – and wearing a white blouse and blue blazer – stands outside in front of a Craftsman-style house. The sun is shining, and a climbing plant behind her has golden fall leaves.

Patricia Flores (photo by Clarissa Magdich)

In 1994, Patricia Flores called Solid Ground’s Broadview Emergency Shelter for families escaping and recovering from domestic violence (DV). She was looking for a safe haven for herself, her daughter, and her grandson.

They found safety and security there – but more than that, her time at Broadview opened the door to Patricia’s lifelong career as a community organizer and leader in the sexual assault and DV communities – most recently  as Executive Director of Tacoma’s Catherine Place, a resource center for women and LGBTQIA+ people.

Last fall, Patricia visited Broadview for the first time in 30 years. It was a deeply emotional moment. “Something spoke to me and said: ‘You were here, and now you were the executive director of a center, a nonprofit that helps women.’ It was really cathartic and mind blowing,” she says. “And it just really reflects the innate possibilities of every human, given the right circumstances, and supporting them when their confidence is really low, or broken, or gone.”

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Watch Patricia's 50th Anniversary Gala Remarks

2/28/24: Omari Salisbury to present keynote at Solid Ground’s 50th Anniversary Gala
Photo of a Black man with facial hair speaking into a microphone. He wears a black cap and polo shirt.

Omari Salisbury of Converge Media

Solid Ground is thrilled to announce that Converge Media’s Omari Salisbury will present the keynote address at our 50th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 5:30pm at SUMMIT.

In just eight years, Converge Media has built an award-winning legacy telling stories about, from, and to Seattle’s Black community and BIPOC communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. As one of its pioneering cofounders, Omari has amplified the work of Black thinkers and local journalists while earning a growing audience in Seattle and beyond – at a time when so-called “traditional” news outlets are cutting back or closing shop.

Omari’s keynote will be a rare opportunity to hear him reflect on his love for the community, the wisdom he has gained building a Black-owned media company, and his vision for a future where being poor might describe your circumstances but does not define your future. Read our interview, edited from a conversation with Omari at Converge’s downtown studio.

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2/14/24: Black leadership and the roots of anti-racism at Solid Ground
A man in a suit, tie, and sunglasses poses with a woman with short hair and a floral top.

Cheryl in 2007 with Ron Chisom, cofounder of the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, as she accepts the first-ever Ron Chisom Anti-Racism Award from the Seattle Human Services Coalition.

For a little more than half of our 50-year history, Solid Ground was guided by the leadership and wisdom of one woman: Cheryl Cobbs Murphy.

Under Cheryl’s guidance, we built hundreds of apartments for people moving out of homelessness, developed two urban farms to grow food with and for neighborhoods with little access to fresh produce, and expanded our transportation fleet to help thousands of people with disabilities get where they need to go.

But if you ask Cheryl which of the many accomplishments from her 27 years at Solid Ground make her proudest, she’ll tell you that her true legacy was embedding anti-racism principles into every aspect of how we work to solve poverty. “It’s my life’s work, and so it’s always going to be a part of who I am,” says Cheryl, who continues to work with other nonprofits to prioritize anti-racism. “It’s really important to me – and frankly, I wouldn’t be doing this work if it wasn’t for Solid Ground.”

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1/29/24: Commemorative logo honors agency history and legacy
Solid Ground commemorative logo on a golden sunburst background with a circular dark green, peach and ivory graphic. It has silhouettes of several people in front of a pair of houses. The sun is shining from between two clouds. Text reads "50 years of changing lives, 1974-2024." Under the words are illustrations of an ear of corn, a megaphone, and a protest sign showing an equals symbol inside the outline of a house.

Our 50th Anniversary logo on a sunburst backsplash

As we celebrate the milestone of 50 years of progress toward solving poverty, we’re unveiling our 50th Anniversary logo to be featured throughout 2024.

The unique design incorporates several elements of our history, including a representation of the Fremont neighborhood’s ‘Waiting for the Interurban’ sculpture, which served as the primary logo of Solid Ground’s forebear, Fremont Public Association (FPA). Iconography embedded in the image also reflects programs that have been at the core of our work and mission to solve poverty and undo racism and other oppressions that are root causes of poverty.

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1/5/24: 50 Years of ‘Freedom from Poverty through Action’
A black and white photo from the late 1980s showing five people, both men and women, in office attire sitting and standing around a table.

Fremont Public Association (FPA) leaders around 1988 (l to r): Pat Hayes, Yanira Cuellar, Frank Chopp, Cheryl Cobbs Murphy, Paul Haas

Of the thousands of staff, volunteers, and community members who’ve contributed to the success of Solid Ground and its forebear, the Fremont Public Association (FPA), perhaps no one has had a more profound and lasting impact in Washington state than Representative and former Speaker of the House Frank Chopp.

Frank served as FPA Executive Director for 17 formative years, from 1983 until 2000. While still leading the agency, he took his passion for advocacy and coalition building to Olympia in 1995 as the state representative for Seattle’s 43rd District. He went on to lead the state House of Representatives from 1999 to 2019, serving out one of the longest tenures as a state legislative Speaker in the nation’s history.

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Watch Frank's Interview: 'Freedom from Poverty through Action'

 

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Events

Day of Service commemorates 50 years of building community to end poverty 

A group of 15 people, most of them in raincoats, pose for a group photo while holding rakes and pitchforks in front of a row of wheelbarrows.

Big smiles despite the rain on Day of Service 2024 volunteers’ faces at Solid Ground’s Sand Point Housing campus (photo by Rachael Green)

Over 150 volunteers at five sites came together on Friday, August 23 to do community cleanup, garden, and put some sweat equity into the proposition that by working together we can solve poverty!

In honor of Solid Ground’s 50th Anniversary, the project sites included some of our service locations as well as places that are historically important to us:  

  • Magnuson Park, where our Sand Point Housing provides permanent housing for more than 400 people who have lived through the experience of homelessness. 
  • Marra Farm, where our Giving Garden grows organic produce for the surrounding South Park neighborhood.
  • Solid Ground’s Transportation Hub, also in South Park, where our ACCESS fleet provides compassionate transportation options for people to get to medical appointments, community services, and more.
  • Wallingford Playfield Park, just a few blocks away from our administrative offices in Wallingford. 
  • Fremont Canal Park, in the neighborhood where we got our start as the Fremont Public Association in 1974. 

READ MORE>>

50th Anniversary Gala

Our hearts are full after celebrating a half century of progress toward solving poverty with our Solid Ground family. Thank you to all who joined us to honor our past and look toward our transformative future together. See highlights of the event in Converge Media’s Celebrating 50 Years of Impact: Solid Ground’s Journey to Eradicate Poverty in Seattle.

Photo collage. Left side, a group of dressed-up people pose for the camera. Right side, a Black woman wearing a yellow jacket smiles and gestures to her right while speaking at a podium with the Solid Ground logo on it.

Left: Members of Converge Media, including 50th Gala keynote speaker Omari Salisbury (with flowers) and his mother, the Reverend Harriet Walden (foreground). Right: Solid Ground’s CEO Shalimar Gonzales.

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Our Historical Timeline

A black-and-white photos of a storefront window that reads "Fremont Public Association, North Community Service Center."

1974

When the quasi-governmental North Seattle Community Service Center got its funding slashed by President Richard Nixon, local Fremont activists – including Rev. Bob Walker, Pat Proulx, and others – formed the Fremont Public Association (FPA). Initial programs included a food bank, job service, and clothing bank. The agency assumed operations of the Fremont Fair to raise funds and awareness.

1975 Armen at Fremont Recycling Station1975

Led by Armen Napoleon Stepanian, the FPA created Fremont Recycling Station #1, the nation’s first curb-collected, source-separated recycling program. The program was staffed by youth who needed to perform community service hours. While the service was not available citywide, routes were designed to pick up at the homes of all City Council members as a way to build political influence.

 

1978 Welfare Advocacy1978

Initiated the Welfare Advocacy Program – now called Benefits Legal Assistance (BLA) – offering free legal advice and representation for people being unfairly denied their public assistance benefits.

 

Home Care 19791979

Began Home Care services helping low-income seniors and adults living with disabilities to remain safely in their homes. During the late 1980s and 1990s, Home Care expanded to serve the earliest victims of the AIDS epidemic. Advocacy through the Home Care Coalition, which FPA started, resulted in the state providing tens of millions of dollars a year in Home Care services.

Launched Housing Counseling, providing technical assistance to help tenants and homeowners avoid eviction or foreclosure to maintain stable housing.

Created Food Resources to work with food distributors and other service providers to coordinate and maximize the effectiveness of Seattle’s emergency food system.

Family Shelter 19821982

Opened Family Shelter, providing short-term and extended shelter, including Seattle’s first city-funded motel voucher program north of the ship canal. Family Shelter currently operates 10 units of community-based housing in the north end.

 

Broadview, 19831983

Developed Broadview Emergency Shelter for women and children experiencing domestic violence (DV) and homelessness. Broadview started in a repurposed school building in Seattle’s north end and moved in 1986 to central Seattle, where it added transitional housing, children’s programs, and legal advocacy services. It’s the only remaining DV shelter in the city that can accept direct referrals for same-day intake.

Molar Majority 19841984

Played a key role in organizing the Survival Services Coalition, which later led to the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC), comprised of 280 coalitions, agencies, programs, and individuals committed to helping Seattle/King County residents meet their basic human needs.

Our Fair Budget Action Coalition led the successful Molar Majority Campaign to reinstate dental services for adults living on low incomes after the state cut adult dental benefits in 1982.

Health Care 19851985

Sponsored implementation of Health Care for the Homeless – King County, providing quality, comprehensive health care for people experiencing homelessness as well as leadership to help change the conditions that deprive our neighbors of home and health.

Seattle Workers Center1986

Started the independent Seattle Workers Center, creating union jobs and organizing displaced or laid-off workers to protest unfair labor practices (e.g., lockout from unemployment benefits).

Led the effort to pass the Seattle Housing Levy, preserving and creating affordable housing and providing services to help people move beyond shelter. To date, the Levy has funded more than 11,000 affordable homes, downpayment loans to more than 1,000 first-time homebuyers, and rental assistance to more than 4,000 households.

Seattle Personal Transit1987

FPA VISTA John Rochford launched Seattle Personal Transit (SPT), pioneering special transportation services for people with disabilities who can’t access the fixed-route bus system. Renamed Solid Ground Transportation (SGT) in 2013, we are the only nonprofit service provider of Metro Access transportation.

Minimum Wage 19881988

Fought to raise the Washington state minimum wage and provide the nation’s first-ever indexing of minimum wage to cost-of-living adjustments. Hosted the campaign kickoff for the statewide initiative signature drive at our Fremont Food Bank.

Created the Lettuce Link program, providing Seattle food banks with fresh, organic produce grown in community and backyard gardens.

MLK Vista 19891989

Started the MLK VISTA program to build community leadership to fight poverty through National Service. At one time, we managed the state’s largest group of National Service programs, with 150 AmeriCorps and VISTA members in programs focusing on violence prevention, literacy, and helping communities overcome other poverty-related challenges.

1990

Partnered with unions and the Port of Seattle to launch the independent Port Jobs, which creates apprenticeships leading to high-paying construction and other trade jobs for women and minorities in Seattle/King County.

King County Long Term Care 19911991

Operated the King County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), providing advocacy for people living in long-term care facilities. In 2012, transitioned LTCOP to the Multi-Service Center to merge with the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman office and improve efficiencies.

Spun off the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI), a nonprofit housing developer that has built more than 3,500 affordable housing units throughout Puget Sound.

Created Community Voice Mail (CVM), connecting more than 2,000 people experiencing homelessness and joblessness to housing, jobs, and other resources. In 1993, CVM was recognized by Harvard’s Innovations in State and Local Government Awards Program, which led to replicating CVM in over 40 cities nationwide. As cellphone and internet technology improved, the program rebranded to ConnectUp before discontinuing in 2017.

Common Cents 19921992

Advocated to launch the Washington State Housing Trust Fund, financing a broad range of housing for low-income people throughout the state. The Housing Trust Fund has supported, constructed, repaired or preserved 58,600 affordable housing units.

Partnered in the creation of Common Cents, which taught area youth about homelessness through an educational effort and coin drive fundraising campaign. The program raised about $40,000 a year to serve homeless families while engaging thousands of youth in philanthropy.

Sand Point Housing 19931993

Worked through the Sand Point Community Liaison Committee and the City of Seattle’s planning process to secure a portion of Naval Station Puget Sound at Magnuson Park to create 200 homes for formerly homeless families and individuals.

 

RSVP 19941994

Initiated the Housing Stability Program, providing direct financial assistance to households at risk of becoming homeless due to unemployment, illness, injury, or other crises. Since its inception, the program has stopped evictions/foreclosures for thousands of households.

Began coordinating Operation Frontline – now named Cooking Matters –cooking and nutrition classes that help families make healthy meals on a limited budget. We partnered with the national organization Share Our Strength to develop Teen, Early Childhood, Teen Parent, and other curricula now used at sites throughout the country.

Became the King County sponsor of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), which connects people 55 and older with volunteer opportunities to meet community needs.

Family Works food bank 19951995

Organized Friends of the Basic Health Plan (BHP) to develop grassroots support for expanding the Washington state-sponsored program providing affordable healthcare coverage to residents living on low incomes. Over 800,000 children are now enrolled in Apple Health for Kids.

Created FamilyWorks, Seattle’s first “super pantry,” which combines the former Fremont Food Bank with a family resource center – strengthening families as the foundation of a vibrant and healthy community. With offices still co-located with Solid Ground’s Wallingford building, FamilyWorks is an independent agency offering food support, classes, workshops, and parent/child activities.

WWRC 19961996

Launched JustServe AmeriCorps to focus the power of National Service on community-based alternatives to violence. The program ended in 2012 following a shift in federal priorities. More than 750 JustServe members provided frontline support to a wide variety of violence prevention projects and helped develop anti-poverty leaders of all ages.

Launched the Washington Welfare Reform Coalition (WWRC) in response to new federal welfare reform laws. WWRC advocated to ensure that Washington families would always have their basic needs met. It became the Statewide Poverty Action Network, Solid Ground’s advocacy partner, circa 2000.

Seattle Community Farm 20111997

Pioneered the Solid Ground program to provide comprehensive case management to get families into permanent housing with follow-up support to increase their long-term housing stability. When the Fremont Public Association took Solid Ground as the agency’s name in 2007, the program was renamed JourneyHome.

Spearheaded the Marra Farm Coalition to cultivate the last original farmland within Seattle city limits. Also opened our Giving Garden at Marra Farm, where we grow organic produce for people with limited access to nutritious food, and engage people in organic gardening, food justice, and stewardship. The Giving Garden produces up to 68,000 pounds of fresh organic produce each year.

SPICE 19981998

Completed construction of our Wallingford offices, sharing space with the FamilyWorks Food Bank & Resource Center and Seattle Public Library’s Wallingford branch.

Began a 14-year effort to provide delivery of nutritional food, meals, and activities to seniors in public housing through S.P.I.C.E., Senior Nutrition, and Partners in Caring.

Helped launch the independent Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI), which works on public policies to protect and rebuild the middle class and reinvigorate public debate over economic opportunity in Washington state. Among EOI’s successful efforts are increasing Washington state’s minimum wage, and enhancing workers’ rights.

Reading Corps 19991999

Started the King County chapter of Washington Reading Corps. During its tenure, it engaged 780 National Service AmeriCorps and VISTA members and 12,500 volunteers to help 25,700 students improve their literacy skills. In 2013, the federal government decided not to renew Washington State’s Reading Corps contract.

Working Wheels 20012001

Committed to Undoing Institutional Racism (UIR) as defined by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. Early implementation steps included:

  • Added anti-racism principles to agency mission and vision statements.
  • Trained staff in Undoing Institutional Racism and cultural competency.
  • Engaged staff and community members to recognize and take action against racism in their own lives and communities.
  • Cofounded the Non-Profit Anti-Racism Coalition (NPARC) in 2004.

Developed the Financial Skills Education program, later renamed Financial Fitness Boot Camp (FFBC), which provided money management classes, skill-building workshops, and personal support for families working to attain financial and housing stability.

Founding member of the Seattle/King County Coalition for Responsible Lending (SKCCRL), which increased awareness of and helped consumers avoid predatory loans, and worked with local lenders to increase affordable loan options without limiting credit access.

General Assistance Unemployment 20032003

Solid Ground’s Advocacy Department organized the legislative effort to save the $100 million General Assistance-Unemployable (GA-U) program, ensuring public assistance benefits for some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens – those who are unable to work due to living with severe physical and/or developmental disabilities.

Community Fruit Tree 20052005

Our Lettuce Link program began the Community Fruit Tree Harvest, a volunteer-based effort to glean backyard fruit for area food banks and meal programs. In 2009, community gleaning expanded with the launch of City Fruit, an independent harvest organization. Solid Ground’s program ended in 2014.

Community Garage2006

Launched the Community Garage, an innovative effort to provide low-cost car repair to help people living on low incomes maintain the vehicles they need for work. The program ended in 2009.

Helped launch Communities Against Payday Predators to advocate for tighter controls over payday lenders.

Cheryl Cobbs Murphy 2007

2007

The Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC) recognized Solid Ground’s anti-racism work, presenting Executive Director Cheryl Cobbs Murphy with the inaugural Ron Chisom Anti-Racism Award.

Fremont Public Association (FPA) changed its name to Solid Ground to better reflect the scope and breadth of our work.

Solid Ground assumed ownership and operations of housing programs at Sand Point in Magnuson Park, comprising 96 transitional homes in redeveloped former Naval properties. We also launched the campaign to build up to 104 additional homes for formerly homeless families as well as single men and women.

Apple Corps 20082008

Initiated Solid Ground’s first program participant feedback group, the Client Advisory Committee, intended to bring participant and resident ideas and input to our Board of Directors.

Developed Apple Corps, using National Service teams to address the root causes of hunger and other health inequities in low-income communities.

Predatory Lending 20092009

Helped secure the first legislation in Washington state protecting consumers from predatory payday loans, passing a bill that gives payday loan borrowers more time to pay off their debt.

 

Homelessness Prevention 20102010

New Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing models were launched through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to stabilize people at risk of homelessness and quickly re-house families experiencing it.

 

Brettler Family Place 20112011

Opened Brettler Family Place and the Lowry Community Center at our Sand Point Housing campus in Magnuson Park, ending homelessness for 51 families who moved into permanent housing with access to onsite support services.

 

Equity in Education 20122012

When Metro ended the downtown Seattle Ride Free Zone, Solid Ground Transportation (SGT) responded with the Downtown Circulator Bus, offering free, fixed-route rides to people living on low incomes and those accessing social services around downtown Seattle.

Helped launch the Equity in Education Coalition to address the achievement gap in Washington state.

Members of the 2013/14 MLK VISTA team attend Solid Ground's Stand Against Racism event, 2014.

2013

Completed construction of 53 new homes for formerly homeless families and single men and women at the Sand Point Housing campus in Magnuson Park.

Pioneered best practices in Financial Empowerment through participation in the prestigious national Learning Cluster organized by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).

Created the Lifelong Housing Safety Net in partnership with the Lifelong AIDS Alliance to provide financial resources and support to households impacted by the foreclosure crisis who also have a family member living with a chronic illness.

Broadview partnered with the City of Seattle to pilot trauma-informed care – a coordinated behavioral health approach to better understand the impacts of trauma on children and youth who’ve experienced homelessness – to learn how to effectively minimize its effects without causing additional trauma.

Gordon McHenry, Jr. with his son Austin, MLK Day 2014

2014

Chosen to join a Shelter Diversion pilot to divert families living in places not meant for human habitation from having to enter the shelter system whenever possible.

2017

Led advocates in Olympia for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) reforms, including increasing monthly cash grants by 2.5% and creating better access to post-secondary education for parents who rely on TANF to meet their basic needs. Also prevented cuts to other safety net programs.

Supported the successful effort to “ban the box” on Seattle rental housing applications that asks about criminal history.

2018

Advocacy team staffed Governor Jay Inslee’s Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG) Steering Committee – chaired by Juanita Maestas, Solid Ground volunteer and Poverty Action Board Chair – to guide the PRWG Strategic Plan.

Hosted the first STEM Expo for youth on the Sand Point Housing campus.

Launched Solid Ground’s Community Accountability Council (CAC), comprised of program participants, residents, and community members with lived experience with poverty. The CAC brings their voices into agency decision-making processes and promotes community-driven solutions to issues affecting people living poverty in Seattle/King County.

2020

Converted Santos Place on the Sand Point Housing campus in Magnuson Park from transitional housing to permanent housing for formerly homeless single adults.

With ACCESS door-to-door transportation ridership drastically reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Solid Ground Transportation (SGT) pivoted to provide transportation support for the emergency food system, including pickup and delivery from food banks and hot meal programs to customers. Within a year, SGT provided nearly 120,000 deliveries annually.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Solid Ground programs and services adapted to meet emergent needs, including:

  • Provided over $7 million in rental assistance in 2020 and 2021 to keep renters housed.
  • Partnered with Public Health to bring vaccination clinics to Solid Ground housing programs and community locations.
  • Transitioned Cooking Matters food preparation and nutrition classes and Rent Smart tenant workshops to virtual platforms.

2021

Launched the Food FARMacia collaboration with Sea Mar Community Health Centers to deliver free, fresh produce from our Marra Farm Giving Garden to Sea Mar patients managing chronic health conditions.

Completed a Behavioral Health needs assessment at our Sand Point Housing campus, and launched a Behavioral Health Partnership Project to expand resources to meet residents’ needs.

Disbursed over $3 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to 28 Seattle Food Committee (SFC) member organizations, along with training and support to bolster the Seattle food bank system.

2022

Our Food System Support joined the South Seattle Community Food Hub (SSCFH) as a community advisor. This collaboration will increase capacity and impact among regional hunger relief organizations by expanding access to resources for local growers, prioritizing BIPOC-, immigrant-, and refugee-led organizations that have traditionally lacked access to such infrastructure.

Our Benefits Legal Assistance (BLA) program partnered with REACH and the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH) to offer training and technical assistance to over 350 community direct service providers who work with folks receiving or eligible for public benefits.

2023

Vision 2030 Strategic Plan developed through a human-centered design process under the leadership of the Community Accountability Council (CAC). The CAC also took on a formal role in the vetting and selection process for all members of Solid Ground’s Board of Directors.

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