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. 

Juanita first came to Solid Ground (then known as the Fremont Public Association) in 2000, seeking shelter for herself and her children. 

“I said, ‘I need help. I’m out here with two young kids. Do you guys have a shelter that I can go to?’ And they’re like, ‘Do you have case management?’ And I was like, ‘What’s case management? I’ve never done this before.’ I didn’t know what to expect, didn’t know what to think. 

“I was scared, you know? And when you go into something that you’re unfamiliar with, your mother instincts kick in. You know, first thing I thought, ‘Am I going to lose my kids because I’m doing this?’ That was like a big fear for me.” 

Support sets the stage to give back 

“So I called,” Juanita says, “and somebody connected me to a case manager. She was tough, but she was also like, ‘You need to do this; this is what’s gonna happen.’ 

“She goes, ‘You’re in a safe place; we’ve got resources for you. I’m going to help you.’ And I said, ‘Well, when I’m done, are you going to leave me?’ And she said, ‘No. We’re going to make sure that you’re OK. We check in on you.’” 

That initial intake conversation led to Section 8 housing for Juanita and her family, and a lifelong appreciation for how direct services staff can support people, connect them to resources, and break down barriers to opportunity. 

“We got to talking more about what I needed and how we’re going to make this work,” Juanita says. “She told me that there’s resources for food, we’re going to make sure that you got benefits, that you can keep up your rent. And it was good to know that you have the people behind you, that you’re not going alone.”  

At that point, Juanita also decided that she wanted to give back. She says she “hung around Solid Ground a lot and got to know staff members, know about the different things that they’re doing.” 

Around that time, Solid Ground’s then Assistant Director, Ariana Cantu, invited Juanita to join a group of program participants being organized to provide input on agency direction. Originally called the Client Advisory Committee, the group soon renamed itself the Community Advisory Council (CAC) – reflecting that it’s a group by and of the community with valuable lived experience and input to contribute to Solid Ground’s leadership.* 

“At the first Advisory Council [meeting], I was so nervous,” says Juanita. “I’m like, ‘Ariana, do not pick on me, do not have me say anything, because I don’t know what I’m doing.’ She’s like, ‘You’re OK, you’re fine.’ And so listening to people’s stories, it made me want to do it even more.” 

Introduction to citizen lobbying 

CAC meetings featured staff from various Solid Ground programs discussing what they do and getting input and advice. One of the meetings Juanita attended included Marcy Bowers, Director of the Statewide Poverty Action Network, Solid Ground’s advocacy partner, which focuses on Washington state-level issues impacting people living in poverty. 

Juanita was impressed. “She knows her stuff,” says Juanita. “She talked about going to the capitol: ‘You can do this,’ she says, ‘You can make this change – and this is how we’re going to do it.’” 

So Juanita signed up to volunteer with a Poverty Action lobbying trip to the state capital in Olympia. “I’d never been to Tacoma; I’ve never been anywhere,” says Juanita. “And I said, ‘You’re talking about Olympia, where the ‘big people’ are.’ And that’s when that all started.” 

Juanita got involved lobbying in Olympia, canvassing in community, and doing voter registration drives. Eventually, Marcy asked her to join Poverty Action’s Board of Directors, which helps the organization establish its policy agenda. They set up an interview with the Poverty Action board. 

“I was really nervous because I don’t like interviews,” says Juanita. “And I said to myself, ‘OK, at Solid Ground, this is what they did, the case managers taught us how to ask questions, taught us how to do this. 

“And so I told Marcy, ‘OK, I’ll do the interview.’ And I was so nervous. I did the interview. A couple weeks later I got a call from Poverty Action and they’re like, ‘You’ve been accepted on the board.’” 

A legacy of leadership 

That was over 15 years ago, and Juanita continues to serve with the Poverty Action Board, bringing her perspective to guide the organization, mentoring new board members, and developing a next generation of activists. 

“All this time, I’m learning how to be respectful. I’m learning how to listen. I’m learning how to focus in and work with people that need your help. They need another voice,” she says. 

Early on, Juanita began toting her grandson Anthony along to lobbying meetings. “I told Anthony, I said, ‘You know what, you’re going to be my partner. My thought is like, ‘You’re never too old and you’re never too young to learn.’ I wanted to teach my grandkids that it’s what you got within you that can make you want to change. I said, ‘We’re going to be crime fighters.’ He’s like, ‘Nana, you’re too old for crime fighting.’” 

Throughout the years, Poverty Action and Solid Ground became Juanita’s home. She says, “It’s nice to walk into an organization and they know your name – and they’re just like, ‘Hey, how you doing?’” 

In 2018 Juanita was invited by David Hlebain, Poverty Action’s then Basic Needs Campaign Manager, to join a group of people Governor Jay Inslee was putting together to advise him on policies to address poverty. It was called the Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG). 

“I looked at [David] and I said, ‘You know, I’m still a beginner.’ He goes, ‘You are NOT a beginner. And I said I would do it as long as he wasn’t going to leave me alone, because I found out that this group is going to be with – I call them ‘bigger people’ – because, you know, you’re higher level. And I said, ‘You know what, sometimes I have issues with some of those bigger people.’ And he’s like, ‘This is the time and place to tell them.’” 

“So I went to the first meeting. I was so scared. Here I am. And here’s all these bigger people.” 

Juanita told Marcy Bowers, “They are not gonna give a dang about what matters to me. And she goes, ‘Just listen.’ So I’m listening, and I’m like, ‘OK,’ but still feel kind of like, ‘OK, why am I here?’” 

“And so the second meeting, I walked through the doors and they’re like, ‘Hi Juanita!’ and I’m looking around. And somebody from Commerce came up to me. Somebody from DSHS [Department of Social and Health Services] came up to me. Somebody from Unemployment Security came up to me. They’re just like, ‘Hey, how are you? We’re glad to see you come back!’” 

Building capacity for change 

As the meetings went on, PRWG decided that it needed the grounding of a group of community members with lived experience, so they created the PRWG Steering Committee, and Juanita was selected as a co-chair. The Dismantle Poverty in Washington team included PRWG, the PRWG Steering Committee, and Gov. Inslee’s Subcabinet on Generational Poverty. 

“Each of the partners has a unique role in making an aligned contribution to reduce poverty,” states the Dismantling Poverty in Washington website. 

“A lot of people feel like they can’t change the system,” says Juanita. “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.” 

After six years of hard work, PRWG was instrumental in the development and implementation of the 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty, driving anti-poverty legislative efforts and more. And since its inception in 2018, Poverty Action has played a lead role in convening and facilitating the PRWG Steering Committee.  

The collaboration between politicians, advocates, and people with lived experience was truly groundbreaking. Last year a group of graduate students at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington wrote up A Case Study on Successful Community Engagement: The Steering Committee for Poverty Reduction in Washington on the collaboration, and a guidebook for how the partnership can be replicated in other jurisdictions.  

Progress through trust 

The mashup of people with lived experience, professional bureaucrats, and activists was not an instant success. As Juanita’s notion of the “bigger people” implies, it took some work to break down preconceptions and develop trust. 

“We spent a lot of time building relationships and trust from the start,” one state agency representative is quoted in the report. “We overinvested time at the beginning, and it paid off.” 

“I’m a big believer in [having] real, honest, direct, and transparent conversations. Clarity is super important,” Poverty Action’s Marcy Bowers told the UW students. “Acknowledge that we’re all going to make mistakes, but that we’re all going to work together to hold each other accountable. We’re going to have to talk. We’re going to talk about race, whether you like it or not. We’re going to have conversations where people’s perspectives are really different, and we’re going to listen through that and work through it.”  

“Trust was built slowly,” the report states, “and through the agency representatives being consistent, demonstrating commitment to the process, following through, and expressing through both words and actions that they viewed the Steering Committee members as colleagues.” 

This included its youngest member, Juanita’s grandson Anthony. “When I started working as a Steering Committee member, I brought Anthony into that,” says Juanita.  

“A lot of people feel like they can’t change the system. 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.”

~Juanita Maestas, Poverty Action Board co-chair & anti-poverty activist

Years earlier, Juanita had organized Anthony and other youth too. “It’s so he would go to the bigger work group meetings with me. And everybody loved Anthony. He was just like a total kind of distraction. You know, something goes crazy, and he’s over there doodling or getting involved in the activities that we’re doing. He had his input into it, and then as we got going, he finally got his own nametag: ‘Anthony Hurtado, member PRWG.’” 

In 2021, Juanita received word that Anthony was to be honored with the Governor’s Youth Volunteer Award. It’s not the only award the family would receive. Earlier this year, Juanita retired from co-chairing the PRWG Steering Committee and was awarded the Trailblazer Award by Poverty Action and the Washington Economic Justice Alliance. 

“I don’t see myself as a star,” Juanita says. “I see myself as a normal person.” But many others recognize the leadership roles Juanita played for so long. 

“I got to help put together an event where the Subcabinet, the Steering Committee and the bigger Work Group came together and celebrated the work that we’ve done and accomplished – and also look forward to what’s going to happen next,” Juanita says. “Everybody was acknowledged for the work that they’ve done.  

“And I felt so good, ’cause at the end of the night I got acknowledged for having the heart to get everybody together. That was an event that I won’t forget. This is what life is. This is how you can make changes.”

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• * In 2018, Solid Ground added further nuance to the CAC name, replacing “Advisory” with “Accountability.” Read more about Solid Ground’s active Community Accountability Council (CAC). We’re seeking new changemakers!

• Photo at top: Juanita (right) and Poverty Action Director Marcy Bowers pose in the photobooth at an MLK Lobby Day event.

• Read more and see photos of Juanita, young Anthony, and his little brother Gio in Three generations of advocates for change and A bridge built on lived experiences.