Each quarter, Solid Ground takes time to share our gratitude for the supporters who come alongside us in our work to end poverty and undo racism. This quarter, we’re highlighting partners who support JourneyHome/Rapid Rehousing, including the Evelyn H. Fuldner Foundation, Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, and the Washington Federal Foundation.

Solid Ground’s JourneyHome/Rapid Rehousing (JHRRH) helps families with children experiencing homelessness in King County find safety and stability through a powerful combination of housing navigation, case management, time-limited rental assistance, and landlord engagement.

At our region continues to face a staggering shortage of affordable housing, JHRRH plays a critical role in the homelessness response system and our shared work of addressing the disproportionate rates of homelessness experienced by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC). In 2021, more than 70% of active enrollees in JHRRH identified as BIPOC.

This past year, our JHRRH team successfully piloted an innovative new approach identified by a former staff member to match participant households with case managers who shared similar racial or ethnic backgrounds in order to more effectively meet both stabilization and cultural needs. JHRRH also hired a full-time bilingual case manager to help Spanish-speaking families feel more supported in navigating their pathways to stability.

Many households move into their new spaces without much, if any, furniture and other basic necessities. While resources like clothing, food, and furniture banks help bridge some of these gaps, flexible client assistance funds help case managers to act quickly when families identify a need that could disrupt their stability, like move-in assistance, car repairs, gas vouchers, or culturally relevant ingredients.

Recently, JHRRH’s bilingual case manager helped a mother and her two sons obtain housing after escaping domestic violence and spending months in the shelter system. Though the mother  could speak English, communicating in Spanish was much more comfortable for her and ensured that nothing was lost in translation, while also allowing us to provide more responsive assistance without having to rely on outside translation services.

This case manager’s ability to connect and provide support for Spanish-speaking clients was essential in helping this family feel comfortable, supported, and ensure their needs were addressed (read Tailoring services for success for the full story). As word spreads about Solid Ground’s growing bilingual services, we’re excited to build deeper relationships that allow us to provide more support in Spanish-speaking communities.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted, which means many households require more than just a roof overhead to create stability in their lives. Along with our individualized case management, an essential tool in JHRRH’s work is client assistance, which helps our staff act quickly to cover unforeseen costs for participating families that aren’t covered by public contracts.

Many households move into their new spaces without much, if any, furniture and other basic necessities. While resources like clothing, food, and furniture banks help bridge some of these gaps, flexible client assistance funds help case managers act quickly when families identify a need that could disrupt their stability, like move-in assistance, car repairs, gas vouchers, or culturally relevant ingredients.

Because of generous donors like the Evelyn H. Fuldner Foundation, Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, and the Washington Federal Foundation, families have the opportunity to make their new housing feel like home – all while working with our case managers to strengthen community resource connections and make progress on self-identified stability goals, such as public benefits enrollment, employment, and/or mental and physical healthcare toward their visions for long-term housing stability.

We’d also like to thank the following funders who contributed to other Solid Ground programs, agency initiatives, and community partnerships this past quarter:

Want to join our amazing supporters in helping to remove barriers along people’s journeys out of poverty? Check out our many Ways to Give!

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Image at top: As a longtime case manager with JourneyHome RapidRehousing, Victoria Meissner has helped countless families find housing and stability through a combination of housing navigation, case management, time-limited rental assistance, and landlord engagement. Photo by Michael B. Maine.