We’re making progress, together As the City addresses the crisis of homelessness, we are focused on helping people move off the streets and into permanent housing. More people served – 25,420 households served in 2018. An increase of 7% over 2017.
April is National Fair Housing Month. National Fair Housing Month increases efforts to end housing discrimination and raises awareness of fair housing rights. The month also remembers the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, of which fair and equitable access to housing was a key factor. The Fair Housing Act also celebrates its anniversary during April. In 2018, the Fair Housing Act celebrated its 50th anniversary. Designed to protect Americans from discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing based on color, race, national origin and religion, the act later extended to sex, disability and family status.
The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce the results of the 2019 Homeless Strategy and Investment Outreach RFQ, also known as the 2019 Outreach RFQ. HSD is investing $244,400 of General Fund to support up to three full-time outreach workers to serve First Hill, Capitol Hill, and/or Chinatown-International District neighborhoods. In addition to outreach directly to people who are homeless, the staff person will serve as the point of contact for neighbors, including businesses, who are interested in maintaining or creating safe and vibrant communities and generating solutions to homelessness. Initial awards will be made from April 2019 through December 31, 2019, with renewal through 2020 contingent upon performance and funding availability. The committee recommended one agency and program for the entire amount of funding available for outreach services. The members selected Evergreen Treatment Center’s REACH program, citing some of the following reasons: • How they engage with and assist unsheltered populations and how they can successfully refer people to other services; • How they have worked with the Ballard Business Improvement Association in the past, and have a willingness to tailor outreach work in the three identified neighborhoods in this RFQ; and • Expertise in outreach to an array of people who are homeless in Seattle, including, but not limited to, people with ongoing mental health and substance use needs.
Harmful and erroneous attitudes about rape and sexual assault pervade our society. That is the reason why Denim Day exists – it is an anti-sexual violence campaign that is acknowledged worldwide every April. In Italy in 1992, a man raped a woman who was wearing a tight pair of jeans at the time. She reported the rape and the man was convicted. The case was appealed to the Italian Supreme Court. The court overturned the conviction in 1998 due to their belief that because the woman’s jeans were so tight, there is no way she could have been raped – in their view, she must have helped the man remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women of the Italian Parliament showed up to work wearing jeans in protest of the outrageous decision. This protest sparked an annual, worldwide Denim Day campaign against destructive attitudes about sexual assault.
