市長 Jenny A. Durkan 宣布，$217 萬的直接現金援助現已啟動，適用對象為在西雅圖生活和工作並由於 COVID-19 而失業或損失收入的 hospitality workers（招待業工作者）。需要援助的人可以造訪此網站，瞭解他們是否符合資格以及申請資源。此資助是市長和市議會 12 月公告的一部分，此公告宣布了為受到最近 COVID-19 限制影響的小型企業和招待業工作者提供高達 $500 萬的新經濟援助。自疫情開始後，在華盛頓州已經有逾 100 萬人領取了失業福利。僅在西雅圖，超過 600 家餐廳和酒吧已因為疫情被迫永久關閉。
Today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced that $2.17 million in direct cash assistance is now available for hospitality workers who live and work in Seattle who have lost jobs or income due to COVID-19. People in need of assistance can visit this website to learn if they qualify and apply for resources. This funding is part of the Mayor and City Council’s December announcement to provide up to $5 million in new financial assistance for small businesses and hospitality industry workers impacted by the most recent COVID-19 restrictions. More than 1 million people have collected unemployment benefits in Washington state since the pandemic began. In Seattle alone, more than 600 restaurants and bars have been forced to close their doors for good due to the pandemic. (Click on entry to read more)
As 2020 comes to a close, I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and as well as one can be in what has surely been one of the more challenging years we have faced as a department. Back in January, we already knew that “change” would be a theme this year. One of the city’s top priorities for the year was to help stand-up and launch the new King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA). For HSD, this included transitioning our Homeless Strategy and Investment division staff and contracts to a co-location space with their County peers, followed by CEO on-boarding and development of a staffing plan. While that work has been underway all year, little did we know at the start of 2020 that a global pandemic like nothing seen in at least a century was already underway. Not only did that slow the progress of this work, it lead to most employees shifting to work from home, being reassigned, and changing work plans. Plus significant impacts to our economy and unimaginable changes to how each of us conduct our daily lives. With homelessness response transitioning to the KCRHA, our department planned to spend much of the year redefining how it exists within the human services space. HSD planned to work with staff, service providers, and clients to co-create a roadmap for the future. This work launched in February – during Black History Month – with an understanding that race and social justice should underpin everything that we were going to talk about. The public health crisis forced us to pause that work almost immediately. Little did we know the paradigm shift coming in the summer as the support for Black Lives Matter took on new meaning for our general society and millions more people “awoke” to the understanding that it’s time to rethink how we spend our tax dollars and how our governments respond to the needs of the community. HSD staff and our community partners have been a part of the front-line response to COVID-19, pivoting programs and rising to the many challenges to help those most in need. I am deeply proud of the work we have accomplished together during this crisis. Our mission “to connect people with resources and solutions during times of need so we can all live, learn, work, and take part in strong, healthy communities” took on a much greater sense of urgency in 2020, even as we managed our ongoing work.
Traducción Española | dịch tiếng Việt | 中文翻譯 | 한국어 번역 | Tarjumaadda Af-Soomaaliga | የአማርኛ ትርጉም COVID-19 has affected Seattle residents in many ways. Many people, including older adults and families, are facing tough times due to job loss. The City of Seattle can help people who are struggling… [ Keep reading ]
Seattle Human Services is partnering with United Way of King County to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community Food Fund invests $1M to support food access among Black, Indigenous and other people of color, as well as immigrant and refugee communities. 27 local organizations across Seattle received… [ Keep reading ]
El Departamento de Servicios Humanos de Seattle (HSD por sus siglas en inglés) se complace en anunciar una campaña de concientización pública nueva: “Be Ready. Be Hydrated. / Prepárate. Hidrátate.” La campaña promueve opciones saludables para contrarrestar las tácticas de mercadeo dirigidas a los/las jóvenes de color por parte de las bebidas… [ Keep reading ]
The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce a new public awareness campaign: “Be Ready. Be Hydrated. / Prepárate. Hidrátate.” The campaign promotes healthy choices to counter sugary beverage marketing tactics aimed at youth of color and is funded by the Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT). Background SBT… [ Keep reading ]
Seattle children ages 1 through 18 years will enjoy free breakfasts, lunches, and snacks once again this summer through the Seattle Human Services Department’s (HSD) Summer Food Service Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. From July 6 through August 21, 2020, free meals will be made available at no charge to children across the City.
COVID-19 has left 1.6 million people in Washington state struggling to put food on the table. The need is especially high in parts of Seattle and South King County. For many communities facing food insecurity, their situation has been made even more challenging with meal and food bank programs impacted… [ Keep reading ]
For many communities facing food insecurity, COVID-19 has made a challenging situation even more difficult with meal and food bank programs impacted by the crisis. A number of food banks have reduced hours or their volunteers are not able to come in to help like they did before. Other programs face shortages of food resources. To meet this growing need in Seattle and surrounding communities, the City of Seattle partnered with the National Guard at the request of service providers. Locally, the National Guard has stepped up to fill gaps in our food network by offering the assistance of hundreds of members in Food Lifeline‘s SODO distribution center and at several food banks in the region. Even with all of these helping hands, some of our smaller community-based programs struggle to keep up with their usual activities, not to mention the increased demands brought on by this public health emergency. After re-deploying staff to support shifts in the City’s de-intensifying shelters at Miller and Garfield community centers, and working to open additional shelter capacity around the city, the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) has been working to find ways to ensure these important food programs can also continue to operate. This month, we began re-deploying HSD employees to support shifts ranging from food preparation and cooking, to assembling bags and packaging meals, to line management and delivering food directly to vulnerable clients in their homes. Some of our staff who are vulnerable themselves are taking on administrative tasks that can be completed remotely from their homes. We gathered photos and reflections from some of their recent work with South Park Senior Center’s senior meal program…
