Advocate for Affordable Housing

On Tuesday, January 6th the Patrick-Murray Administration announced a dramatic new move in its effort to end homelessness. Currently the emergency shelter services program sits within the Department of Transitional Assistance (our state's welfare department). The Administration is now working to shift this program to sit within the Department of Housing and Community Development, a move designed to recognize that homelessness is an issue of housing that should be aligned with the state's housing resources.  read more »

I can honestly say I never met anyone who experienced homelessness until I began working at the United Way. This fall I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica Dahlquist, a mother and client from one of our venture agencies Homes for Families, and while our time together was brief, her story will always stay with me.  read more »

As the warm summer breeze drifts into a cool autumn air and as the endless hours of daylight are interrupted by the darkness of night, we know that fall is upon us.

Fall. It’s a time of change, of preparing for the winter months to come. It’s also a time when a very important question lingers on every child’s mind…what am I going to be for Halloween??!  read more »

Since reading about the troubling headline and story of the woman who killed herself 90 minutes before her foreclosed home was scheduled to be auctioned, I've been reflecting on moments of kindness that were probably missed that could have prevented this tragedy. Experts say that it is not uncommon for homeowners facing foreclosure to have suicidal thoughts--and with the rise of foreclosure rates all across the country I can't help but wonder how many of our neighbors, loved ones and friends are "undiagnosed" as being in this category.  read more »

On June 20, 2008 National Public Radio ran a story on the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the Latino community. We've written about foreclosures several times over the last few months, but this story taught me more about how the situation effects both individual homeowners as well as the community (and the economy) as a whole.  read more »