SHARE Rebuttal and Statement 4-9-16.docx

8/18/2019 SHARE Rebuttal and Statement 4-9-16.docx

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Setting the Record Straight 4/9/16 Statement of SHARE

The City of Seattle and King County Departments that work on homelessness are tag-teaming

the advancement of a number of false assertions about SHA! and our crisis" #ost of the

corporate media have accepted these false assertions without $uestion" %ew members of the

press have made any serious effort at either providing SHA! an opportunity for rebuttal& or

ferreting out the truth themselves"

These false assertions are based on self-interest ' the City of Seattle and King County

bureaucratic (Homelessness )eadership* don*t want to keep their commitment +All Home

Strategic ,lan "."a/ to support King County*s e0isting basic shelters"

1n plainer !nglish& leading City and County bureaucrats are throwing up popular but false

e0cuses not to support SHA! because of our grassroots& empowered model" They*d rather

spend money on things other than a cost-effective& self-managed shelter network"

1n part& this is because they persist in--and perpetuate--the horrible myth that enough goodaffordable housing outcomes e0ist for all who need them& and the problem is simply a matter of

pushing people into those e0cellent outcomes"

1n a County where 2&343 people were found without any shelter at all& where at least 56

homeless men and women died outside or by violence in 4.3& and where we*re short on

affordable housing by TH78SA9DS of units& this outcomes-based funding myth is the most

disheartening and disingenuous of all"

Funding from the City of Seattle

The Myth The Seattle Human Services Department +HSD/ has allocated over :544&444 to pay

for SHA!*s indoor shelter network in 4.5 and we*re closed now because that money*s been

misused"

The Reality: SHA! and HSD negotiated and signed a contract for 4.5 with a budget

document showing that the SHA! 1ndoor Shelter 9etwork would receive :;ear All Home Strategic ,lan that the County& the City

and 8nited ?ay agreed to obligates all parties to (support e0isting shelter"* +"."a"/

SHA! also listed many other funding sources that we ' not the City or County ' have made

yeoman efforts to ac$uire through grantwriting& fundraisers& and developing and maintaining a


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grassroots funding base" ?ithout County or 8nited ?ay support& though& SHA! @ust can*t

keep pace with rising costs& rising demands +in this State of !mergency/& and perpetual

underfunding on a reimbursable contract basis"

A Red Herring: ?H!!)& SHA!*s partner organiation& independently operates an e0cellent&

low-barrier and staffed ?omen*s Shelter" 1t*s open now& and we hope it will remain unaffected

by SHA!*s troubles" The ?H!!) ?omen*s Shelter has its own independent budget andmonthly City reimbursement agreement& in the amount of :


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)ater& )ester*s Deputy Director& Eason Eohnson& took the lead in first misleading the Honey

=ucket Company into thinking they would be reimbursed& and then reneging on this

commitment"

7n %ebruary 3& 4.5& a SHA! =oard #ember ' at a City Council oundtable Discussion

arranged by Councilwoman =agshaw and attended by Human Service Department )eaders '

said B1t is my responsibility to inform you that today SHA! 1S 19 A STAT! 7% !#!F!9C>"?ithout immediate intervention we will 97T be able to keep going" ight now three of our

nine employees are holding their paychecks because our cash flow is so bad" ?e have been

warning of this financial crisis for years" A big reason we have not been listened to is the lack

of respect for our life-saving work from funders" +This testimony was submitted in writing and

can also be viewed on the Seattle Channel"/

%or the past two years SHA! has sent numerous letters to King County and City of Seattle

)eaders describing our financial troubles and asking for help" ?e*ve testified at City and

County Council meetings& and have met with City and County Councilmembers" ?e did a

month-long educational campaign last Eune& and slept outside and leafleted the CountyChinook =uilding several times e0plaining our crisis and asking for help" ?e*ve testified at BAll

Home Foverning =oard meetings for years& and in fact got them to agree that supporting our

e0isting shelters was a priority of the .4 >ear ,lus %our >ear !0tension Strategic ,lan to !nd

Homelessness"

Afforda$le Hou"ing %utcome"

The Myth King County claims that they refused our grant applications& in part& because

SHA! can*t demonstrate BAffordable Housing 7utcomes"

The Reality 1n a BState of !mergency where over 2&344 people are unsheltered in KingCounty& bednights& survival and dignity are admirable outcomes" There are not enough good

affordable housing outcomes for all who need them& by TH78SA9DS of units" 1f funding is

only based on affordable housing outcomes& that*ll leave many people and programs +like

SHA!*s/ behind& to die on our streets"

%or decades& bednights of shelter were fundable outcomes& lauded by our partners& who

recognied we were doing much with very few resources" SHA! has become the largest and

most cost-effective network of shelters in the region& with a portable& fle0ible shelter base&

using space that otherwise would be unused& in church halls and community centers" ?e*re

creative& fle0ible& and bare-bones" 7ur small cadre of organiing staff make minimum wage&

and we work miracles every day on a shoestring" ?e are proud of our workG

%or the record& we are appealing King County*s latest funding denial" 1n their communications

to us& King County stated that we were eliminated on eligibility criteria& and in one case the

reason given for denying our proposal was because King County does not consider Tent Cities

to be shelter" The .34 participants in our three self-managed Tent Cities consider this to be

an affront"


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%ther %utcome"

The Myth SHA! has an e0cellent track record of keeping people alive& but can show no

other outcomes"

The Reality #any SHA! outcomes are invaluable but immeasurable on a numeric scale"

?here else in Seattle& or anywhere& do homeless people themselves get to set policy& createrules& and run their own sheltersI !very member of a SHA! has a voice& and a right to

e0press hisJher opinion at meetings" !veryone within SHA! is e$ual" This gives SHA!

members back our dignity& which was largely stripped from us when we became homeless"

SHA! gives its members life& but also dignity& a foundation& and a great sense of purpose"

1n addition& SHA!*s network of shelters has generated more faith-community and

neighborhood partnerships and new participants in surviving and solving homelessness than

any other provider in town"

Financial &anagement

The Myth The Seattle Times editorialied that SHA! has Bsketchy financial management&yet offered no proof to support that florid& inflammatory and false claim"

The Reality SHA! has operatedand carried government funding contractsfor decades"

?e are inordinately scrutinied and often audited out-of-cycle because of our homeless-led

model and our commitment to speaking truth to power" 7ur e0ternal controls include annual

independent financial reviews and regular in-depth reviews and audits by our funders +notably

the City of Seattle and King County for the use of educed %are =us Tickets/" ?e were

audited out of cycle @ust last year by HSD" They found our systems and controls to be in orderL

their main finding was that we are under-funded"

7ur internal controls include our use of an independent bookkeeper& our having an

Administrator whose @ob it is to track and account for our finances and to report twice-weekly to

colleagues and regularly to our community" ?e have a #onthly #andatory Feneral %inance

Committee meeting& weekly Debt-Abatement Committee meetings& weekly Frantwriting

committee meetings& and weekly 7rganiational decision-making meetings& which review our

finances and cash flow situation weekly"

1n truth& the level of scrutiny& review and accountability here at SHA!& both internal ande0ternal& far outstrips any other large traditional non-profit agency or government bureaucracy

we know"

'o(erty)Stric*en Shelter Sy"temThe Myth The Seattle Times stated that SHA! has Bshaky finances& but gave no supportinginformation or specifics"

The Reality SHA! is a shoestring& grassroots& self-managed group of homeless men and

women" ?e are a nonprofit& and we incorporated in .MM." >es& our finances are shaky"

?e*ve been crying out for more stable& ongoing& large-scale support for years" ,erhaps we


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should*ve shut down earlier" 1nstead& we struggled to survive& putting off ,eter to pay ,aul&

while we worked hard to get the funding support we need" That we are cash-strapped&

poverty-stricken and homeless-led does not mean that we are irresponsible or unaccountable

in our operations"

+efinition of Shelter

The Myth !ncampments aren*t Shelter

The Reality ,er the County*s own Continuum of

Care 7rdinance +through the .4->ear ,lan AKA the

All Home Strategic ,lan/& the County is re$uired to

. Address the NhomelessO crisis as $uickly as

possible 1nclude the preservation of e0isting shelter ; 1ncrease shelter capacity2 1nclude non-traditional shelter models

Tents A! an interim survival mechanism" ?hy doyou suppose the 8"S" military& refugees& and people all

over the world use tents in inclement weatherI

=ecause tents are shelter"

SHARE i" $eing !illoried for $eing !oor, and homele"", in !u$lic- 'oor and

homele"" !eo!le .and !rogram" throughout time ha(e $een treated thi" 0ay

0ith indi(idual "haming and "u"!icion, rather than !eo!le loo*ing at the

"y"temic rea"on" for !o(erty- 2e3and homele"" !eo!le e(ery0here3de"er(e

$etter-

Unsheltered Civil War

Is this a traditional or non-traditional shelter (or

neither)?

Documents

SHARE Rebuttal and Statement 4-9-16.docx