Seattle’s first-ever Hack to End Homelessness brought housing advocates and service providers together with members of the tech community to design and build solutions to homelessness. The weekend of May 2-4, more than 100 people collaborated on a dozen projects, including informative infographics, data analyses and visualizations, websites, and mobile apps. Read on for our take on the event, as well our videos featuring activist Mark Horvath.
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Culture Watch: “@home,” Mark Horvath and Three Wishes for Solving Homelessness
Equipped with a video camera, a big online following, and endless compassion, Mark Horvath documents and shares stories of people who are experiencing homelessness. The new documentary "@home" follows Mark on an 11,000-mile road trip across the United States, and introduces us to the homeless men, women, and children he connects with. Haley Jo Lewis from Seattle University’s Project on Family Homelessness reviews the film and invites you to its May 2 Seattle premiere.
Domestic Violence Housing First Project Gives Survivors Freedom to Choose How to Rebuild Their Lives
When guest blogger Kendra Gritsch thinks of home, she thinks of safety, security, love, and her cat, Miso. For some families, though, home is an unsafe and scary place. And for many women experiencing domestic violence, home is a reason to stay in an abusive relationship. Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children, as victims are often faced with the decision between two dangerous situations: abuse or homelessness. Kendra shares how her organization, the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, collaborates with service providers like the YWCA of Kitsap County to help survivors avoid homelessness and begin rebuilding their lives.
Spark Change Podcast Episode 6: Storify
Storify is a tool for bringing together tweets, status updates, photos and videos to tell a story. Users can search lots of social networks from one place, drag individual elements into a single storyline, and add text to give context. This winter, McKenna Haley from Seattle University’s Project on Family Homelessness used Storify to tell the story of Washington’s Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day. We loved the way her piece came together, so we invited McKenna to talk with us about her experience with the free version of Storify.
Sounding the Alarm Gong for Homeless Services
Sideways rain soaked our clothes, and wind threatened to send our unsturdy blue plastic tent smashing into the steps of the Capitol building. Why were dozens of housing advocates huddled around a gong in that nasty weather?