Homelessness was once an issue that mattered to many Washingtonians, but fell behind other concerns such as the economy, education and taxes. Today, the public will for action on homelessness is stronger than ever. Nearly one in three Washington residents surveyed in a recent Crosscut/Elway Pollsaid homelessness is the top issue facing the Legislature, ahead…
The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program began in Seattle in 2011 and brought together law enforcement and public defense attorneys to find alternatives to repeatedly arresting drug users, sex workers and other low-level offenders. Unlike other criminal justice diversion programs, LEAD works directly with the Seattle Police Department to offer case management in lieu…
The growing divide between federal disability income and rent is leading more people into homelessness. Tyrone Porter could soon become one of those people. His Seattle apartment, while subsidized, still costs $805 a month. For three years, that rent was covered by the state. But late last year he qualified for federal disability income, which…
Veronica Karanja grew up farming in Kenya, but it took her years in the U.S. to find land again. Veronica Karanja says this as she wipes her damp forehead with the back of her hand, settling it on her hip as she looks over her garden of squash, herbs and budding corn. “Many good things…
Tired of mistreatment and not being able to afford the food they harvested, two Bellingham farmworkers left corporate agriculture to start their own berry cooperative. Torres, 35, and Hernandez, 43, founded the organic berry farm Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty Cooperative) together after leaving jobs on corporate farms. Both had spent years farming…
