Working for a just & caring community since 1974

1975: Created Fremont Recycling Station #1, the nation’s first curb-collected, source-separated recycling program.  

1978: Initiated the Welfare Advocacy Program — now called Family Assistance — offering free legal advice and representation for people who are being unfairly denied their public assistance benefits. Today, our two staff attorneys and volunteer law interns assist more than 500 people each year.

1979: Became one of the first nonprofits to offer Home Care services to low-income seniors and adults living with disabilities. We also organized the Home Care Coalition, which over the years has secured raises, health care and union benefits for home care workers. Today, Solid Ground's Home Care program provides more than 110,000 hours of in-home care to more than 200 people a year, enabling them to continue to live safely in their homes (instead of in nursing homes).

1979: Initiated the Housing Counseling Program, providing technical assistance and negotiations on behalf of tenants and homeowners to help them avoid eviction or foreclosure and maintain stable housing. Since the program's inception, we have helped more than 45,000 households maintain housing stability.

1979: Created the Food Resources Program to provide technical assistance and administrative services to the Seattle Food Committee. Food Resources delivers food to 19 member food banks, develops nutrition resources, and provides assistance with their day-to-day operations.

1982: Launched the Family Shelter Program providing both short-term and extended shelter for single-, two-parent and large families, including the first city-funded motel voucher program north of the ship canal.

1983: Developed the Broadview Emergency Shelter for homeless women and children — a model project created in response to the growing community need for additional emergency housing in Seattle. In 1991, Solid Ground purchased an apartment building and relocated Broadview, allowing us to provide both emergency shelter and transitional housing, as well as comprehensive, onsite case management and support services for Broadview residents.

1984: Played a key role organizing the Survival Services Coalition, which led to the Seattle Human Services Coalition in 1987. Currently comprised of more than 250 agencies, this coalition works together to ensure adequate local, state and federal funding to support programs for people in need.

1984: Molar Majority Campaign — Our Fair Budget Action Campaign led the successful effort to reinstate dental services for low-income adults after the State cut adult dental benefits in 1982.

1985: Sponsored implementation of Health Care for the Homeless in Seattle, providing quality, comprehensive health care for homeless people in King County and leadership to help change the conditions that deprive our neighbors of home and health.

1986: Led the effort to pass the Seattle Housing Levy, preserving and creating low-income housing for homeless families and individuals, and providing services to move people beyond shelter.

1986: Started Seattle Workers Center, creating union jobs and organizing displaced or laid off workers to protest unfair labor practices (e.g., lock out from unemployment benefits).

1987: Began operating Seattle Personal Transit (SPT), pioneering special transportation services for people living with disabilities who can't access the fixed route system. SPT serves as the only nonprofit service provider with Metro Access Transportation.

1988: Fought to raise the Washington State minimum wage, hosting the campaign kickoff for the statewide initiative signature drive at the Fremont Food Bank.

1988: Created the Lettuce Link Program, providing Seattle food banks with fresh, organic produce grown in community and backyard gardens. In 1998, Lettuce Link began growing its own produce at Marra Farm in South Park, the last remaining farmland in Seattle. Lettuce Link's Giving Garden at Marra Farm produces nearly 40,000 pounds of fresh organic produce each year.

1989: Developed the MLK VISTA Program to cultivate and support community leadership to fight poverty through volunteer service. Today, with 150 AmeriCorps and VISTA members placed through four different programs, Solid Ground coordinates more national service volunteers than any other nonprofit agency in Washington State. Through this work, we promote violence prevention, teach kids to read and develop a range of programs to help low-income communities overcome poverty-related challenges throughout Seattle/King County.

1990: Started Port Jobs, which creates apprenticeships leading to high-paying construction and other trade jobs for women and minorities in Seattle/King County.

1991: Launched the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI), a nonprofit providing over 3,000 affordable housing units as well as resident services, technical assistance and advocacy for low-income and homeless people, so that they may achieve stability and security in their lives.

1991: Pioneered the nation's first Community Voice Mail program, providing more than 2,700 personalized voice mailboxes to homeless and/or jobless people through 125 social service agencies in our area. The program was recognized by Harvard's Innovations in State and Local Government Awards Program and is now replicated in about 50 U.S. cities.

1992: Advocated successfully to launch Washington State's Housing Trust Fund (HTF), financing a broad range of housing for low-income people throughout the State. Since its inception, HTF has supported, constructed, repaired or preserved more than 40,000 low-income housing units.

1992: Created Common Cents Seattle, educating youth about the reality of homelessness through a combined homelessness awareness and coin drive fundraising campaign that currently raises more than $40,000 a year for local programs serving homeless families. In 2006, Common Cents merged with the national organization Penny Harvest, giving it the resources to greatly expand the project in our community. During the initial year of the partnership, Penny Harvest was active in nearly 50 local schools, involved thousands of children in philanthropy, and gave hundreds of area youth leadership opportunities to address critical needs in our community.

1993: Secured a portion of Sand Point Naval Station to be utilized for a transitional housing and support services facility, with a long-term plan to create 200 units of transitional housing for homeless families. In 2007, Solid Ground took over ownership and operations of housing programs at Sand Point comprising 96 units and launched the effort to build 104 additional units.

1994: Initiated the Housing Stability Program, providing direct financial assistance to households at risk of becoming homeless due to unemployment, illness, injury or other crises. Since its inception, the program has stopped evictions/foreclosures for over 3,500 families, distributing over $3,300,000 in direct financial assistance to households throughout King County.

1994: Began coordinating Operation Frontline Seattle, cooking and nutrition classes to help low-income families prepare healthy meals on a limited budget. As one of the first branches of this innovative national program originated by Share Our Strength in Washington, DC we have helped develop Teen, Early Childhood, and Teen Parent curricula now used at Operation Frontline sites throughout the country.

1995: Created the model FamilyWorks Food Bank & Resource Center. Seattle's first "super pantry" combines emergency food with a family resource center — strengthening families as the foundation of a vibrant and healthy community. While co-located in Solid Ground’s headquarters, FamilyWorks is now an independent agency offering classes and workshops, employment help and literacy skills, home management and parent/child activities.

1995: Organized Friends of the Basic Health Plan (BHP) to develop grassroots support to expand basic health insurance, a state-sponsored program that provides affordable health care coverage to low-income Washington residents through private health plans.

1997: Pioneered JourneyHome, a comprehensive case management program connecting homeless families with permanent housing and resources, including six months of follow up case management to help ensure housing stability.

1997: Spearheaded the Marra Farm Coalition, a group of community agencies that obtained rights to cultivate and preserve some of the last available farmland remaining within Seattle city limits. Solid Ground's Lettuce Link program maintains a Giving Garden at the farm, providing fresh, organic produce to a neighborhood with limited access to wholesome food, and engaging community volunteers in environmental restoration and organic gardening.

1998: Completed construction of our headquarters, a model for co-locating community services, including the FamilyWorks Food Bank & Resource Center, the Wallingford Branch of the Seattle Public Library, and Solid Ground’s administrative headquarters.

2001: Developed the Financial Skills Education program to provide money management classes and other skill-building workshops and support — including Individual Development Accounts — for low-income families working to attain financial and housing stability.

2001: Chosen by Port Jobs to operate Working Wheels, providing good quality, affordable used cars to low-income people who need a car to get or keep a better job.

2001: Committed to undoing institutional racism in both our agency and our community by: 1) adding anti-racism principles to Solid Ground's mission/vision statements, 2) training Solid Ground staff in undoing institutional racism and cultural competency, 3) collaborating with community partners, 4) launching and hosting an ongoing Anti-Racism Community Forum series, 5) fostering multi-cultural and anti-racist programs and resources and 6) engaging community members to recognize and take action against racism in their own lives and communities. Solid Ground is also a founding member of the Non-Profit Anti-Racism Coalition (NPARC). In 2007 the Seattle Human Services Coalition recognized our anti-racism work, awarding Solid Ground the inaugural Ron Chisom Anti-Racism Award.

2001: Founding member agency of the Seattle/King County Coalition for Responsible Lending (SKCCRL), increasing awareness of predatory lenders targeting at-risk communities, helping low-income consumers avoid predatory loans and working with local lenders to increase affordable loan options without limiting credit access. Solid Ground staff have served on the SKCCRL steering committee since its inception and have been active on various other SKCCRL committees. In 2006 helped launch Communities Against Payday Predators to coordinate political advocacy aimed at legislating tighter controls over payday lenders.

2003: Solid Ground Advocacy Department organized the legislative effort to save the $100 million General Assistance-Unemployable (GA-U) Program, ensuring public assistance benefits for some of our State's lowest-income and most vulnerable citizens — those who are unable to work due to severe physical and/or mental disabilities.

2006: Launched the Community Garage, an innovative program that provides low-cost car repair to help low-income people maintain vehicles they need for work.

2006: Initiated the Community Fruit Tree Harvest project, a volunteer-based effort to glean backyard organic fruits for area food banks.

2007: Adopted the name Solid Ground to better reflect the scope and breadth of our work.

2008: Launched the "On Solid Ground at Sand Point" Capital Campaign to build 106 additional units of affordable housing for homeless families and individuals.

2009: Helped secure the first payday loan consumer protections legislation in Washington State, passing a bill that gives payday loan borrowers more time to pay off their loans.