MARCH 2013:
"A place where you can begin"
In this issue...
13th Annual Building Community Luncheon:
Friday, April 5, 2013, noon-1:30pm, Westin Hotel |
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Featuring best-selling author, Paul Tough |
Join us at the Westin Hotel Grand Ballroom (1900 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101)
on April 5 for Solid Ground’s 13th Annual Building Community Luncheon! Meet Solid Ground’s new leaders, Gordon McHenry, Jr., President & CEO, and Sandi Cutler, COSO (Chief Operating & Strategy Officer).
About Luncheon Keynote Speaker Paul Tough:
“Paul Tough has scoured the science and met the people who are challenging what we thought we knew about childhood and success. And now he has written the instruction manual. Every parent should read this book – and every policymaker, too.” ~Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit
To reserve a table, RSVP or become a sponsor, please contact Megan Locatelli at 206.694.6862 or meganl@solid-ground.org.
For more info, visit www.solid-ground.org/News/AnnualLuncheon.
Reaching Solid Ground:
"A place where you can begin" |
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Johnnie Williams: Scholar, track star, coach, mentor (John Bolivar Photography) |
A collegiate academic and athletic star, Johnnie Williams is a nationally-recognized track coach and mentor to thousands of at risk young people. But years ago, while he himself was at Eckstein Middle School, his mom was getting untangled from drugs and a violent relationship. Williams was close to failing out and getting sucked into the vortex of generational poverty. But when he moved with his mom and siblings to Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing for women and their children – escaping her husband and the drugs – the family began to rebuild their lives.
A safe space for a new start
Williams says one of the most important aspects about Broadview was that “it was a women-only shelter, and there was no way my young brother’s dad could have any more impact on my family. For me, that was the turning point: the safety and security.
“It was a complete 180 for us. Our grades turned around. There weren’t as many distractions in the home. My mother wasn’t on drugs anymore. We had people down at the [Broadview] front office we could talk to. And all the staff knew; they seemed to care. I felt like I wasn’t the only kid who grew up in this type of situation. I had people that I could relate to, so I didn’t feel singled out.”
Declining a prep-school academic scholarship, Williams went to Nathan Hale High School. “It was where a lot of my friends were. And a couple of Hale students were living at Broadview at the time, so I wanted to keep the connection with them.” As a young boy, Williams had taken up recreational running. By high school, he was a local track star destined for a big-time collegiate career, maybe more.
Overcoming obstacles
Williams started college at Washington State University (WSU), far enough from his family to focus on his studies, but close enough to help if needed. Academics at WSU and then Eastern Washington University did not prove enough of a challenge, so he ultimately transferred to Columbia University, where he earned a degree in Forensic Anthropology in 2003.
After graduating, he ran professionally for two years, but then another enormous life challenge knocked him off track when he was diagnosed with leukemia. Yet he even took this in stride: “I think that all of the struggles we went through made me a stronger person in general. Dealing with what I had to deal with, I feel like, if I can overcome something like that, there is nothing in my life that I can’t overcome. Whatever I do, I don’t want to fail.” So Williams regained his health and turned his energy and skills to coaching.
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Johnnie Williams trains with one of his students (John Bolivar Photography) |
From mentee to mentor
While coaching at Garfield High School, the City of Seattle recruited him to work with their youth programs. He says, “I would only take it if I was working with youth who grew up in the same situation that I did. They placed me at Yesler Terrace Community Center. Ever since then, I’ve been working at all the low-income sites in Seattle Parks and Recreation.”
Thirteen years later, young athletes come from across the country to work with Williams’ High Voltage Amateur Athletic Union Track Club. “As a coach and as a person, I’ve become very protective of my kids. I am understanding of a lot of situations; I know what goes on in certain households.
“I’ve become a mentor to a lot of my kids and I have the same perspective as the Broadview Shelter staff: If there are issues – and there are – well you can come and talk about it and we can provide a safe environment for you. If you are looking for a turning point in your life, this is a place where you can begin.
“We work with a lot of kids that are homeless. We work with a lot of kids that are HIV positive, [or] that grew up in the same situation that I did, with their parents on drugs, with domestic violence,” he says. “If you save one kid, you have done your job. And I can name 14 kids right now that, under my coaching, are on Division One college scholarships. Two of them are running professional track and field; some of them are in Division One universities now. I have national champions in the high jump and long jump.”
What makes the greatest difference in their lives? Williams speaks from firsthand experience when he replies, “Just having somebody to talk to, someone that they know, that cares that they can make the best out of that situation. I think the kids appreciate that more than anything.”
For more info about Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing, visit www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Housing/Broadview.
Special Recognition:
Brilliance... Kindness... & Persistence |
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Solid Ground’s President & CEO Gordon McHenry, Jr. (left) and Deputy Housing Director Tamara Brown (right) join Books for Kids’ Amanda Hirsh and Capital One’s Meredith Rubin at the Children’s Library Corner ribbon cutting at Sand Point Housing. |
Thanks to the many donors who provided gift cards to our Holiday Giving Campaign, with special shout outs to the Law Offices of Melissa Huelsman PS, Seattle BioMed, Starbucks Channel Development and UW Office of Research.
- Google and its employees raised over $40,000 for Solid Ground during their fall G-Give campaign, and along with Seattle Waldorf School, brought a lovely holiday meal to Santos Place and Sand Point Family Housing residents.
- The kids at Sand Point Housing are “over the moon” for the creatively furnished Children’s Library Corner (including rocket ship reading cubby!) built by New York’s Books for Kids and the local Capital One office.
- Women’s Council of Realtors “adopted” Solid Ground and held a masquerade fundraiser for Brettler Family Place – and Zulily donated tons of warm bedding for our housing residents.
- Ken Huber and Snap-Tex Systems Northwest used their substantial expertise to help us reduce noise (and better serve our clients) at our Headquarters building.
- Tutta Bella on Stone Way also adopted Solid Ground as their main charity this year.
- Dusty Strings Music Shop & School is donating proceeds from their Wednesday noontime “All SING!” sessions to Solid Ground.
- Swanson’s Nursery made three hefty seed donations to Lettuce Link in 2012. Combined with generous donations from Bellevue Nursery, Johnny’s Seeds, Magnolia Garden Center, Seed Savers Exchange, Territorial Seed Company, Urban Earth Nursery, Walt’s Organic Fertilizer Co., Wells Medina Nursery and West Seattle Nursery, we received nearly $10,000 in seeds!
Program News:
From the Ground Up |
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Lifelong Housing Safety Net is a new partnership between Solid Ground’s Homeless Prevention Programs and Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Free to people living in 13 Washington State counties, the program provides FREE support to households impacted by the foreclosure crisis who also have a family member living with a chronic illness. For eligible households, the program provides financial assistance to help stabilize current housing, as well as an array of support services focusing on future housing and financial stability, including:
- Housing search assistance
- Housing stabilization support
- Landlord mediation
- Education on tenant rights and responsibilities
- Financial coaching and education
- Connection to medical care
The program is funded through the Attorney General’s Office of Washington State’s National Mortgage Settlement.
For more info, please email housingsafetynet@solid-ground.org.
Community News:
Cool / Not Cool |
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Cool: Washington ranks 9th out of all 50 states in volunteerism; 34.4% of our residents volunteer! And the Seattle-Metro area ranks 3rd out of the 51 major metropolitan areas in the country. That’s over 936,000 volunteers! For volunteer opportunities at Solid Ground, visit www.solid-ground.org/GetInvolved/Volunteer.
Not Cool: According to numbers released in February by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 27,390 students in Washington State were homeless in the 2011-12 school year – up 5.1% from 2010-11 and 46.7% from 2007-08.
Cool: Smoke-free apartments and condos are on the rise: Today, 92% of Washington State renters say they prefer smoke-free housing. SmokeFreeWashington.com offers resources to help more landlords and owners voluntarily implement a no-smoking rule.
Not Cool: Our Family Assistance program benefits attorneys report that people living with disabilities and those with language barriers continue to face challenges when accessing public benefits for which they are eligible. DSHS phone center wait time can take up to 20 minutes.
Volunteer Spotlight:
Susan Gins |
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Susan Gins (center) with nutrition educators Cristina Rebellon, (left) and Amelia Swinton (right) |
Since November 2012, Susan Gins has volunteered weekly with Solid Ground’s Hunger Action Center nutrition educators at Concord International School in South Park. “Grandma Susan” (as the students fondly call her) willingly tackles whole-wheat pancake flipping, dishes, book reading or anything she sees needing assistance.
Involved in school nutrition since the 1990s, Susan was awarded Best Nutritionist in Seattle in 2006. Our nutrition educators feel very fortunate to have a professional nutritionist volunteering, and Susan appreciates the opportunity. She says, “Solid Ground offers many programs devoted to food, gardening and children – all interests that coincide with mine. Great food, educational lessons with wonderful instructors and excited, receptive students invigorate me. Hope for the future!” Thanks for all your help, Susan!
For more info on volunteering at Solid Ground, contact Chelsey Loeffers at 206.694.6825 or volunteers@solid-ground.org.
Partner Organization Spotlight:
Puget Sound Association of Legal Administrators |
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Megan Locatelli, Donor & Corporate Relations, claps as PSALA’s Evelyn Dunagan presents the check. |
When the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (PSALA) contacted us in early 2012 to be their partner for the year, we were thrilled. What we didn’t realize was just how fabulous a partner they would be! Members of the chapter volunteered not once, not twice, but three times!
They kicked off the year by braving the early morning shifts at the Pound the Ground 5K, then trekked out to Marra Farm for spring and fall work parties, donating over 140 hours. Members also hosted supply drives for the families at Brettler Family Place, providing school supplies, towels and bedding for the residents. To top it all off, they hosted a dinner and auction, which raised over $10,000! Thank you to the PSALA for a wonderful year!
For more info on partnering with Solid Ground, contact Megan Locatelli at 206.694.6862 or meganl@solid-ground.org.
Take Action:
Get Involved! |
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- Join us Fri. 4/5/13 at the Westin Hotel for our 13th Annual Building Community Luncheon! Keynote speaker Paul Tough challenges our culture’s belief that intelligence is the sole indicator of value in our education system.
For more info or to register, visit: www.solid-ground.org/News/AnnualLuncheon. To host a table or become a sponsor, contact Megan Locatelli at 206.694.6862 or lunch@solid-ground.org.
- For Volunteer Opportunities at Solid Ground, contact Chelsey Loeffers at 206.694.6825 or volunteers@solid-ground.org.
For earlier Groundviews issues, please contact publications@solid-ground.org.
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1501 North 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103-6708