The Empathy Syllabus: Understanding Homelessness in Seattle

We have provided you all with some resources about the issue of homelessness in Seattle. Now we want to hear from you! What are you still curious or confused about? Please submit any questions you have about homelessness in this anonymous google form and we will do our best to answer them next week.
https://forms.gle/3pyNzN7PzqpEJp3k6

Empathy Syllabus: Question Form

If you are looking to get involved with addressing a root cause of homelessness (a lack of affordable housing) check out the push for rent control happening in Washington right now! In WA rent control is illegal, and Councilwoman Sawant has a proposal to "set rent controls so that landlords cannot raise the rent any more than the rate of inflation" in Seattle. This proposal could take effect as soon as rent control is made legal in WA state.

Attend the rally July 20!

To read more about Oregon's new law: https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/would-rent-control-work-in-washington/

Would rent control work in Washington? | Seattle Weekly

Last night at the Panel Discussion of Homelessness in Seattle, we discussed the common misconceptions about the issue of homelessness, as well as the complexities. Please take the time to read this Huffington Post article called 5 Things People Get Wrong About Homelessness. It is a quick read! Below are the 5 myths about homelessness in our country and important quotes from the article if you do not have time to read the whole thing!

Myth 1: Most homeless people live on the streets.
“Many people who are homeless are also not in shelters or on the street, but living in their cars or “doubled up” at friends’ homes ― situations that can be unsustainable and even unhealthy.”

Myth 2: Most homeless people are mentally ill.
“People don’t become homeless because of those issues, it’s because we don’t have a system in society to support people having a mental health crisis or a substance use issue”

Myth 3: Most homeless people are addicts.
"About 17 percent of people who are homeless also suffer from a chronic substance use disorder, according to the U.S. Department of Health."

Myth 4: Homeless people just need to get a job.
"In any state across the U.S., a person who earned the minimum wage could not afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, according to a National Low Income Housing Coalition report from earlier this year."

Myth 5: It’s their fault they’re homeless.
"Over the past few decades, housing costs have risen far faster than incomes. And homeless advocates say that governments at the federal, state and local levels have not done enough to make more affordable housing available."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homeless-stereotypes-myths-housing-crisis_n_5c05a9a7e4b0cd916faefb18?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMSBzJId-3QTOop88pMKsnajr2PHrAQprEyqkiQ2XxZFRAtFFWERH_uuHCn1QrtekVPIQC1Y2mj8-XLWRa8gkwJlRa_1Nrkl5L-MY_xurRzMhu54guu-524Ej9aStiqF0r5UWdHzlSnRYjql3huj9iOks4grzrpwDLKmKO6egXrP

5 Things People Get Wrong About Homelessness No, people who are houseless don’t all live on the street, and the vast majority are not addicts or mentally ill, either.

Please take some time to read this brief article on gentrification in Seattle. Henry McGee, a professor at Harvard, discusses the history of predominantly black communities in Seattle being transformed into areas of high income white professionals.
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/gentrification-integration-or-displacement-seattle-story/?fbclid=IwAR3ewpO80LjAGLJHnWz8TjiT4Qisghhzn6Hq2ts9c456IBCvXf7Pm3KcFWM

Gentrification, Integration or Displacement?: The Seattle Story • BlackPast In the following article, Henry W. McGee, Jr., a Seattle University Professor of Law and Central District resident, discusses the recent dramatic transformation of the area from a predominately working class African American community into an area of high income white, Asian American and African …...

ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT: Facing Homelessness, Seattle

This video features Facing Homelessness' founder and creative director, Rex Hohlbien, on the importance of connection: "when we walk past someone who is suffering on the street, without acknowledging them, we unknowingly create our own plexi-glass."

Facing Homelessness is a social media movement and Seattle-based nonprofit. Their U-District Window of Kindness creates a place to connect those experiencing homelessness with donated goods as well as conversation and connection. They are always looking for volunteers!

Additionally, they run the BLOCK project: http://the-block-project.org/home.
The BLOCK Project invites community into the task of ending homelessness by placing a BLOCK Home in the backyard of one single-family lot on every residentially zoned block within the City of Seattle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dpanM1yPbk

Facing homelessness | Rex Hohlbein | TEDxRainier This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In this stirring and eye-opening talk, Rex Hohlbein shows how we ca...

Believe in the importance of safe and affordable housing to end homelessness? Here is how YOU can advocate for more affordable housing to be built in Seattle! Click on the link below to contact your legislator.

Coalition on Homelessness WA State - Take Action

Community organization highlight:
University District Street Medicine is a student led organization with the goal of providing medical care to those experiencing homelessness. TONIGHT at 6pm there is a volunteer recruitment dinner where you can learn more about how to get involved. FRIDAY at 7:30pm there is a movie screening of Trickle Down Town, a film presenting perspective on homelessness in Seattle.

Sinan Demirel's three-piece story in Crosscut recounts the history of displacement in Seattle. Read Part one here!

http://features.crosscut.com/homeless-in-seattle-the-roots-of-a-crisis

Homeless in Seattle: The roots of a crisis At last count, there were 4,500 people living on the streets of Seattle and King County. It wasn’t always this way...

As students in Seattle we are surrounded by, and implicated in, homelessness. We are two senior public health students who believe it should be our responsibility to educate ourselves on why this inequity exists, persists, and what action we should take in our community. This syllabus contains both archived information on the roots of homelessness, as well as regular posts about articles, events, opportunities and stories that help educate students about homelessness. Our primary goal is to reduce stigma by changing the narratives people are exposed to via an accessible platform: all while centering the voices and stories of those experiencing homelessness. All submissions welcome: please message any events/opportunities/articles/stories you want to highlight!