We need new office supplies!

Hi there folks!
Besides the usual need for funding and our regular donations we're in a bit of a pinch with office equipment and its impacting our services!

If you or anyone you know has a used fax machine or Xerox copier, both of ours are broken and it's making it really difficult to perform our usual duties without these things. If you know anything about where to get these for free or cheap please let us know, any donation is tax deductible!

Thanks a lot!
B&R staff

Bread and Roses Student Internships

We are proud to announce our new and improved internship program!

B&R offers 8-16 credit internships through the Evergreen State College. Interns will gain invaluable insight into the experiences and struggles of Olympia's most marginalized community members, and work towards breaking down class barriers through direct advocacy.

Interns will spend 2-4 weeks at Bread and Roses Advocacy Center acclimating themselves to the way we work. Once each intern is comfortable with established processes, they will create and execute a goal-oriented project, specific to the focus of their internship, with the ultimate goal of expanding and improving the services Bread and Roses provides.

During the course of creating and implementing their project, each intern will keep a record of how their project functions in the context of the rest of B&R, with the aim of creating a "how-to" document to be used by future interns. Interns will also implement processes established by previous interns.

Internship focuses include fundraising/grantwriting, street outreach, anti-oppression work, community outreach and interagency networking, and cultural studies.


Students interested in more information can contact Dylan Snyder by email at snyder.dylan@gmail.com or by telephone at (360) 481-3299.

Catching Up With Bread & Roses

Well, our last post was way back in November and a whole lot has changed for us!

First, we said good bye to our co-staffer Liz. She's moved on to the all the glitz and glamor of the Seattle Downtown Emergency Shelter system. Needless to say, she will be missed by all of us, especially our guests.

Our community has grown though as we welcomed Tom, Dylan Carol and Kevin into the ranks of our full time volunteers. Tom has years of experience with B&R, Dylan is a former star intern turned advocacy worker, Carol is our delightful church liaison and Kevin is a long time friend of B&R having worked with EGYHOP almost since it's inception.

Because of the fire at our Guest House last year, we had to close half of our transitional housing spaces. I'm happy to report that the "far side" has since been rebuilt and is now home to up to two families at a time totaling the whole unit out to 12 possible spaces, 6 women and 2 families.

We're in the middle of partnering with the Mason County Literacy Program to begin an Adult Literacy Program out of our Advocacy Center. We had some lovely Americore volunteers come by for a week and help us put up shelves for a new library and we're on the verge of getting a new paint job!

All this has been a TON of work, and there's still more to do. The housing crisis is hitting Thurston County pretty hard and we're seeing record numbers of people coming into our Advocacy Center. Every year it seems, there's more and more need. Thankfully, we've got an awesome group of interns who are up to the challenge.

I know I'm leaving millions of things out, but this should get you pretty up to date. Check back often as this Blog is coming back to life!

Take care!

Why Do We Exist?

No, this is not a philosophical question meant to be debated. I'm writing about the existence of Bread and Roses, about why we volunteers, interns, donors and guests are here.

For the federal government, we exist to count heads. Or rather, a third of our funding exists because we're willing to do so. We collect information-how many laundry vouchers given, how many men, how many women, are they white or not? are they veterans? Has Bread and Roses housed anyone in the past operating year, and what about rehab? Have we 'fixed' the problem of homelessness yet?

I'm writing because to continue getting funding from a particular grant, I have to finish a progress report asking me to compile data on my closest friends and confidantes, and I get the feeling that the federal government doesn't know anybody experiencing homelessness.

They ask me how many people have 'exited' our program this past year. I can't generalize the reasons for 'exiting'; it could be that someone got a job in Texas driving trucks and didn't bother to sit down and fill out the 'exit' form, it could be that a family member in Yakima offered space on the couch, it could be they were in an accident and were airlifted to Harborview and ended up in physical rehab there, it could be they moved to a shelter in Oregon to be close to a dying relative, and sadly, it could be that they couldn't survive the cold, wet winter and died, right here in Olympia. Does the federal government seriously think these walking numbers have the time, the wherewithal, the care to spend any of their precious moments on something as sterile and worthless as an 'exit' form?

So why do we exist apart from being a number counter?

We exist because as long as poverty is systemic and institutionalized in our society, there must be members of our community willing to take a stand and say to the poor, marginalized, and homeless and say, 'Yes. I recognize you as a fellow human being. I recognize your right to safe shelter, to support, to compassion, and to understanding. I accept you as you are. What can I do to help?'

The Advocacy Center on 4th is designed to facilitate this communal interaction. Anyone with the willingness to listen and learn from the folks we serve can be an advocate. The main goal of most homeless outreach organizations is to find and gain access to housing. We are no different; however, anyone who is familiar with the current housing market and the multitude of barriers will understand the challenges we face.

So we exist for other reasons, too. Sometimes, on a chilly November day such as this one, we exist to provide a place to get in out of the cold. Other times we exist to find a spare can of chicken noodle soup to serve to a single mother of three who can't bring herself to go back to the motel room and tell them they'll be sleeping in a van that night for lack of money. We exist to provide counsel, not because of credentials or a degree, but because two heads are better than one. We provide much that is not quantifiable: a hug for a man who hasn't been touched in years, art supplies and project space for an elderly man who draws and is happy, the requisite oohs and aahs over baby photos, a couch to nap on because someone spent all night walking for fear of safety, acknowledgment of successes, commiseration of setbacks...each day spent at the Advocacy Center brings challenges to be met, and problems to be solved.

It is our patience and respect for everyone that enables us to successfully encourage a guest to receive treatment for an addiction. Not because we demand it, but because we're willing to understand why someone is scared and needs the extra encouragement, the support through the process. We respect a man's pride in his work, and know that sometimes it is hard to ask for help when society makes him feel poorly for needing it. We know that writing letters to a guest who is incarcerated lets them know they're remembered and not out of the loop.

For me, it's best summed up by this quote from Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: 'There's only one rule that I know of, babies-God damn it, you've got to be kind.'

Now, with this in mind, will someone tell me how to fill in this damned paperwork?

In Love,
Miss Liz

The Ready to Listen documentary

Last spring a documentary was done regarding the services that our Bread and Roses advocacy Center does for our community. It was done by two college students, Kevin Backman and Jessica Batton, at The Evergreen State College here in Olympia, Washington. They interviewed different people from different backgrounds in our community that explained their unique situations in their life and how Bread and Roses uses their resources to help them obtain shelter. The documentary also briefly covers the tent city project that has now started in Olympia showing the reality of homelessness in the surrounding communities in our country.

This documentary is 30 minutes long and will stay on the blog (Double Click for full size view option)

New Study about the 'Working Poor'

Interesting article on the income gap in our nation.
Study: 41 million in US can't afford basics.

Behavioral Health Resources (BHR) Needs Our Support

Here at Bread and Roses, we care deeply about everyone in the community and we tend to run closely with those who share the same idea. As such, we are concerned with Behavioral Health Resources and a recently occurring threat to their commitment to excellent service in the mental health and chemical dependency field. For more information, please follow this link at OlyBlog:

http://www.olyblog.net/please-support-mental-health-workers


UPDATE: Thanks to an outpouring of community support and the dedication of the negotiating team, BHR and its employees have reached a tenative contract agreement. Solidarity Forever!