Police reform groups are eyeing I-940 to ensure successful rollout

Hot off the press

Mobile pet clinic treats pets of those experiencing homelessness

by Jon Williams | July 17th, 2019

Dr. Hanna Ekstrom recently set out to “serve the under-served” — and their four-legged friends, who serve them in so many ways.

Ekstrom parked her mobile vet clinic in front of the Real Change office on Main Street on July 10, unrolled a Seattle Veternary Outreach banner, set up a covering to protect her staff from the rain and used a chalkboard as a waiting list. Vendors signed in with theirs and their pets’ names to get free veterinary service.

Book Review: ’Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World’

by Ashley Archibald | July 17th, 2019

Author Annie Lowrey takes a global look at universal basic income and why it might be essential in an age of rising inequality, persistent poverty and technology

When Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced his “Freedom Dividend,” a plan to give every adult in the United States an unconditional $1,000 per month, he did so by prophesying a world in which you, the average worker, are no longer necessary.

The machines are coming for your jobs, Yang argues on his campaign site and in most public forums. None of your livelihoods are safe under the new world order promised by automation, but this policy will keep you afloat in the face of autonomous vehicles and robotic warehouse workers.

To live fearlessly at last

by Rabbi Olivier BenHaim | July 17th, 2019

Real Change columnist

In 1971, Republican President Richard Nixon declared in his State of The Union address that highest on his legislative agenda was a plan to “place a floor under the income of every family […] in America.” It called for $1,000 per month in today’s dollars. Nixon’s bold goal was to eradicate poverty. The bill floundered in the Senate, paradoxically, because the Democrats insisted on a higher basic income. Today’s idea of a $1,000 guaranteed monthly minimum income is causing us to reconsider the meaning of work and redefine success for a human life.

The world has a hostile architecture problem. Is public space becoming private?

by Kaitlin Jock | July 17th, 2019

Anti-homeless policy has been a staple in cities all over the world for decades, whether those policies be forthright, like loitering laws and sit-lie ordinances, or peppered into a city’s infrastructure and public spaces.

Reporter’s Notebook: vaccine funding, Snohomish earthquake, sharing data with ICE

by Ashley Archibald | July 17th, 2019

County funds Hep A vaccines

King County announced that it would allocate $375,000 to pay for Hepatitis A vaccines to stave off a potentially deadly epidemic.

Over the next six months, four part-time health workers will provide vaccinations to people experiencing homelessness in shelters, on the street and in camps.

The money to pay for the effort will come from the Loss Control Program, which is meant to handle “unanticipated risks,” according to the county’s press release.

Indigenous student group files suit against district to save program’s site

by Ashley Archibald | July 17th, 2019

A Native-run nonprofit dedicated to supporting Indigenous students appealed a decision by Seattle Public Schools after the district decided not to renew an agreement that allowed the group to use space rent free for an after-school program for Native youth.

Real Change vendor Laura Ditsch doesn’t let impaired vision slow her down

by Bridget Mountain | July 17th, 2019

It takes determination to advocate for the same thing for 30 years. But that is exactly what Laura Ditsch has done. Ditsch began advocating for people experiencing homelessness in 1989 in upstate New York when she was 21 years old. Today she is the Real Change advocacy department’s rep on the Vendor Advisory Board.

Not Done Yet: Dykes over 50 revered in CoCA show

by Lisa Edge | July 10th, 2019

In a society that’s obsessed with staying young, the lines of people waiting to erase the lines on their faces by dipping into the restoring waters of the Fountain of Youth would be so long that someone could get old and die just waiting. But there’s always Botox, which is no longer for Hollywood’s elite; anyone can get their face frozen in time by a local doctor. At least one person enjoys the years she’s accumulated: Artist Kathy Ross. She has no qualms about being 70.

The fallacy of ‘listening to all sides’

by John Helmiere | July 10th, 2019

Real Change columnist

As the Seattle City Council races heat up, we are hearing rhetoric from some candidates about how city government should spend more time listening to “all sides.” This is coded language. Candidates who want to hear from “all” are usually found making the point of the business community — which is simply organized corporate economic interests, and rarely a “community” in any sense of the word. These candidates indicate that the bleeding hearts who run city government are failing to care for the needs and desires of business.

What happened to the comment section?

by Real Change Newsroom | April 17th, 2019

In the last month we received a number of vile comments on our articles. They were not productive and didn't advance the conversation. We understand readers have strong opinions about the various issues we cover but the last thing we want is for our website to become a platform for abuse, the advancement of harmful stereotypes and attacks on marginalized populations.

As we reevaluate next steps we have removed all of the comments from our website.

Real Change

’Stonewall was a riot, we will not be quiet’: Thousands gather for Trans Pride Seattle March

by Ashley Archibald | July 3rd, 2019

Seattle’s trans community and allies came out in force in and around Cal Anderson Park the evening of June 28 for a joyful celebration of identity on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, which launched the gay rights movement.

A flood of people marched through the streets of Capitol Hill, chanting and shouting slogans as onlookers filled the sidewalks, cheering.
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First Thursday artwalk guide for July 11, 2019

by Lisa Edge | July 3rd, 2019

This month’s First Thursday art walk has moved to July 11 because of the fourth of July holiday. The art walk is a long-standing tradition in Pioneer Square, Seattle’s oldest neighborhood which is home to dozens of galleries. During the community event galleries often showcase new exhibitions.
- Read more about First Thursday artwalk guide for July 11, 2019
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Perspective from Katie Wheeler July 3, 2019

by Katie Wheeler | July 3rd, 2019

Cartoon by Katie Wheeler
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Stuck on sharps

by Hanna Brooks Olsen | July 3rd, 2019

Real Change columnist

It’s surprising that a plastic box next to a toilet could be controversial, but it is. Whenever a sharps container — you know, the red box designed for safe disposal of syringes and other medical devices — appears in a restroom, neighbors will buzz about it. On NextDoor and in Facebook groups, the presence of sharps containers is often viewed as enabling.

If you give an addict a sharps container, they’ll find a sharp to put in it. Right?
- Read more about Stuck on sharps
Real Change

If you’re a fellow nadpobudliwość, put down ‘Ulysses’ and start reading this

by Dr. Wes Browning | July 3rd, 2019

Real Change columnist

This week I want to talk about hope.

Emily Dickinson called “hope” the “Thing with Feathers” and then proceeded to conjure up an image of the little bird in my soul being abashed by a storm. Every time I think I get it, it slips away.

In 2001, I responded this way to Emily: “If Emily had your hope, what kind of thing would it be? My hope is the thing with pizza stains down its front. Maybe your hope has chocolate all over its face.” At the time, my anti-depressant was severely depressing me, so it’s a wonder I had anything positive to say at all.
- Read more about If you’re a fellow nadpobudliwość, put down ‘Ulysses’ and start reading this
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Community courts can offer support and resources to low-level offenders

by Ashley Archibald | July 3rd, 2019

King County Presiding Judge Donna Tucker knew there was a problem in the criminal justice system in her county.

Low-level offenders — people who committed mild property crimes, loitered or decorated buildings with graffiti — cycled through the system, building criminal histories and spending time in the local jails.

That certainly wasn’t good for them. The multiplicity of reasons that people engaged in that behavior were not addressed by a stint in King County Jail and could not be addressed by judges who had limited options once charges were filed.
- Read more about Community courts can offer support and resources to low-level offenders
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Real Change is an essential part of vendor Matthew Wilson’s emotional survival

by Mike Wold | July 3rd, 2019

Matthew Wilson was a mental health ombudsman working for King County when a stroke changed his life. “I loved that job, helping people with their therapist, doctor, health center that they feel stuck with. ‘This is so-and-so’s difficulty. Is there some way we can work it out for them?’” Matthew had a degree in Jungian psychology and neuro-linguistic programming. “I knew what I was doing,” he says. “A lot of time, they come back and say, ‘I want you to be my therapist, not just my advocate.’”
- Read more about Real Change is an essential part of vendor Matthew Wilson's emotional survival
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U.S. Census: Countdown to a likely undercount

by Ashley Archibald | June 26th, 2019

With billions of dollars on the line, state and local governments are gearing up for the 2020 census, but experts say that there will almost certainly be an undercount despite these efforts.

The decennial census, a constitutionally mandated count of every person in the country, is always hard to pull off. It requires a large-scale marshaling of resources and people power to — in some cases — literally knock on doors and get people to fill out forms that describe their age, race and other demographic data.
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Reporter’s Notebook: HUD proposal, housing affordability, backyard cottage approval

by Ashley Archibald | June 26th, 2019

This is nationalism

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed a rule to deny public housing to families headed by an undocumented person, potentially kicking 25,000 families out of housing and into homelessness.

The proposed rule would mean that leaseholders cannot be undocumented, even if their spouses or children are U.S. citizens. According to All Home King County, this would impact 55,000 children, possibly moving them from stable housing into homelessness.
- Read more about Reporter's Notebook: HUD proposal, housing affordability, backyard cottage approval
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Police reform groups are eyeing I-940 to ensure successful rollout

by Ashley Archibald | June 26th, 2019

When Sadiqa Sakin heard about the police shooting in Lower Queen Anne on May 8, she immediately thought of her son.

Seattle Police Department officers shot and killed a man who was reportedly armed with a knife. His girlfriend was in the apartment and had called the police because he was threatening her. Four officers entered the apartment and two shot the man.
- Read more about Police reform groups are eyeing I-940 to ensure successful rollout