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Driving while poor: No longer a risk? | Mercer Island: No unhoused people | Mariners CEO resigns after racist comments revealed

by Chetanya Robinson | February 24th, 2021

Driving while poor: No longer a risk?
Read more in the Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Driving while poor: No longer a risk? | Mercer Island: No unhoused people | Mariners CEO resigns after racist comments revealed
Real Change
Fight to support unhoused Native people meets unpredicted pandemic limits

by Yeh-Sun Lee | February 24th, 2021

Amid COVID-19 restrictions and cases, the Chief Seattle Club is expediting construction of two new equitable housing projects in King County to support unhoused Native people.

“We hope to bring back a sense of community for our urban Native folks. Being in the urban area, our community is truly fragmented, isolated from one another beyond what COVID-19 is doing now,” said Derrick Belgarde, Chief Seattle Club’s deputy director.
Read more in the Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Fight to support unhoused Native people meets unpredicted pandemic limits
Real Change
The communal QueenCare

by Lee Nacozy | February 17th, 2021

Monika Mathews speaks with humility and wisdom, seemingly all the time. When Real Change followed up after her store’s Feb. 11 opening of a second location to ask what it’s felt like to have a second store open, she said, “Oh my goodness. It really is epic. That location represents a resurgence of Black business in the Central District.

“And it represents generational opportunities. Not only young people in my family, but in the whole community.

“This is not about ‘me.’ It’s about ‘we.’
Read more in the Feb. 17-23, 2021 issue.
- Read more about The communal QueenCare
Real Change
Distributing COVID-19 vaccine equitably | Mercer Island Council debates banning unhoused people

by Chetanya Robinson | February 17th, 2021

Distributing COVID-19 vaccine equitably

On Feb. 15, local leaders announced a new public-private Vaccine Equity Fund, with a goal of raising $15 million dollars to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to communities of color, and fix “inequitable” distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Read more in the Feb. 17-23, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Distributing COVID-19 vaccine equitably | Mercer Island Council debates banning unhoused people
Real Change
Pyro attacks harm Queen Anne camp residents

by Chetanya Robinson | February 17th, 2021

The first attack on the encampment allegedly occurred in the early hours of Jan. 4 among a group of tents on a parking lot owned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish in Queen Anne.

John, a veteran who uses a wheelchair and who lives in the small encampment, was across the street near Metropolitan Market when he saw someone dump gasoline on his tent and then watched it melt in the blaze. His wallet and phone were also destroyed in the fire.

“Why would you do that to us?” he said, recalling the incident. “I mean, we’re homeless.”
Read more in the Feb. 17-23, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Pyro attacks harm Queen Anne camp residents
Real Change
It’s Vendor Week 2021!

by Camilla Walter | February 17th, 2021

Dear Readers, Customers and Community Members,

Real Change invites you to join us in celebrating the hard work of the vendor community during Vendor Week, from Feb. 17 to 23.

Real Change is a street paper and a member of the International Network of Street Papers: a global community that includes over 100 papers in 35 countries around the world. Real Change is the leading street paper in North America, offering immediate, low-barrier employment to 600 people experiencing homelessness and poverty each year.
Read more in the Feb. 17-23, 2021 issue.
- Read more about It’s Vendor Week 2021!
Real Change
Injecting protection

by Lisa Hagen Glynn | February 10th, 2021

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout locally

Read more in the Feb. 10-16, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Injecting protection
Real Change
Lawsuit against grocery worker hazard pay | Regional Homelessness Authority has a CEO at last | Homeless Authority lead will likely be paid $200,000-$250,000 per year

by Chetanya Robinson | February 10th, 2021

Lawsuit against grocery worker hazard pay

The Northwest Grocery Association and the Washington Food Industry Association are suing the City of Seattle and will seek a preliminary injunction to stop it from implementing a requirement — passed by City Council in late January — that large grocery chains pay their employees an extra $4 dollars per hour hazard pay for their work during the covid-19 pandemic. The requirement, passed under emergency legislation, is already in effect citywide.
Read more in the Feb. 10-16, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Lawsuit against grocery worker hazard pay | Regional Homelessness Authority has a CEO at last | Homeless Authority lead will likely be paid $200,000-$250,000 per year
Real Change
‘I see opportunities for solutions’

by Katherine Haines, Guest Writer and Lee Nacozy, Real Change Editor | February 3rd, 2021

People who work against food scarcity are finding connections between waste, homelessness and covid

Every day, about one pound of food is wasted for every person in the United States alone. Over 133 billion pounds, which is about 30-40% of the food supply, goes to waste every year. Food is the single largest category of materials emitting methane from municipal landfills.
Read more in the Feb. 3-9, 2021 issue.
- Read more about ‘I see opportunities for solutions’
Real Change
Anti-homelessness protest in Olympia hotel | Council President runs for mayor

by Chetanya Robinson | February 3rd, 2021

Anti-homelessness protest in Olympia hotel

Members of Oly Housing Now, a direct action group advocating for homeless people, tried to occupy the Red Lion Inn & Suites in Olympia on Jan. 31. Eight people were detained, and three may face felony charges, the Associated Press reported.

Organizer Emma Deitz told The Olympian that the group had purchased 17 hotel rooms for one night and moved 33 people living outdoors into them, planning to stay indefinitely until Thurston County funds more permanent housing.
Read more in the Feb. 3-9, 2021 issue.
- Read more about Anti-homelessness protest in Olympia hotel | Council President runs for mayor

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