Love Wins Love is providing the inspiration for this important initiative. It is an art collective that believes that housing is a human right. They host art-making events to build community and tap into the creativity and wisdom of our neighbors, both unhoused and housed. The following initiatives are active and volunteers and collaborators are especially welcome.
UNITY FLAGS
This project brings people together in community gatherings, such as farmers’ markets, cultural fairs, etc., to make batik flags that are strung together and presented to tent encampments and shelters to beautify their environment.
Why Consider?
To help raise community awareness of the homelessness crisis in our community, to engage with neighbors creating art and engaging in transformative conversations, and to contribute to the goal of creating 4,505 flags, one for each of the people counted as unsheltered in King County during the one night count in January, 2016.
How To Participate?
Contact us to request the Love Wins Love schedule of community events and register as a volunteer at a time and location that is convenient for you.
What Will I Do?
Show up in work clothes, paint Unity Flags like those in the photo, and plan to spend about 2-3 hours with some great people who share your interest in community service and social justice. All Materials(i.e. batik flags, paint and brushes) are provided.
CONTACT US
VISITING WITH THE HOMELESS
This project is coordinated with the leaders and residents in both public and self-organized homeless encampments. It affirms their hospitality as neighbors and provides the opportunity to connect as fellow human beings.
Why Consider?
Most of us feel uncomfortable when we encounter homeless people and our fear of the unknown can keep us from seeing them as neighbors with feelings like our own. This is a safe and easy way to challenge the discomfort and be welcomed by the stranger
How To Participate?
Contact us to answer your questions and schedule an individual or group meeting, usually in the late afternoon, at an encampment in King County near you.
What Will I Do?
Join a group of people who will receive a tour of the camp, sit with members of the camp to share personal stories and let the spirit of the occasion determine next steps, if any. There are no expectations, other than honoring resident hospitality, and many have found the experience transforming.
CONTACT US
CREATING A TRANSITIONAL VILLAGE
This is an emergent project that is motivated by the commitment that as a Compassionate City, Seattle’s response to our most vulnerable citizens should be compassionate. We recognize that it is up to each of us to help resolve our homeless crisis and in fact it provides the incentive for us to live out a purposeful compassion. Together with our leaders we must demonstrate that we are the people with the skills, commitment and political will to support the adoption and implementation of sustainable solutions. These solutions will focus on the homeless as partners and work with them to acknowledge their assets, understand their needs, and together stabilize their lives to ensure that they all are able to receive the support they need to move forward in their lives with safety, stability, and dignity.
Why Consider?
We can decide what kind of society we want and work together to create it. We cannot leave it up to our city and county leaders and service providers to solve this problem on their own. Call of Compassion NW believes that together we can create stable, safe, human-scale places that are cost effective, where people who are unhoused can transition to more sustainable living situations. To do that, we need to tap into the talent, time and treasure with a community-driven response. Dream big, and create the political will to transform homelessness in accordance with our values as a compassionate city.
How To Participate?
First, contact us for information on our “Transitional Village/Urban KOA” vision. Join our ListServ of people interested in working with and learning from people who are impacted by homelessness for ongoing suggestions and opportunities for action. Volunteer your skills, insights and passions to support compassionate responses to our crisis.
What Will I Do?
Work with us and our partners to show up in the community on the issues that call you; risk stepping into uncomfortable experiences to earn the trust of those whose life experiences may be very different from your own; engage in ways that seem most relevant for you; and be open to discovering how to apply your gifts to best support what you learn. It is truly up to us all, and Love Wins Love inspires and challenges us all to contribute in ways small or large to make homelessness rare, brief and onetime together.
CONTACT US
UNITY FLAGS
This project brings people together in community gatherings, such as farmers’ markets, cultural fairs, etc., to make batik flags that are strung together and presented to tent encampments and shelters to beautify their environment.
Why Consider?
To help raise community awareness of the homelessness crisis in our community, to engage with neighbors creating art and engaging in transformative conversations, and to contribute to the goal of creating 4,505 flags, one for each of the people counted as unsheltered in King County during the one night count in January, 2016.
How To Participate?
Contact us to request the Love Wins Love schedule of community events and register as a volunteer at a time and location that is convenient for you.
What Will I Do?
Show up in work clothes, paint Unity Flags like those in the photo, and plan to spend about 2-3 hours with some great people who share your interest in community service and social justice. All Materials(i.e. batik flags, paint and brushes) are provided.
CONTACT US
VISITING WITH THE HOMELESS
This project is coordinated with the leaders and residents in both public and self-organized homeless encampments. It affirms their hospitality as neighbors and provides the opportunity to connect as fellow human beings.
Why Consider?
Most of us feel uncomfortable when we encounter homeless people and our fear of the unknown can keep us from seeing them as neighbors with feelings like our own. This is a safe and easy way to challenge the discomfort and be welcomed by the stranger
How To Participate?
Contact us to answer your questions and schedule an individual or group meeting, usually in the late afternoon, at an encampment in King County near you.
What Will I Do?
Join a group of people who will receive a tour of the camp, sit with members of the camp to share personal stories and let the spirit of the occasion determine next steps, if any. There are no expectations, other than honoring resident hospitality, and many have found the experience transforming.
CONTACT US
CREATING A TRANSITIONAL VILLAGE
This is an emergent project that is motivated by the commitment that as a Compassionate City, Seattle’s response to our most vulnerable citizens should be compassionate. We recognize that it is up to each of us to help resolve our homeless crisis and in fact it provides the incentive for us to live out a purposeful compassion. Together with our leaders we must demonstrate that we are the people with the skills, commitment and political will to support the adoption and implementation of sustainable solutions. These solutions will focus on the homeless as partners and work with them to acknowledge their assets, understand their needs, and together stabilize their lives to ensure that they all are able to receive the support they need to move forward in their lives with safety, stability, and dignity.
Why Consider?
We can decide what kind of society we want and work together to create it. We cannot leave it up to our city and county leaders and service providers to solve this problem on their own. Call of Compassion NW believes that together we can create stable, safe, human-scale places that are cost effective, where people who are unhoused can transition to more sustainable living situations. To do that, we need to tap into the talent, time and treasure with a community-driven response. Dream big, and create the political will to transform homelessness in accordance with our values as a compassionate city.
How To Participate?
First, contact us for information on our “Transitional Village/Urban KOA” vision. Join our ListServ of people interested in working with and learning from people who are impacted by homelessness for ongoing suggestions and opportunities for action. Volunteer your skills, insights and passions to support compassionate responses to our crisis.
What Will I Do?
Work with us and our partners to show up in the community on the issues that call you; risk stepping into uncomfortable experiences to earn the trust of those whose life experiences may be very different from your own; engage in ways that seem most relevant for you; and be open to discovering how to apply your gifts to best support what you learn. It is truly up to us all, and Love Wins Love inspires and challenges us all to contribute in ways small or large to make homelessness rare, brief and onetime together.
CONTACT US