Washington County has a faith based coalition, the Interfaith Committee on Homelessness (IFCH), which is active in a variety of ways around homelessness.

Catalyst

In 2006, a staff member from Community Action of Washington County came to the United Church of Christ (UCC) in Forest Grove, Oregon. The staff member, Pat Rogers, talked about the failure of the public safety levy in 2005. This levy had funded many aspects of public safety, including partially funding the emergency shelter system for homeless people in Washington County.

The UCC Congregation was concerned about the failure of the public safety levy, and this catalyzed the group to action. They began working to raise awareness about the problem of homelessness in Washington County, as well as the need for the Public Safety levy.

Raising Awareness

The group had two goals – first, to educate themselves about the problem of homelessness, and to share their knowledge with others; and second, to shine a light on the problem of homelessness in Washington County. The group understood that homelessness was viewed as a “Portland-problem,” not as a problem that impacted Washington County.

To accomplish their first goal, they held meetings with service providers from Community Action and Family Bridge. They talked to Homeless School Liaisons and studied information and data collected about homelessness within Washington County.

To accomplish the second goal, to shine a light on the problem of homelessness in Washington County, the group adopted a variety of strategies. They worked to put a face on homelessness, by helping other church members understand who was homeless in Washington County. They held one event where they slept outside of a local church on a cold winter night.

In the context of the IFCH’s mission – education, putting a face on homelessness and advocating for the homeless, we have sponsored four county town halls which bring the faith community, service provides and elected leaders together. This has gotten significant media attention, to achieve another goal of educating the public.

Opportunities for Engagement

IFCH works to create a wide range of options for everyone to be involved in the work of ending homelessness. Options include service, raising funds, and working with elected officials. Each congregant or congregation can be involved in the ways they feel most comfortable and to the degree that they are available. This tailored approach has been very successful, and has led to great success by the group.

Working with Elected Officials

One area where the IFCH found they could have very effective involvement was in working with elected officials. The IFCH members noted that for members of the United Church of Christ, political action is a key piece of their church history and faith. This facilitated involvement by faith community members with elected officials.

This has taken several forms over the years. The IFCH has:

• Provided funds raised from churches to the local Board of County Commissioners to keep shelters open in Washington County. This was a particularly successful fundraising drive. Once funds had been raised, several local legislators and other County staff were invited to attend the presentation of the funds to the Board of Commissioners.
• Been involved with the Oregon Housing Alliance, as a member and participant. The ICH participates in meetings as well as Lobby Days and other visits to legislators. One member of the ICH leadership is particularly involved in advocacy work and keeps other members apprised of the situation and issues calls to action.
• Provided pressure to County elected officials to keep the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness process moving forward by being involved with the process and requesting action at points when the plan has stalled.

Overall, the IFCH is effective at working with elected officials for two reasons: first, it is one of many options for their members and they have worked to make sure their members and volunteers understand the importance of advocacy within the larger agenda, and second, they understand that they can speak to elected officials from a position of “moral authority.” They found they could communicate to elected officials in a different and important way because they are not public employees or direct service providers.

Serving Others

As noted above, IFCH has created a range of options for churches and congregants to be involved, and one way that many choose to be involved is direct service to the homeless. IFCH often has issued a call to serve, saying “If we don’t respond, who will?”  Some of these services have included:

• Emergency Referral Training. ICH members have created a presentation on basic information and referral skills for church members. The presentation helps them understand what to do when someone is asking for help.
• Operating Severe Weather Shelters during the winter. Several churches in the Washington County area operate severe weather shelters or warming centers during winter months when the temperature drops. These shelters provide a warm place to sleep and a meal, and require volunteers from churches. Operating these shelters has also created partnerships with local police and fire departments, who bring homeless people to the shelters and respond to any problems or needs. This partnership was facilitated by Annette Evans of Washington County Department of Housing Services.

IFCH churches have also contributed in a variety of other ways, including providing meals on certain nights of the week, providing for homeless school children, operating compassion clinics, hosting Project Homeless Connect events, and even operating transitional housing. They have been successful in part because of the breadth of their membership – involving churches all across the Washington County area.

Unusual and Creative Partnerships

The IFCH has formed some creative partnerships over the years to help facilitate their work. First is a relationship with Washington County and Annette Evans. Evans is the Homeless Program Coordinator for Washington County Department of Housing Services, and has facilitated partnerships between the ICH and public services. In particular, she has been instrumental in forming partnerships with Police and Fire departments to help provide Emergency Severe Weather Shelters.

Early on, the Interfaith Committee on Homelessness was interested in engaging churches outside of mainline churches. The Palau Association is located in Washington County, and IFCH reached out to one of its leaders, Kevin Palau. The IFCH believes they helped the Palau Association, already involved in homelessness, see the impacts of the problem in their home County and become more involved. This has led to increased partnerships with other evangelical churches in Washington County as well.