Job Opportunity: Director of Community Support and Assistance Division for the City of Seattle

The City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is seeking an experienced executive leader for the role of Division Director, Community Support and Assistance. Of special interest to emergency food providers: this position directs the division that holds all the emergency food contracts

Closing Date: 5/26/2015, more information to apply here

Description: 
The Department's mission is to "connect people with resources and solutions during times of needs so we can all live, learn, work and take part in strong, healthy communities". The Community Support and Assistance Division manages a continuum of services and a staff of 38 with the goal of ensuring our community is safe, stable and self-reliant. Reporting to the Deputy Director, this leader will provide strategic and programmatic leadership to a division committed to actualizing the Department's mission. This is done in cooperation with HSD staff and community partners, through investments that assist individuals and families in accessing human service supports and increasing their stability and wellness. This work is achieved with a commitment to race and social justice, and a focus on addressing disparities.

The Division Director will provide programmatic, contractual, and fiscal oversight of $40+ million in funding for human services programs in the areas of Homeless Investments, Community Development Block Grant, Housing Opportunities for People living with AIDS/HIV, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Emergency Solutions Grant, Community Facilities, "Safe Harbors" Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS), and other safety net services for adults and families like food and meal programs, and will be responsible for allocating resources, developing policies and overseeing program execution in these areas. The position will be highly interactive with community, local and national government partners and with the private sector to leverage resources, streamline processes and improve service delivery to diverse and underserved populations. The Division Director will expand and develop partnerships with other city departments, non-profit agencies, governmental entities, funders and community partners to leverage resources to streamline processes and improve service delivery to diverse and underserved populations. The Division Director operates as a member of the HSD Senior Leadership Team and helps to guide city policy throughout the department.

We are looking for a visionary leader to create an environment where our talented staff members are engaged, flourish and contribute to the important work of the department. Utilizing a combination of best and promising practices, as well as evidence-based methods to achieve measurable outcomes, the Division Director will lead staff and strategic initiatives to ensure human services programs improve the lives of local constituents experiencing poverty and/or homelessness.

Special Session in Olympia: Strategies for Advocacy

Special Session - Membership call this Tuesday, May 12 (2:30)  Special Session in Olympia: Strategies for Advocacy Join a statewide AHNC membership call on Tuesday, May 12 (2:30pm) about the Legislature's special session. This is an opportunity to bring people to ask questions, hear what others have been working on, and get ideas on what you and your organization can do to keep the spotlight on hunger during budget negotiations. Olympia Update: The Legislature is in the middle of a 30 day special session called by the Governor after the regular session ended with two budget proposals and no consensus between the House and Senate. Most legislators are back home in their districts while the lead budget negotiators are in Olympia trying to make progress on an agreement. Budget Differences:  After cutting almost $12 billion from the state budget since 2008, including major cuts to anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs, we were encouraged to see restorations and continued investments in these programs in the House budget. The House budget fully funds all the priorities of our Coalition, while the Senate budget includes only our request for the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program. The most contentious difference between the two budgets is their approach to taxes and new revenue. The Senate budget includes no new funding while the House has an additional $1.5 billion in its budget as a result of tax reforms and new revenue.   Check out AHNC's side by side comparison for details on our priorities in each budget. For a side by side budget analyses by the legislators who created them, the Seattle Times published an op-ed by Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Reuven Carlyle and an op-ed by Sen. Andy Hill.  A letter to the editor in the Seattle Times published last week illustrates a similar tension between the two approaches to the state budget and taxes:  http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/state-budget-the-priority-is-on-poverty/  "49 for Fairness" - the People's Hearing: To demonstrate the impact of continuing several years of no new funds for local communities and programs, constituents from all 49 legislative districts came to Olympiathis past Monday for a People's Hearing on fair revenue. Convened by advocates and presided by some legislators, people gave one minute testimonies describing the impact of the divestment in local services and programs and the negative consequences for communities.  TAKE ACTION: Join us next Tuesday, May 12 (2:30pm) for an AHNC membership call to ask questions, share information and get ideas on what you can do to make a difference during special session(s) to keep the spotlight on hunger.  Call (712) 432-0900 - pass code 677 657#.

Gerald Lewis New Executive Director of the Washington Food Coalition

The Washington Food Coalition is pleased to announce Gerald Lewis as the new Executive Director. Gerald is a successful business owner and nonprofit executive with 40 years of leadership experience in both the private sector and international relief and development.  He was born into an entrepreneurial family with a diverse range of businesses, including purebred cattle ranches in Oregon, Washington and Montana.  He launched two successful enterprises serving national and international clienteles, achieving market-leading brands by the age of 30.

In their humanitarian service, Gerald and his wife Vicky were privileged to reside with their two children in Central America, Middle East, Africa, Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the USA. Gerald has served as a national director in three countries, and as a regional vice president for major international relief and development agencies. 

Gerald's work has taken him to more than 130 countries, designing and implementing large scale emergency response initiatives in zones of conflict or disaster affected populations, as well as diverse integrated development portfolios spanning water and sanitation, nutrition, heath, education, agriculture, and economic development. Including large food security relief food initiatives serving hundreds of thousands displaced persons, refugees, and populations living in was zones.

For the past decade Gerald served in a succession of innovation focused roles with World Vision International (WVI); five years as the global director for partnering and collaboration, and most recently as the senior advisor for global innovation and collaboration.  

With a primary focus on cross-sector partnering and the role of the private sector in sustainable development, Gerald helped spearhead groundbreaking global research in 2008 on Business-Nonprofit partnerships in collaboration with Accenture Development Partnerships and International Business Leaders Forum. 

In 2013 Gerald with four partners launched a social enterprise company, Point Innovate LLC, to provide solar energy solutions to combat energy poverty in developing countries, with a primary focus on Africa, where more than 80% of the population have no reliable access to electricity.  

Gerald and Vicky reside on a small ranch near Enumclaw, WA. 

Gerald-

"My greatest passion is for people. I have been described as someone who has no strangers, only friends I haven’t met yet. My greatest joy is in mentoring and growing new leaders, and I believe that building and empowering others is the only legacy one leaves behind. This passion has also enabled me to lead large organizations through a transformation process to become truly externally oriented, excelling in engagement with all stakeholders - at the highest levels of government, international businesses, or in the local community. I am keen to explore how I can contribute my skills and passions with Washington Food Coalition’s board, staff, member organizations and other stakeholders to make great strides in eliminating hunger in Washington State."

Share Your Food Bank Story Today!

Status in Olympia, WA:

The final weeks of the legislative session are approaching- there could even be a budget this week! So now is the time to share your stories about fighting hunger.

Each chamber has released their budgets, so now they are working to find a compromise. The House proposed a budget with sustainable revenue sources and strong support for hunger programs. The Senate budget did not include this support due to dramatically less revenue generation. Learn more about the budgets here.

This week it is essential for us to remind our legislators of how we want the budget to support our communities. The best way to do this is to send them a quick story. 

Step 1: Check who represents you! Click here to find your legislators and their contact information. Special folks to reach out to sit on these committees:

House Leadership     

Senate Leadership

House Appropriations

Senate Ways & Means

Step 2: Craft your quick story. This is your chance to paint a picture of what fighting hunger is like on the ground. It is always best to empower the voices of those most marginalized in our communities.
If you can, share a food bank client story.

If not, provide a testimony from your experience. See here for an amazing message from Suzanne at the Ferndale Food Bank and check out this powerful testimony from Joe Gruber of the University District Food Bank.

Step 3: Share that story! It should only take a few minutes to either call or email your legislators.

Be sure to include:

• Who and where you are (a constituent in their district? Or you serve their constituents?)

• Facts about your work: client numbers, lbs of food, ect. (numbers/impact work well in the policy world)

• Anecdotal importance of your work (why fighting hunger is so crucial)

Please let us know if you reach out to your legislator by emailingadvocacy@wafoodcoalition.org. We will let WFC's Lobbyist Brynn Brady know, so that she can follow up with your legislator.

Thank you for the amazing work you do, we are honored to facilitate a unified voice for the emergency food system in Washington. Your partnership is essential in the fight against hunger in our state.

State Budgets and Hunger in Washington: Take Action!

Two Very Different Visions for Hunger in Washington

Washington's Senate and House of Representatives released their budgets this week. One budget includes new ideas for fair and sustainable revenue and restores and enhances our food safety net. The other puts low-income families at risk because it does not include priorities for food and nutrition programs and cuts cash assistance to help families with children pay for basic necessities (housing, hygiene products, utilities, etc.) while parents are working towards gainful employment. Read more

What You Can Do:  Now is the time to contact Senate and House budget negotiators and urge them to come to an agreement on a budget that makes the best investments for families: a budget that has sufficient, fair, sustainable revenue to make important investments in both basic education and basic needs.  Your calls and emails are important, especially if you are a constituent! Be sure to include personal stories about hunger to illustrate the need for restoring our food safety net and other basic need services. Find contact information and names of legislators to call below: House Leadership      Senate Leadership House Appropriations Senate Ways & Means

Tip for Our Partners:  Watch this video of Joe Gruber from the University District Food Bank do a fantastic job of providing testimony on EFAP and hunger issues at the Senate Ways & Means Committee hearing on the budget. A message from:

Take Actions for SNAP!

Budget committees in the House and Senate will be marking up proposals this week and the Food Research and Action Center anticipates floor votes will come next week. Please take a moment to join in the following three actions:

1.       Contact Senators Murray and Cantwell and your member of Congress and ask them to oppose any efforts to cut or alter the structure of SNAP. Be sure to let them know that the words “enhanced state flexibility” is code words for block granting SNAP.

2.       Please sign your organization (if you are allowed to do so) and yourself as an individual onto this petition opposing SNAP cuts: bit.ly/1FUaioE Please also share the link with your networks—on Twitter, tag @fractweets and use #SNAP.

3.       Please also participate and share the word about Rep. Jim McGovern’s virtual paper plate campaign. Write a message about what SNAP means to you and it will go on a paper plate on his website and he is reading messages in his weekly 5 minute #EndHungerNow speeches on the House floor. When you share information about the campaign, use #FillUpYourPlatehttp://mcgovern.house.gov/FillUpYourPlate

A message from Northwest Harvest 

Job Announcement: Harvest Program Coordinator at Hopelink

The Hopelink Harvest Program (formerly called Sno-Valley Harvest) increases access to healthy and locally grown food at Hopelink and other food banks in their service area. The Harvest Coordinator is responsible for coordinating Hopelink's efforts to bring fresh produce from local farms, gardens, and farmers markets into the food bank. This position also helps to develop and coordinate educational opportunities about food and healthy eating for Hopelink program members. This positions will report to the Associate Director of Food.

Click here for more information and to apply!

Department: Client Services
Location: Carnation, WA
Compensation: $15.50 per hour, DOE
Work Schedule: Full Time, M-F, 8:30-5pm (some evenings/weekends required to attend community events, host gleaning events, etc.)
Benefits: Eligible 
Opening Date: March 2015 
Closing Date: When Filled