Ep. 026 - West Seattle Helpline - Chris Langeler

12/12/16 • 51 min

THE SEA-TOWN PODCAST: Interviewing Seattle's Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs

This week’s guest is Chris Langeler, the Executive Director of The West Seattle Helpline, a community-based organization that provides emergency services to local families and individuals to prevent homelessness and other detrimental poverty-related outcomes. He is also the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, one of the largest affordable housing providers in West Seattle. Highlights From This Episode:

Chris' road to serving the community where he is now started back with influence from both his parents, with their complimentary perspectives.
- His mom did lots of compassionate work with young people (small picture focused on individuals)
- His dad was a bit of an entrepreneur, having founded a tech company in Portland, OR and very systemically &, logically (big picture focused on why things are the way they are).
Early on, he developed an interest in homelessness and housing and other racial and social justice aspects of non profit and public policy work.
Chris came to Seattle for the graduate program at the University of Washington (Evans School of Public Policy and Governance), focusing on non-profit management and public policy.
Worked on political campaigns while at UW, working in Senior Patty Murray's office as part of undergraduate intern program.
The W.S. Helpline is designed to be a little further "up stream" in peoples lives, to help them make a small "diversion" along their path, before life situations thrusts them into poverty or if they need help but don't qualify for the more conventional low-income or government programs.
- This additionally is more cost effective and efficient to help an individual or family make a small diversion to get back to a healthy place of self-sufficiency, rather than waiting until they are overwhelmed with catastrophic events or fall into poverty... when the cost, effort and likelihood of getting them back to a good place is much harder and much more taxing on an already strained social 'safety-net' system.
Chris was the first full-time staff member when he started nearly 2 years ago.
- Now they have 3 full-time staff and 1 part time.
- - Program Manager - Teresa
  - Operations Coordinator - Joan
  - Development and Communications Coordinator - Lala
They have become a more effective and visible organization by picking the 'low hanging fruit' and leveraging resources that are readily available.
- Created a social media strategy.
- Tuning up the website so its easy for people to find out more about WS Helpline.
- Partnering with organizations that have larger "megaphones".
- - Big shout out to the enormously helpful partners - the West Seattle Blog and West Seattle Herald.
  - And now partnering with The Sea-Town Podcast, to get the WS Helpline's message to our "4 million listeners"... (ok, not nearly that many, but working towards it).
- Being present in community events like the West Seattle Summer Fest and Harvest Festivals.
What they love most about working for the organization - The relationships built with the volunteers, people they serve, staff and community members.
The thing that gets Chris most excited is the potential for what can be done.
Their serves and programs are the main way they help the community but giving people the opportunity to volunteer and serve and have an impact in their own community is good for them too.
The future of the WS Helpline:
- In next couple years, grow out the core of the programs, focus on outreach to gain greatest visibility to everyone in West Seattle, so everyone who may need their services, know about them.
- Maintain 100% ability to help all eligible people who ask for assistance.
- Increase funding, bus ticket numbers and expand clothing distribution center.
- - In next 2-3 years, the goal is to be able to help 3-4 times as many people as they are now... people who may not know about them now.
Their biggest challenges when he started and biggest challenges now - So many hats to wear and so much to do to keep the organization running, serve the needs of the clients, while also building relationships with other non-profits in the area to make everyones efforts more effective.
- WS Helpline has been around a while but until recently, they did not have close relationships with any of the other non-profit organizations that are also serving the W...

Chris' road to serving the community where he is now started back with influence from both his parents, with their complimentary perspectives.
- His mom did lots of compassionate work with young people (small picture focused on individuals)
- His dad was a bit of an entrepreneur, having founded a tech company in Portland, OR and very systemically &, logically (big picture focused on why things are the way they are).
Early on, he developed an interest in homelessness and housing and other racial and social justice aspects of non profit and public policy work.
Chris came to Seattle for the graduate program at the University of Washington (Evans School of Public Policy and Governance), focusing on non-profit management and public policy.
Worked on political campaigns while at UW, working in Senior Patty Murray's office as part of undergraduate intern program.
The W.S. Helpline is designed to be a little further "up stream" in peoples lives, to help them make a small "diversion" along their path, before life situations thrusts them into poverty or if they need help but don't qualify for the more conventional low-income or government programs.
- This additionally is more cost effective and efficient to help an individual or family make a small diversion to get back to a healthy place of self-sufficiency, rather than waiting until they are overwhelmed with catastrophic events or fall into poverty... when the cost, effort and likelihood of getting them back to a good place is much harder and much more taxing on an already strained social 'safety-net' system.
Chris was the first full-time staff member when he started nearly 2 years ago.
- Now they have 3 full-time staff and 1 part time.
- - Program Manager - Teresa
  - Operations Coordinator - Joan
  - Development and Communications Coordinator - Lala
They have become a more effective and visible organization by picking the 'low hanging fruit' and leveraging resources that are readily available.
- Created a social media strategy.
- Tuning up the website so its easy for people to find out more about WS Helpline.
- Partnering with organizations that have larger "megaphones".
- - Big shout out to the enormously helpful partners - the West Seattle Blog and West Seattle Herald.
  - And now partnering with The Sea-Town Podcast, to get the WS Helpline's message to our "4 million listeners"... (ok, not nearly that many, but working towards it).
- Being present in community events like the West Seattle Summer Fest and Harvest Festivals.
What they love most about working for the organization - The relationships built with the volunteers, people they serve, staff and community members.
The thing that gets Chris most excited is the potential for what can be done.
Their serves and programs are the main way they help the community but giving people the opportunity to volunteer and serve and have an impact in their own community is good for them too.
The future of the WS Helpline:
- In next couple years, grow out the core of the programs, focus on outreach to gain greatest visibility to everyone in West Seattle, so everyone who may need their services, know about them.
- Maintain 100% ability to help all eligible people who ask for assistance.
- Increase funding, bus ticket numbers and expand clothing distribution center.
- - In next 2-3 years, the goal is to be able to help 3-4 times as many people as they are now... people who may not know about them now.
Their biggest challenges when he started and biggest challenges now - So many hats to wear and so much to do to keep the organization running, serve the needs of the clients, while also building relationships with other non-profits in the area to make everyones efforts more effective.
- WS Helpline has been around a while but until recently, they did not have close relationships with any of the other non-profit organizations that are also serving the W...

Previous Episode

Ep. 025 - WestSide Baby - Nancy Woodland

This week’s guest is Nancy Woodland, the Executive Director for the non-profit WestSide Baby in White Center. WestSide Baby serves all of Western King County and partners with the community to collect and distribute essential items for local kids (ages birth-12 years old). Topics & Ideas Discussed in This Episode:

W.S. Baby works directly with 127 local social service agencies to get essential items to children.
The more efficient their systems and organization is, the more kids they can serve.
The process: Social workers place their order for their families, the 50+ regular weekly volunteers fill the orders and then W.S. Baby distribute the filled-orders back to the families
W.S. Baby has been around for 16 years, having been founded by Donna Pierce.
Nancy has been there for 10 years.
- She has a law degree from Loyola University as part of their first Child Advocacy program and practiced law in WA State doing child neglect and abuse cases for 4 years.
  - In that, she saw that in a lot of cases, it's not that the parents don't want to care for their children... it's that they can't because they don't have the simple tools to take care of their kid (like diapers).
  - Joined the W.S. Baby board of directors in 2005.
  - in 2006, she took over the role of Executive Director, from the founder and visionary of W.S. Baby, Donna Pierce.
Biggest changes in the last 10 years:
- Grown their staff, grown their regular volunteers (from 6 to over 50 each week), expanded their spaces and expertise and scaled to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
- Being open to opportunities that open them to be able to serve more kids.
W.S. Baby serves 500+ children per week & 35,000 kids across King County... and is only possible because of the communities support.
W.S. Baby is entirely supported by their fund-raising efforts - 77% of funding is from regular individuals in the community and the rest is by generous corporate and foundation support.
Community Partnerships: Trinity West Seattle has recently partnered with WestSide Baby as a "Mission Partner" - sending regular volunteer groups, help with financial support & act as a collection site for needed children goods.
For the first time, W.S. Baby is going to have Billboard advertising (4 billboards next week
- Located in Ballard on 15th, Capital Hill on Madison, Rainier Valley & West Seattle on Delridge.
The biggest challenges at W.S. Baby -
- Not having enough: They can't fill all the needs
  - They can only fill 47% of the request for car seats and while they give out 1.25 million, yet, if they diapered all the kids in King Co. living below the federal poverty line that are of diapering age... that number is 22 million.
- Having too much of one thing or having unusable items "donated", that they then have to get rid of (like a moldy stroller or worn out clothes).
- Keeping the staff and volunteers from burning out - Sometimes the best we can do is enough.
If we want to help those in need, start with listening to them, asking what they need and then providing that... as opposed to what we think they need.
Their greatest strength - Nancy want's to hear how they can do better and is willing to try new things if it means they can serve more families.
W.S. Baby's growth goals are always related to serving more kids: They want to raise awareness around King Co, because that is who they serve & to be able to open a couple more branches to collect donations, be sorted and sent out (meeting their volunteers and clients where they are).
The best advice they have ever received - "Sometimes the best we can do is enough" and be open to learning all the time.
W.S. Baby has two major fund-raisers every year:
- March 12th Benefit Tea (1/3rd of budget comes from this event)
- Fall evening cocktail party event (more casual).

How you can make a difference:

Financial donations - "Donate Now" button on their site - During the month of December (through Christmas day), all financial donations of $250 or more will be matched by a donor.
- Volunteer - "Get Involved" button on their site.
- Have your own donation drive - Already having a holiday party, ask everyone coming to bring a pack of diapers and then drop them off at a WestSide Baby collection center.
Most regularly needed items:
- car seats, portable cribs, clothes (particularly boys size 5-12), new underwear, socks and pajamas...

Next Episode

Ep. 027 - Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST) - Amanda Hightower

This week’s guest is Amanda Hightower, the Executive Director of the Seattle non-profit Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST). REST's mission is to provide pathways to freedom, safety and hope for victims of sex trafficking and people involved in the sex trade. Highlights From This Episode:

RESTs mission is to "provide pathways to freedom, safety and hope for victims of sex trafficking & people involved in the sex trade".
They are a faith-based non-profit doing direct services providing opportunities for people who have been trafficked in the sex trade locally to have a place where they can escape the sex trade and start to rebuild their life and pursue their goals.
Many people are shocked to find out that sex trafficking in Seattle is such a problem, as many of us assume it's something that happens "out there" in foreign countries and such.
- Some Seattle stats on sex trafficking:
  - 300-500 youth trafficked in Seattle each night.
  - 3,000+ adults trafficked in Seattle each night.
How did you become aware of the issue in the Seattle area? - In 2007, Amanda was working with Homeless Youth and Young Adults and was doing street outreach to sexually exploited women on N. Aurora. As she was working with these woman involved in prostitution, she realized that the barrier was so significant for them to be able to leave the sex trade that everyone she talked to wanted out but didn't have the opportunity or means to get out. Often times, there was a trafficker or pimp keeping them physically or emotionally bound. She felt that they needed to do something different then what they were doing for just generally homeless youth or people experiencing drug addiction, so they could provide better opportunities for them to exit the sex-trade.
What led you from just being aware of the needs of woman in the sex-trade and their desire to exit it, to founding REST?
- in 2008, she moved from the Eastside to downtown Seattle and got involved with a church that had more of a "mercy and social justice vibe" to it and brought this need for outreach to woman involved in prostitution and in 2009, they started doing direct outreach on the streets, in strip clubs and bikini barista stands.
- The initial goals of REST:
  - To build relationships with woman in the sex-trades and build trust.
  - Find out their needs.
  - Help them connect with resources.
  - In connecting them to resources, they also saw what resources worked, didn't work and where there were gaps in the resources needed
    - Their growth became focused around what resources where needed and how to provide those.
Common themes and needs that they found woman in the sex-trades have:
- A safe place to go, shelter, housing, beds.
- Due to the layers and layers of trauma that come with being in the sex-trade... many woman also have a history of abuse prior to being exploited.
  - These layers of trauma can make adapting to mainstream services very difficult or services don't know how to accommodate what this trauma recover looks like.
What did REST do in light of these needs? -
- They knew they needed to provide safe places for woman to go to where they could recover, ride the up & down waves of that recovery, be welcomed back even if they left because they know it takes a long time to recover.
- They invited the woman whom they were serving to inform them about what they needed and what was and wasn't working for them.
- Coupled with the actual serving the woman, was a lot of research around all the aspects that often come into play... like drug addiction, physiological effects of this type of trauma, mental illness & how to provide the best quality of care that will be most effective and not just rely on the "good intentions" of their efforts.
They realized they needed to figure out a way to make a shelter space work for woman who were dealing with the specific trauma responses common in woman coming out of the sex-trade.
- When someone experiences years and years of trauma, their brain gets stuck in "fight or flight" mode, so the littlest thing, even though not a danger, may trigger that response (so many conventional shelter situations don't work for them... they may only stay for a night or two before they leave).
- REST opened their 6 bed residential program in 2012, where woman can stay up to a year, where they each get their own room (long-term while in recovery).
- REST opened their 7 bed emergency receiving center/shelter last month (Nov. 2016) to meet the immediate needs (short term while stabili...