The Eastside Homeless Advisory Committee (EHAC) meets monthly with the goal of using collective discussion and effort to further homeless housing and service activities in east King County. We engage members from several sectors of the community including; county and city jurisdictions, faith communities, human service organizations and advocates from the community. We focus on solutions that work best in our communities. The Eastside Human Services Forum (EHSF) fosters strong public and private partnerships for a stable network of health and human services for the benefit of all east King County residents.

Our organizations engage all parts of our community; faith communities, businesses, residents, government and community benefit organizations if we are to succeed in achieving countywide goals to make homelessness rare, brief and one-time. We write this joint letter recognizing and appreciating the individuals and organizations who have mobilized to expand winter shelter during a crucial time of emergent need for shelter in east King County.

Faith communities: Bear Creek United Methodist Church, Bellevue First Congregational UC, Bellevue First Presbyterian, Grace Lutheran Church-Bellevue, Holy Family Catholic Church, Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Kirkland Congregational UCC, Lake Washington United Methodist Church, Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Our Savior’s Lutheran-Issaquah, Saint Judes Catholic Church, Saint Peters United Methodist Church, Redwood Family Church, Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness/Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church-Bellevue, Temple B’Nai Torah-Bellevue, Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council and Overlake Christian Church.

Community benefit organizations: Church Council of Greater Seattle, Nourishing Networks Central, Muslim Community Resource Center, Congregations for the Homeless, Interfaith Taskforce on Homelessness, The Sophia Way, Catholic Community Services and Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council.

Community advocates: Karina O’ Malley, Michael Ramos, Linda Benson and Pastor Kelly.

Businesses: The Red Lion Bellevue (Danny Rogers, general manager), the Redmond Inn and Sound Transit.

Government: Cities of Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue and Issaquah.

We are grateful for these community entities and their members for working to the depth of their missions to focus on health and safety for people experiencing homelessness in east King County. For more information or to find out ways that you can help, contact http://eastsideforum.org or info@eastsideforum.org.

Sincerely,

Eastside Homeless Advisory Committee and Eastside Human Services Forum