Greater Valley Support Network

Vision
Rallying a caring community to help relieve the impact of hunger and homelessness

Mission
The Greater Valley Support Network is a collaborative effort of individuals, organizations, and agencies to understand the challenges of homelessness and hunger in the greater Spokane Valley, and through education, advocacy, mutual support, and a sharing of resources, strive to help our community respond to our neighbors who are in need of lifes basic necessities.

The Great Valley Support Network evolved out of annual school-community meetings of the Spokane Valley Homeless Consortia, or HEART Program. The Homeless Education and Resource Team or HEART has been the collaborative work of three school districts, Central Valley, East Valley, and West Valley School Districts under the auspices of a federal McKinneyVento Act grant since 2001. The mission of the HEART Consortia has been to identify children and families experiencing homelessness, and provide continuity of their education while referring families for community and agency resources. One of the federal requirements is a yearly needs assessment of our families experiencing homelessness. For our Valley families, food on weekends, emergency and transitional shelters, and access to showers and laundry facilities were identified as priorities given that shelters for high risk and homeless families and related resources are located in the City of Spokane. Following the October 2012 meeting to identify the needs of Valley families and the dwindling resources located even in Spokane, the ad hoc school-community group decided that it was time to energize our Valley community towards alleviating the effects of those needs. There are a variety of organizations in the greater Spokane community that are currently helping people experiencing poverty and/or homelessness but we needed to identify Valley resources and engage our community to serve our families. Even with their support, the ability to do more for the growing homeless population in our community is limited because of the magnitude and cost of delivering the services that are needed. In recent years, many nonprofit resources have greatly reduced or even eliminated their services for lack of funding. Without the support of immediate family and/or friends, the struggle for some especially the children - can be devastating. The collaborative efforts of church and civic organizations that initiated Spokane Valley Partners (SVP) is a prime example of the type of community action that has rallied support for those who find themselves experiencing extraordinarily tough times. Since 1951, Spokane Valley Partners has been the sole provider of comprehensive social services in Greater Spokane Valley, encompassing everything east of Spokane City limits to the Idaho border. Spokane Valley Partners serves low-income individuals and families, and those undergoing hardships such as illness, job loss, or death of a family member, disabilities and other life-altering events.

Greater Valley Support Network The Countys annual one-day-count of homeless individuals is at best a leading indicator of the steady rise in homelessness in our area (January 24, 2013, 498 K-12 children in the Spokane Valley). The growing number of requests for homeless food boxes provided by Spokane Valley Partners (SVP) Food Bank each week is an even more compelling indicator. The proliferation of small food/clothing outlets in local churches can be seen as a result of the pressure to help families who are living on the edge of their finances. The number of calls each week received at the SVP Emergency Assistance desk from households seeking financial assistance to avoid eviction is also a strong indication of the growing need to provide services that are not available through already over-worked programs and under-funded agencies. The Spokane Valley HEART" Consortia has compiled the most comprehensive and reliable data concerning homelessness in our community. Their assessment of unmet student needs points to areas of opportunity around which our community can take meaningful action to care for the needs of children and their families. Spokane Valley HEART Consortia (CV, EV, and WVSDs) PreK-12 Students identified as "Homeless" August 2001-June 2013
900 803 800 694 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 221 118 55 48 155 94 87 90 60 93 49 65 327 358 382 485 435 390 349 237 133 84 60 330 356 384 628 684 657 795

513

208

240

205

186 112

213 163 141 115 140 133 160 158

185 109

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 CVSD EVSD WVSD Consortia

24% of children living in Spokane Valley are considered "food insecure," mirroring the entire Spokane County (Source: Feeding America). Liberty Lake Kiwanis in partnership with Barker High Schools Key Club and Spokane Valley Partners and several area churches organizes Friday Food for Thought to 150 K-12 students at 13 schools.

Greater Valley Support Network Of our high school students who are experiencing homelessness, about half are considered unaccompanied youth because they are not living with their legal parent or guardian. During any given time, 84-89% of the students experiencing homelessness in our schools find themselves doubled-up with relatives and friends because parents/guardians cannot find affordable housing.

It is evident by the spontaneous grassroots involvement in the newly formed Greater Valley Support Network that our community wants to help. We have an unusual and timely opportunity to provide a compassionate and philanthropic minded community with meaningful direction and coordinated purpose. Our ACTION STEPS to date include: 1. LEADERSHIP: A formal Program relationship with Spokane Valley Partners has been established. This will provide operational oversight, corporate accountability, and fiscal/budget control. 2. RESPOND TO IMMEDIATE NEEDS IN THE COMMUNITIES OF EAST SPOKANE COUNTY: This starts with identifying the needs of those who are most vulnerable.the children and their families. Already the Greater Valley Support Network has initiated dialogue with a cross-section of programs, e.g., HEART, Family Promise, Hearth Homes, Meals on Wheels, YWCA, faith-based groups, and selected direct services including the Food/Clothing Banks at SVP. 3. PROMOTE COLLABORATION: Already the GVSN is building a network for interagency cooperation and coordination that is focused on the needs of Valley residents. On October 10, 2013, 35 individuals representing a wide range of civic, community, and faith-based groups held a work session to identify the following: a. What do you anticipate to be your greatest contribution (now or in the future) to the work of the Greater Valley Support Network? b. What are three resources you know of that would be valuable assets to the work of Greater Valley Support Network? c. What are three resources that need to be developed on behalf of the GVSN? d. What are the three most important needs in the Spokane Valley community? Please list three needs and rank order (1, 2, 3) 4. Lastly, LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Our Valley community recognizes that poverty and homelessness are genuine issues, and that the magnitude of these circumstances is yet to be fully understood. We must collaborate to identify unmet needs, address immediate needs for food, shelter, jobs, and access to resources, and embrace our vulnerable families in partnership to create sustainable solutions at multiple levels of assistance.