Kid for Kids

Date Started: Thu 11 Sep 2008
Project Founder: Max Hopkins
Location: Seattle
Project Mentor: Heide and Mathew Felton

The Problem

I believe that it is unethical and unfair for people to be living out on the streets for no reason other than they have run into a streak of bad luck. There are many causes of homelessness: lack of affordable housing, abuse, or having to make a choice between food and house. Every year approximately 40 homeless people die outside on the streets of King County.  On January 20th 2009, 8,961 homeless people were counted in King County. 1,125 people reported experiencing violence or abuse in the past year; 84% of these people were in families with children.

Homelessness among children is a terribly sad thing. Most of these children haven’t done anything wrong, they were born into a homeless family, or their only parent died, or they graduated from foster care with nowhere to live. Many of these children simply give up fighting to get in a home, because they believe that no one can help them, and no one believes in them.

Homelessness is a cycle. Being on the streets puts an enormous amount of strain on a person, and many homeless people are mentally ill, so even if these people manage to get themselves an apartment or house, they have a very hard time keeping it. Also if a tenant is evicted for an unfair or illegal reason, and wins a court case on it, it still shows up on their background check, making it very hard for them to get another apartment. As you can see, this problem needs immediate attention.

The Goal

My goal was to work to help reduce the burden of homelessness.

The Plan

My plan included advocacy, taking action, and raising money to help reduce the burden of homelessness..

Getting From Here To There

Advocacy.  I went to a workshop to learn about the housing and homeless issues in Olympia last legislative session and how to be an advocate. On February 24th, I joined other advocates and we bussed to Olympia for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day. There, we attended more workshops, and I decided to work on one particular bill, the Fair Tenant Screening Act.

This bill allowed for removal of unfair records on tenant background checks. For example if a person is evicted for an illegal reason, and wins a court case on it, it still shows up on his background check. The bill also required that rental applicants get a copy of the background checks, so that if they are getting rejected on rental applications, they can see why. Finally, the bill required that instead of paying the 30-50 dollar screening fee with every rental application, applicants would just have to pay it once. Why? After applying for 10 or more apartments, a person could have spent over $500 just for screening fees. That’s a lot of money, especially for a low-income person.

Action. I volunteered to cook a meal for homeless people in the Seattle area. There are many groups in this area that prepare and serve meals to homeless people. I volunteered with the Neighborhood Cooking Foundation to help prepare and deliver meals for seven shelters in Seattle. I had fun working with the community of people who volunteered, and I felt good knowing that we had prepared a nutritious and tasty meal for so many people.

I also ran a school supplies drive for homeless children.  I asked families I knew to donate supplies. I sent out email reminders and made announcements at my Sunday School, and people responded with very generous donations of supplies.

Fund Raising. I held a benefit concert for a project named Project Cool. Each fall, Project Cool supplies 1800 homeless children with a new back-pack stuffed with school supplies and a coupon for a pair of new shoes for school. I feel that this is a very important project because it tells these kids that people believe in them, it tells them that there are people who think they are worth something. This gives them a feeling of normality and can help them to make it through the school.

The fundraiser concert was a lot of work. I got a huge amount of help from my mentors, who not only showed me how to put together the whole thing but also supplied refreshments and their house as a venue for my concert.

The concert took months to plan. Finding musicians, sending invitations and reminders, tracking RSVPS, organizing a dress rehearsal, and writing speeches were some of the things that filled my time during these months. A professional musician and entertainer gave me advice about how to vary the music.

The concert musicians were students in middle and high school, and the program included solos and duets with piano, clarinet, harp, and guitar. We had a speaker from Project Cool who talked about the program, and a very special guest speaker, a previously homeless teenager who spoke about his experience as a homeless youth, and how important Project Cool’s work is.

My goal was to raise enough money for 25 backpacks. I raised over $3700, enough to supply 65 children with backpacks and shoes.

I also learned quite a few things through out my project.

First, first ideas or tries don't always work.
My project ideas changed and evolved over time, and while it was really frustrating at times, I’m very proud of the project I ended up with.

Second, procrastinating gets you nowhere except for late.
 If I had procrastinated on sending out invitations or finding musicians for my concert, the whole thing might have been for naught. The wonderful chance to do something big for the homeless community might have flown by.

Third, and most important, don’t just think. Act.
Just like procrastination, if I had just thought about the benefit concert, and not acted, 63 fewer homeless children would have a backpack, school supplies and new shoes next fall.  I would never have put together a concert and raised money, wouldn’t have collected school supplies, wouldn't have advocated, wouldn't have done anything. Granted, I might have learned some more about the subject, but what good is knowledge without action?