How Coordinated Entry Addresses Homelessness
One of the key functions that KCRHA holds in our community is to oversee Coordinated Entry (CE). This is the process we use to equitably distribute the limited housing resources we have in our homelessness response system. When an individual or family connects to CE, their needs will be assessed, their preferences evaluated, and they will enter the pool of households waiting to be placed into the best housing resource for their current situation.
Why Seasonal Shelter is Necessary
This “activate as needed” approach to severe weather is a result of needing to make a limited budget stretch as far as possible, but it produces a high degree of exhaustion and burnout among staff. It can also create confusion among people seeking shelter, as what shelters are available is dependent on the level of activation, the availability of the space, and staffing capacity. Because of these challenges, KCRHA has been advocating for seasonal shelters — shelters that stay open during severe weather seasons.
Housing Types: One Size Does Not Fit All
Individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness come from a plethora of backgrounds and have varied and unique immediate and long-term needs. If we are to meet the needs of our unhoused community members to move them indoors and into safe and stable housing, our solutions also need to be varied.
Why KCRHA Uses HeatRisk for Severe Weather Activations
Our bodies are dynamic. They adapt over time to the environments we’re in. According to the CDC, it takes about two weeks to fully acclimatize to a hotter environment. As we acclimatize to heat, our bodies become more efficient and effective at cooling down by adapting our heart rate and core temperature, how we sweat, and bringing more of our blood to the skin to allow heat to transfer out of our bodies.
Building a Land Bank
Our community is in dire need of more emergency and transitional sheltering options such as Tiny House Villages (THVs), micro-modular villages, RV and Vehicle Residency Safe Lots, and sanctioned tent cities to respond to our ongoing homelessness crisis. We have heard the members of our community, both unhoused and housed, calling for increases in these resources.
What happens when Severe Weather Protocols are activated?
The Regional Homelessness Authority plays a county-wide coordinating role, convening partners, calling for additional space to be opened, and gathering and sharing information when severe weather hits.
Back to School and Student Homelessness
It’s hard to get homework done when you don’t have a home. It’s hard to focus in class and on schoolwork with the anxiety of not knowing where you’ll sleep that night, what you’ll have to eat, when and where you can wash, and whether the other students and teachers are looking down on you and your family. Students experiencing homelessness often go without basic needs like regular meals and clean clothes. What if your homework requires internet access? Or even something as simple as a table to do your work at?
Fuck those guys, wear the swimsuit.
My friend Jen Zug invited me to write for her newsletter again this month. This is what came of that invitation.
This is the story of how I wound up designing my dream swimsuit.
Finding swimsuits is hard. It’s harder when you’re a plus-size woman. It’s even harder when you’re an ACTIVE plus-size woman. This is the story of how—after a lifetime of terrible swimsuits—I wound up designing a suit. (Also you can pre-order it now.)
Community is friggin’ rad.
On March 8, 2023, a group of women gathered on the water at Golden Gardens for International Women’s Day. This is the story of how that came to be.
These Are the Christmas Movies You Should Probably Watch
I communicate things both professionally and unprofessionally. This is one of the unprofessional ones. By the relentless and sometimes kind of intense Christmas spirit vested in me—that I come to you with a list of Christmas movies that I have unreasonably strong opinions about and totally think you should watch.
Who belongs outside?
I want to be active and outdoors—but for most of my life my options have been limited because of the lack of availability of gear, and the astounding level of bias that the gatekeepers of these spaces have against large bodies.
Video Work
While I’ve shot short form and “low-cost” video on my phone and with relatively non-fancy DSLRs, and have done basic editing, my role in most of the video projects I’ve participated involves scripts, shaping the story, and working with stakeholders and the video team to create cohesive and on-brand videos.
Survivor Stories
I don’t really consider myself the “storyteller” in these contexts, but the amplifier of a story that was lived and is owned by someone else. I tried to deeply root each story in the survivors own words, with clear and non-sensationalized context to support each quote.
Would a survivor be comfortable in your church?
Over the 11+ years REST has been walking alongside victims and survivors of sex trafficking and the sex trade, we’ve heard countless stories and reasons why survivors don’t feel welcome in churches—even when they are devout Christians.
The Marriage of Racism and Misogyny in the Sex Trade
That decision came over 300 years after interracial marriage was made illegal through colonial antimiscegenation laws. These laws vastly expanded a racist system of sexual exploitation—and we still see their impact in the sex trade today.
Racism and Pornography
While pornography is a sexually exploitative industry that objectifies, commodifies, and degrades individuals from every walk of life, it is often uniquely degrading and reliant on centuries-old racist stereotypes for people of color.
There is no such thing as fair trade pornography.
The thing is, there is no “fair trade” stamp for pornographic content—pornography consumers have no way of knowing if sexual acts they are viewing are consensual. There is no enforceable measure for “ethical production”. Even if it’s something that looks consensual or caring, there’s no guarantee that force, fraud, or coercion wasn’t involved.
On the Grooming & Trafficking of Minors
At REST, we hear similar stories often—adults, who naturally hold the position of power in an adult/child relationship, twist and abuse their power to exploit, silence, and shame their victims—allowing for repeated and prolonged sexual abuse.
Homelessness & Sex Trafficking
Housing and homelessness are near and dear to our hearts at REST, because we know it is one of the most significant hurdles for the individuals we serve. Without stable housing, it is often very difficult to achieve other goals—like getting out of the sex trade, addressing chemical dependency issues, or keeping your children safe and healthy.