Here’s something we all know: money isn’t everything, it doesn’t solve every problem, and it can’t buy happiness.

Money can be a way to care, and it’s a very important one. Financial support can go a long way in increasing sustainability for people in need. Since we launched Samaritan, we’ve seen thousands of financial gifts given. And these financial gifts have allowed 100s of Samaritan Members to increase their quality of life.

That form of care is great, and much needed. But what’s rarer is care that goes beyond infrastructure we can build; creative care.

These are five creative acts of kindness that we’ve seen from volunteers that you might be able to perform. Further, we’ll discuss how you can spot opportunities for this sort of kindness. Consider this both a guide and a challenge — a challenge to go above and beyond with your compassion, and find unique ways to meet unique needs.

5 Creative Acts of Kindness

Dropping Off a Needed Item

There are a few common themes in the needs of Samaritan Members. One of them is the need for a particular item. This could be almost anything, but most often it’s a form of transportation: a bike or a bus pass.

While many of these needs have been funded by a team, we’ve also seen some samaritans take the initiative. Whether it’s a quick stop or something they’ve had in the garage, some samaritans have found the needed item and dropped it off to a Samaritan Member.

This can be set up easily with a case manager through messages, and be a blessing to a Samaritan Member.

Inviting a Samaritan Member to a Gathering

While this was less advisable in a pre-vaccine world, the slow re-opening of the world is causing a resurgence in brunches, coffee meetups, and dinner parties.

What are you doing tonight? And who’s coming?

Consider adding a Samaritan Member to your invite list. We’ve seen samaritans make invites to all sort of meetups. One samaritan even invited an unhoused person to stay in a tent in the samaritans’ yard (and eventually in their basement).

A quick coffee can have a deeply meaningful impact for Samaritan Members. If you’ve ever felt isolated, you know how good it can feel to have someone reach out.

Making a Needed Connection

Another thing to consider is who in your network might be able to provide help. We do this for ourselves all the time. Car making a weird noise? You call someone who knows about cars. Allergies getting you down? You call someone who knows about medicine.

Samaritan Members often have needs that a little bit of expertise could help with. You and your friends have knowledge and social resources that are useful to your life. Sharing those social resources with a person in need can be life-changing.

Booking a Gig or Job Interview

Similar to a connection, there are often work opportunities in our networks that we don’t fit. In fact, we might not even notice them. Facebook posts pop up all the time looking for help moving, looking for help with inventory on short notice, and so on. When you have all the work you need, these things slip by.

Where there’s work, there’s someone in need of it. That may not be you, but it might be a Samaritan Member. Whether it’s a one day gig helping someone around their house or a job that they have the skills for, you might be able to put a foot in the door for a person looking for work. You know of opportunities that Samaritan Members and their case managers would never see.

Getting on the Phone

Messages are an easy way to have an impact on a person in need. Simply stating that you care can be a huge relief for someone who doesn’t hear that enough. Samaritan Members are always grateful to know you’re watching.

Consider taking that a step further. Many Samaritan Members have a phone you can call, and those that don’t have case managers who would love to set a phone call up. Taking just a bit of time out of your day to call a Samaritan Member you support is a great way to create more meaningful connection, and deepen the impact that your efforts have.

4 Steps to Meeting Needs Creatively

Creative acts of kindness are easy to do, but not always easy to think of. (That’s the trick with anything creative, isn’t it?) Finding opportunity for these acts of kindness is a simple process, though. These are the 4 required steps —half of them can be done passively.

Step 1: Consider the need.

When viewing a Samaritan Members profile, you see a list of their needs. Curated by the Samaritan Member and their case manager, these are the next steps that they need to take in their journey.

You can help in an obvious way by donating money towards the goal, or adding a stake to it’s completion.

But it’s good to take a second to really think about the need. Will money alone meet it? For example, a common need is groceries. Money can help you buy groceries, but it can’t go get them.

To solve a problem creatively, you have to really understand the problem. So as you’re reading a Samaritan Members profile, consider the actions that they’ll need to take to complete a goal.

Step 2: Consider your world.

With the needs of a Samaritan Member in mind, look at your world through a lens of support. Your world is everything you can interact with — your job, your place of worship, your friends and family, your corner store.

You can look at this as a mindfulness exercise, too. Slow down and consider the functions that the people, places, and things in your world serve. You might get in your car to go to work every morning, but it’s functional much beyond that.

When you’re looking to provide help creatively, your world becomes a toolbox. Ask yourself what or who, in your world, could help a Samaritan Member with their needs.

Step 3: Send a message

When you’ve found a connection between your world and the world of a Samaritan Member, send them a message!

They’ll see it, and so will their case manager. Just like any other messaging platform, you’ll be able to send messages back and forth and set up the help you’re looking to provide.

Step 4: Do it!

So you’ve found the connection and made it. Now you know exactly what to do — do it!

If you haven’t done a creative act of kindness yet, you can only imagine the impact it can have on you and on the person you’re doing the kindness for. You can imagine that they’re more difficult to do than they seem.

It really is as easy as finding an opportunity and capitalizing on it. And when you do it, the future gets a little bit kinder.

This is your challenge to go out and perform a creative act of kindness. When you do, I’d love to hear about it — comment or email me at eric@samaritan.city and tell us what you did!

And if you can’t find an opportunity, consider sending a message to a Samaritan Member anyway. A human-to-human conversation is always nice to have.

5 Creative Acts of Kindness You Can Do (And How) was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For friends, family, and community

Season’s greetings,

As we enter the holiday season, “we’re in for a hard winter” has stuck with me.

It’s always been a hard winter for unsheltered individuals.

Following the impact COVID-19 has had on homelessness this year, several more Samaritan Members in Seattle, OKC, and Orange County will sleep tonight without a home.

Now more than ever we feel a responsibility to make sure everyone has the means to get warm food, protection from the cold, safe places to sleep, and hope.

If hope is something you have this season, will you share it through a Samaritan gift card so that your friends and family can join you in investing in a Samaritan Member’s journey off the streets?

To Give a Gift Card

1. On the Samaritan website, select an amount and enter “GIFT CARD” in the Special Instructions textbox. 👇

2. Enter payment method and click Donate.

3. Your digital gift card (like the one below 👇) and instructions will be emailed to you so your loved ones can invest in a Samaritan Member’s journey off the streets!

Give a Gift Card Here

As always your gift is tax-deductible and you’ll receive a receipt in your email. 💝

In hope and gratitude,
Tamar

Tamar K.
Digital Storyteller, Samaritan

Introducing Gift Cards was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Amid some pretty difficult work this fall, my 𝘄𝗵𝘆 was thrust back into my eyes the other day.

Samaritan is in Minneapolis for UnitedHealthcare Techstars this fall and so I’m grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s downtown.

I provide some food for a man I meet outside. In asking his story, he graciously lets me in…

Chris served in the army, working on satellite/radio towers. When he returned to KY, his wife left him and took the kids to MN. He followed but was estranged. The loss led him into depression and addiction, which led to homelessness.

Since we’re here to learn how homelessness affects one’s health, I asked Chris how many times he’d been to the ER in 2020. He said, “four times”:

Visit 1: His knee swells up, possibly from the dirt he was sleeping on. He shows up but is quickly discharged w/o treatment.

Visit 2: His knee grows painful and so he returns one night. He again is quickly discharged w/o treatment.

Visit 3: His kneecap grows to the size of a softball. Finally they admit him, and perform emergency surgery to clear it out.

Visit 4: In surgery rehab, Chris develops an infection. He temporarily loses feeling in his left hand & right foot. He returns to the ER and the sepsis spread results in a right toe amputation. Chris can no longer walk quickly or without pain.

These costly operations (absorbed as total losses for his insurer) and painful existence today developed from sleeping on dirt for months. Friends and colleagues, this did not have to be. Helping Chris access the social support, primary care, and housing navigation he needed was not impossible.

I’m glad Chris is still alive and is pressing on, as his story encourages me to continue to press on. My work is to give people like Chris access to the social and financial support he needs to reach housing and health goals sooner.

If you know human services, health system or a health plan that could leverage Samaritan to this end, please let me know.

If you want to be a part of preventing the next person from this situation, become a samaritan, and join someone’s team.

As a result of COVID-19’s added impact on homelessness, we announced Samaritan gift cards. Giving a gift card enables your loved ones to help Samaritan Members meet critical needs this season — read about it here.

Don’t Forget Your Why was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

2212.

This number may not mean much to you, but to Josh, it means 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲– the first long-term home he’s had in a decade.

Josh was ready to work, ready to earn his ticket in. But you think about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and you realize how hard it would be to get hired or hold down a job when you’re sleeping outside or in shelter, constantly threatened by the elements, illness or abuse.

Josh’s team of samaritans (people like you) helped him meet needs like keeping a phone active, or getting groceries, or sending in messages of constant encouragement. After getting to know Josh, one samaritan invited him to camp safely in their backyard. That soon turned into a stay in their basement.

Josh was able to access the time and space to sleep in a bed again, to store his belongings, to cook, to confront and recover from mental and physical health issues, to access case management, to apply for work, and to start working again.

It’s no easy task to find work during a public health epidemic, but Josh used his work ethic and safe foundation to push through and start saving. For five months, Josh overcame different setbacks to build his savings account.

Today, we’re proud to share this photo of Josh moving into his own place. We still hear from Josh time-to-time about internet services he’s comparing, politics, places he wants to explore– it’s such a treat.

To Josh’s team — thank you for providing a social home to him– as you can see, it led to a physical home soon after.

Join someone’s team here: www.samaritan.city/equip

Josh T’s Hierarchy of Needs was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When you don’t have a stable home, it’s hard to take care of your health. When you can’t take care of your health, the likeliness you’ll end up in the ER or hospital multiple times a year goes up 8X.

It makes sense, right? When you’re exposed to abuse, the elements, substances and/or other factors, your quality of life, health outcomes, and even life expectancy takes a nosedive.

UnitedHealth Group recognizes this, investing $500M into housing 100s of their most vulnerable members. But this is just the tip of the spear. With thankfulness, I can share that they’ve taken samaritan on as part of their strategy through Techstars. I’m in Minneapolis for 3 months to figure out how we can deliver human & financial capital to help 1000s of their Medicaid members find social & physical homes across the country.

Cracking into UHG’s accelerator is a Top 5 moment for the Samaritan team. The company generates $660 million in revenue… everyday (yes, everyday). And yet, their margins are slimmer than you think. Homelessness is not good for your health. If we can help UHG help their most vulnerable members into homes, it’ll be a win for everyone. We’ve met with 110 UHG / healthcare execs so far. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

— -–

(everyone deserves a behemoth dog to nuzzle them, including our team)

Kicking Off With the Biggest Health Insurer in the World was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At a time when our unhoused neighbors are particularly vulnerable, it’s frustrating to have to keep our distance. But although we’re physically isolated, we don’t need to be socially isolated.

Samaritans can have a powerful impact on the lives of beacon holders right now, not only by meeting basic needs when many services are difficult to access, but also by sending encouraging messages through the app.

Raven, pictured above, who has been homeless in Seattle for over 15 years, says the messages he’s received from caring samaritans have been incredibly impactful.

“If someone sends a message, they should understand it will inspire somebody to create a goal or reach a goal,” Raven said. “It will always do something positive, that’s for sure.”

I want to encourage you today to send a message to a beacon holder. If you can make it part of your daily routine, like dropping a quick line every day on your lunch break — even better.

Your words are more powerful than you may know; they let beacon holders know that someone is rooting in their corner — and that they are not forgotten.

Looking for other ways to get involved? Check out our recent journal entry, Community during COVID, that lists Samaritan partners who are serving beacon holders during the outbreak and ways you can pitch in.

Encouraging words can be powerful was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

3 ways you can make a difference right now

We’ve all been there over the last month. You’ve entered the grocery store, looking for toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or clorox wipes, only to be met with empty shelves. Conversations revolved around our new routines, and what stores still had rice in stock. But time has passed, and you’ve gone from feelings of novelty to disbelief to panic to acceptance.

And now you’re restless. You want to do something, be part of the amazing community of people, like the nurses, doctors, firefighters, bus drivers, cooks, delivery people (the list goes on!) who are fighting against the virus that seems to have forever changed our lives.

For our neighbors on the street during this uncertain time, they are experiencing a time where hygiene items are in short supply, hourly work has stopped or puts people’s health at risk, food banks are running dry, and social distancing in a shelter or encampment isn’t possible. It’s a time they find themselves to be even more vulnerable.

So if you’re asking yourself, “ What can I do? How can I make an impact?” — keep reading.

Here are three tangible ways you can make a life-changing difference and maintain our sense of community during a time of isolation:

#1 Invest financially in our unhoused neighbors. Help people afford the basics.

Why? Now more than ever, the basics are hard to come by… especially for individuals experiencing homelessness. Many of the resources they have relied on have closed, like day centers, free meal sites, and hygiene facilities. Their limited resources are being stretched even further as they try to meet their critical needs. Your donations make a significant impact!

Here’s how to give in the Samaritan app.

#2 Share an encouraging word. Even though we’re experiencing physical isolation, we don’t have to experience social isolation!

“The part [people experiencing homelessness are] not getting now is the interaction,” said Krissie Dillin, program director for Phinney Neighborhood Association. “We have to tell them they’re still important — still seen.”

That’s from a Seattle Times report on how the vulnerable health and safety of our unhoused neighbors stretches beyond the physical danger of living on the streets during a pandemic. It includes the profound mental and emotional effects of isolation, too.

Here’s how to send an Encouraging Message in the Samaritan app.

Learn more about giving masks and hand sanitizers to people enduring homelessness when you buy one for yourself at Samaritan Apparel.

#3 Support local & nonprofit organizations serving our unhoused friends.

Why? As nonprofits and stores using Samaritan continue to rally around the unhoused community, we can rally around them!

How? That depends on the organization! Please, consider supporting some of your community’s needs below. We’ll keep the list updated.

— — —

REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade)

– Funding for hand sanitization stations at encampments
– Contact: Emily Ishiki (emilyishiki@iwantrest.com)

— — —

Mary’s Place Day Center

– Hand sanitizer
– Gloves
– Masks
– Any hygiene products
– Contact: Sarina, 206–621–8474

— — —

Pioneer Square Clinic (Harborview Hall)
Harborview Hall, a shelter for COVID-19 patients experiencing homelessness, is out of the basics like pajamas and slippers.

Bring clothes or care packages to 326 9th Ave (2nd window just north of the front doors, under the tent).

– Pajamas (Especially sizes L & XL)
– Slippers
– Comfort kits (snacks, letters of encouragement, anything that could help bring a smile to the sick)
– TV for streaming movies to those in the shelter
– Coffee
– Break treats
– Meals
– Community love!!!
– Contact: support@samaritan.city

— — —

Pike Market Senior Center

– Donations: https://pikemarketseniorcenter.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/460228/Default.aspx

— — —

Chocolati Cafe
Grab takeout coffee from one of their coffee shops in Greenwood, Wallingford, or near Greenlake!

— — —

Grocery Outlet Madrona (Central Dist.)
The Grocery Outlet in Madrona has accepted your donations to people’s smart wallets as a form of payment, allowing some of your financial support to help meet critical needs over the last 1.5 years. Today, they’re still serving the unhoused community in the midst of this outbreak––check them out!

— — —

Street Bean Coffee
They’re still selling bags of coffee! Use code “inthistogether” to get shipping on orders of 2+ bags. You can also donate to their amazing mission of providing opportunities to street-involved youths.

— — —

Community during COVID was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

• COVID-19 Call Center: 206–477–3977, every day 8am-7pm

(Looking for ways you can help? Check out our post on how you can get involved!)

(Updated 6/29/2020)

Latest Mask Update:

Starting June 26, King County residents have been directed to wear face coverings in indoor public settings, and outdoor if you cannot maintain social distancing. Read King County’s directive on face masks here.

SAMARITAN UPDATES

Samaritan Merchant Updates (pdf map of store locations can be downloaded here). Please make sure you have a face covering to enter any store!

• Army Navy Surplus Store — open: Mon-Fri, 9:30am-6pm, must wear a mask to enter the store and practice social distancing
• Outdoor Emporium — open: Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm; Sun, 9am-5pm; mask not required, but must social distance while in store. Planning to use your beacon? Please call ahead to let them know. (206) 624–6550
• Manu’s Bodega — open for takeout only: Tues-Fri, 11am-2pm
• Grocery Outlet — open: everyday, 8am-10pm
• Street Bean Coffee — open for takeout only, beginning June 1: Mon-Sat, 8am-2pm; must wear a mask and social distance
• Chocolati (in the library) — closed
• Goodwill (voucher needed) — most locations still closed. Check out Goodwill’s locations to see if a retail store near you is open. Remember, you need to ask your case manager for a voucher!
• St Vincent de Paul Thrift on Aurora — closed
• Verge Hair — closed

Other Spending Options

Ask the case manager that normally helps you with your lifecare visit if they can assist you remotely with a purchase:

• Safeway vouchers ($25 minimum; must have an email address and a way to print the voucher)
• Target e-gift cards (must have an email address)
• Storage bills (if they can be paid over the phone or online)
• Phone bills
• Or, you can just save your funds!

(Orca fare — King County Metro has temporarily suspended fare collection, and passengers are asked to board through the rear doors, except for passengers with mobility challenges. However, some areas are beginning to charge for service again. Check out the Orca website for more information. See reduced service updates here: tinyurl.com/wplknra)

(Goodwill vouchers — did you spend your funds on a Goodwill voucher, but found they had already closed their stores? We can put that money back on your beacon. Send us an email at support@samaritan.city or a text to (509)-590–0480 with your name, your beacon PIN, the amount on the voucher, and the voucher ID number.)

Lifecare Visit Updates

• For now, all lifecare visits will automatically be marked as complete each month.
• If you would still like to connect with your case manager by phone or email, feel free to do so!
• If you have updates you’d like to share with our samaritan community, feel free to fill our our Lifecare Visit form so we can share those updates to your profile.
• If you have specific needs you’d like to share on your profile (such as “groceries”, “storage bill”, “notes of encouragement”), please fill out our Beacon Holder Needs form.

RESOURCES

Libraries: Seattle Public libraries remain closed until May 31. However, the following library branches have open restrooms, 10am-6pm, every day of the week:

• Ballard Branch, 5614 22nd Ave. N.W.
• Beacon Hill Branch, 2821 Beacon Ave. S.
• University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E.
• Capitol Hill Branch, 425 Harvard Ave. E.
• Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave

Service Provider Changes:

• Here is a tracker for service providers changes: Check out the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness website here, or click here to link directly to the google sheet with updates. (Be sure to look at each tab of the sheet!)

The Stimulus Package:

Stimulus checks

• The IRS has launched a website for “Non-filers”, people who are not required to file taxes. Find more information here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here. Have questions? Send them our way, and we’ll do our best to find out the answer!
• If you earn less than $75,000, you may receive up to $1,200, with an extra $500 for each qualifying child age 16 or under.
• In most instances, you must have a valid social security number.
• Checks will be direct deposited to your bank account (if the IRS has that information) or mailed to you at the address you use to file your taxes.
• For more information, check out this NY Times article and this IRS update.

Unemployment

• Unemployment guidelines have changed to expand access if you have lost your job or reduced hours due to COVID-19.
• Read more here: https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19

Seattle / King County Resources

• COVID-19 symptoms: the CDC has updated its list of symptoms to include chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, fever, cough, and shortness of breath
• Resources for Community: http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/covid-19 Includes resources for healthcare/hygiene, immigration related information, food support, internet access, childcare, bill support, and more
• COVID-19 Call Center: 206–477–3977, every day 8am-7pm
• How to stay up to date: Click here to sign up for King County’s COVID Homelessness Response email alerts
• Food banks: See a map of food banks here: http://www.seattlefoodcommittee.org/food-bank-map/. We recommend you call ahead of time to confirm hours, updated procedures, and requirements.
• Seattle Area Emergency Food Map: click here

Samaritan COVID-19 Response

• Samaritan staff: To protect the safety and health of our staff, Samaritan employees are all working from home at this time.
• Lifecare visits: The health of beacon holders and case managers is a top priority for Samaritan. For now, lifecare visits will automatically marked as complete each month. We will continue to assess the situation, along with our nonprofit partners, to determine when beacon holders should begin meeting with lifecare providers again, and will notify all beacon holders of that decision. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out.
• Meeting with your case manager: To protect the safety and health of all beacon holders and case managers that use Samaritan technology, we are asking beacon holders and case managers to communicate via phone or email, when possible. You can do a remote lifecare visit!
• Replacement beacons and batteries: We are not recommending that anyone get replacement beacons or batteries at this time. You can do lifecare visits and make payments without your beacon by 1) having your case manager or the merchant search for your profile, and 2) giving your beacon PIN, if necessary (4 letters/numbers printed on your beacon). If you can’t find your beacon PIN, email us at support@samaritan.city or text us at (509) 590–0480.
• If it isn’t an emergency, stay where you are the safest!

Stay Home — Stay Healthy order

The statewide Stay Home — Stay Healthy order has expired. However, King County has not met the criteria to reopen. The county has applied to the secretary of health to move into a “modified Phase 1” of the state’s “Safe Start” plan.

Phase 1 (read more here)

• High-risk populations: Continue to stay home, stay healthy.
• Outdoor: Some outdoor recreation (hunting, fishing, golf, boating, hiking).
• Gatherings: Religious organizations can now hold outdoor services with up to 100 people. Proper social distancing should be practiced and attendees should wear face coverings.
• Travel: Only essential travel.
• Business/Employers: Essential businesses open, including existing construction that meets agreed-upon criteria, landscaping, automobile sales, retail (curb-side pick-up orders only), car washes, pet walkers.

View Washington’s Phased Reopening Approach here.

Stay up-to-date on other news on Washington’s official coronavirus website: coronavirus.wa.gov

OTHER RESOURCES

Healthcare

• Emergency prescription refills: a pharmacist may grant an emergency refill of an expired prescription. Call your pharmacist ahead of time to see if this applies to you.
• What are COVID-19 symptoms? How do I care for someone with those symptoms? Click here for some guidance.
• *NEW* New Hygiene Stations have been set up. Read Mayor Durkan’s announcement here.
• Other resources from the Healthcare for the Homeless Network: Click here.

I have symptoms. Where can I get tested?

Free COVID-19 testing for people with symptoms and experiencing homelessness.

Click here to download a pdf of all available locations and their updated days/times (as of 5/20/2020). The below is not a full list.

Downtown Public Health Center (2124 4th Ave): M-F, 8:30–4pm, closed noon-1pm, no appointment needed

Swedish: near 3rd and Jackson near three permanent supportive housing sites

Neighborcare Housing & Street Outreach Team: Testing at various shelters & permanent supportive housing, identified by our partners (DESC & Plymouth Housing & Catholic Housing), mainly along the 3rd avenue corridor downtown. Efforts will be targeted at shelters and permanent supportive housing residents who are symptomatic and for whom testing would change management.

Community Health Clinics:

International Community Health Services (International District)

• Drive-through testing at the International District location. Testing efforts may extend to other sites as circumstance allows.

Seattle Indian Health Board

• A combination of walk-in and scheduled appointments. Testing will take place in-clinic and will be performed in a respiratory isolation wing.

Sea Mar

• Scheduled patients/appointments and walk-ins. In the process of implementing outdoor testing. Not doing community testing at this time.

Health Point

• Auburn, Bothell, Kent, Tukwila and Midway are doing testing outside; sister clinics also refer patients for testing.
• Drive-through testing at Powell St, Renton.

Neighborcare

• Ballard: walk-in starting 3/27
• St Vincent de Paul: walk-in
• Rainier Beach: referral by medical provider/appointment

Current moratorium on evictions

• In Seattle, residential evictions for non-payment will be temporarily stopped, in effect for 30 days, or when the civil emergency ends (currently June 4)
• Tenants will still owe the rent, once the moratorium is over.
• Landlords can still issue evictions for other reasons; the only valid reason for no eviction is non-payment.
• Seattle City Council passed an emergency bill giving tenants with a defense against rent-related evictions for six months after the coronavirus emergency moratorium expires. Tenants will have to certify that they’ve suffered financial hardship.

Current moratorium on parking enforcement

There is “a temporary moratorium on enforcement of the 72-hour parking rule. This moratorium will last until further notice…This decision will allow RVs parked in 72 hours zones to remain in place. It’s important to note that all other standard parking rules will be enforced: unpermitted parking or blocking access to an existing or created zone at clinics and hospitals, fire hydrants, police precincts or other public health and safety locations, and illegal parking in a bicycle or transit lane.

You can stay up-to-date on other parking rules here.

Resources shared by beacon holders

• Free and confidential grief support by API Chaya and The Journey Program; start by the process by filling out this form: https://tinyurl.com/206griefsupport
• 80 Awesome Mental Health Resources
• If you need help for your pet, the Humane Society is closed, but can be reached by email at pethelp@seattlehumane.org or by phone at (425) 641–0080
• COVID-19 tracker that shows global cases: click here
• A team of North Seattle librarians put together this amazing resource list. There are resources for people all over King County, not just North Seattle.
• If you have more resources that should be shared, please let us know so we can get them added!

The team at Samaritan is here for you, and will do our best to get you connected to available resources. Stay well and healthy.

The Samaritan Team

COVID-19 Resources and Updates for Beacon Holders was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

| role |
This one’s easy. As you travel your city this week, you’ll see that homelessness is one of the biggest issues of our time. Taxpayers, healthcare systems, businesses, and nonprofits are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year combating it, and they- no, we are losing.

We’ve seen that surrounding an unhoused person with two simple resources — financial capital and relational guidance — can be catalytic to them finding a permanent home. So we’re incredibly excited to bring on our Community Storyteller to grow access to those two resources. If you have a background as a growth hacker and copywriter read on; we want to help people elevate themselves from the street with your help.

| opportunities |
· Lead digital campaigns and inbound content to raise capital for beacon-holding neighbors

· Create online content to help beacon holders learn how to use their beacon effectively to meet self-determined goals

· Engage and provide content to nonprofits and healthcare providers using Samaritan to elevate the outcomes of the people they serve

· Communicate progress and stories of impact to all stakeholders through push notifications, social outlets, email and more

| desired experience |
· Copywriting in micro-, short-, and/or long-form

· Measuring key product / service metrics and then running experiments to improve a specific metric (sample metrics include: avg. income per beacon holder, avg. samaritans per beacon holder, % of active samaritans, etc.)

· Growing an online community through effective outbound / inbound engagement

· Practicing a sense of design and typography when creating visual communication materials (presentation decks, light UI/UX, print assets, etc.)

| compensation and application |

FT salary ($42K-$60K starting), equity & perks, with raises as Samaritan grows.

If you are interested in deeply impacting people without a home at scale in our cities, send us a note with a few links to previous projects and we’ll get started.

| about samaritan |

Samaritan provides smart wallets for people without a home, linking them to financial capital and relational guidance needed to leave the street.

Nonprofits and healthcare providers offer the smart wallets (beacons) as a resource for people struggling through homelessness. Housed residents can learn the stories of beacon holders through the Samaritan app, helping them invest financially and relationally into people they may pass by daily: that homeless mother on the bus, the grandfather on the street, the unsheltered teen outside the supermarket.

Beacon holders can spend received funds with a counselor or partnered merchant to address critical needs, and can also earn bonuses by completing set goals or positive actions in their community. Every month, they meet with their counselor or health clinician to set goals and share needs for the month ahead. We’ve found this strengthened access to capital and relationships can lead to incredible outcomes in our first pilot in Seattle.

The vision is to equip health organizations and nonprofits in 100 cities to surround people with the financial and relational capital needed to leave the street. Our next deployment is in LA followed by Oklahoma City, New York City, and Portland. We need your help to give beacon holders in these and the next 95 cities their best opportunity to find a home.

Hiring Samaritan’s Community Storyteller was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Samaritan seeks a few team members to join us in helping people on the street access the resources needed to find a home. If that sounds like you, and you’ve got a gift for iOS/Android/Frontend/Backend development, we’d love for you to consider sharing your gifts with the people we serve.

Outreach teams and case managers use our smart wallets — called beacons — as a resource for people experiencing homelessness. Individuals set their own housing and health goals and then can access the financial and social capital needed to meet those goals.

Samaritan enables providers to issue beacons, update goals and needs, and help beacon holders spend money. It also enables everyday individuals and organizations learn the stories of individuals and join their team of supporters to help them meet set goals. Over 10,000 “samaritans” invested more than $100K and 1,000 letters of encouragement into a pilot cohort of 500 beacon holders, enabling dozens to reach life-changing outcomes. This is just the start, with additional pilots in LA, OKC, and NYC coming online soon.

You’ll be joining an incredible task-force of 6 (one backend, one backend/Android, one iOS, and three non-technical). You’ll collaborate to ship user-requested features and upgrades that grow the amount of financial & social capital that is put into the hands of people in need.

| tracks |
- Swift and iOS
- Java and Android
- React and Frontend
- Rails and Backend

| soft skills you’ll need|
- Balance engineering excellence with velocity

- Communicate effectively with teammates, onsite and remote

- Translate information between technical and non-technical team members

- Eagerness to own a feature from conception to deployment

- Willingness to wear many hats (you might help design implementations for features that span multiple codebases and platforms — you’ll be responsible for doing whatever needs to be done to get features to users)

- Quickly adapt and reprioritize to the needs of the team (no two days here are the same)

• Ability to learn independently

| compensation & hiring |

Samaritan hackers are compensated on a bounty system: every feature or upgrade has a bounty on it, which goes to you when you ship it. So the higher the impact you have for our users, the higher your compensation.

Strong preference given to candidates who can be onsite with us in Seattle (once this virus blows over). Will also consider a FT remote candidate in the right circumstances.

Send us a note with a few project links and we’ll get started.

Chris Sun, Product Owner & Beacon Storyteller

220 2nd Ave S., Impact Hall Seattle

chris@samaritan.city

Samaritan Spring/Summer Hackerships was originally published in Samaritan Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.