Since March of 2016, the City of Seattle, United Way of King County, the Millionair Club, and DSA Downtown Seattle Association have joined forces with Mayor Ed Murray on the Jobs Connect Seattle project, a program that connects people who are living on the street with work in the Seattle area.
Since the Jobs Connect Path Out of Homelessness program kicked off, the numbers that were recently revealed at the Quarterly Downtown Seattle Association meeting last week show huge progress and a great step in helping the King County homeless crisis.
With Homelessness being declared a State of Emergency in our region by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, he believes this is a step in the right direction. To offer assistance to those who want to be helped, ‘We must shift the focus to longer-term solutions to homelessness, more than mats on the floor,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “We must talk about opportunity and hope for the future. I want to thank all the private employers who are making these job opportunities available. You are giving a precious gift – a brighter tomorrow.”
The Jobs Connect Seattle mobile team set out everyday in their van to find people in need and offer them an opportunity to join the project. Since the project kicked off, outreach workers reach out and educate on how the project works and steps to take, including removing obstacles they face when applying for jobs. Types of assistance provided include helping to coordinate transportation; access to certification needed for employment (e.g., food handler card); appropriate work clothing; showers and laundry facilities; storage of personal items while on the job; and connections to housing services.
Since the project kicked off one year ago, the Jobs Connect employment project has had 495 participants enrolled and hired 116 full-time. A few of Jobs Connect Seattle partners include: Safeco Field, City of Seattle, Compass Group Microsoft, Downtown Seattle Association, Food Lifeline, Millionair Club, Tom Douglas Restaurants, YWCA, and many more.
Learn more about Jobs Connect Seattle at uwkc.org