Landlord Liason

Through Access Point for Housing (AP4H) and Open Hearth Ministries, Associated Ministries assists households who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.  Each day, these individuals and families tell us their stories, and describe the needs within our communities.  More people are at risk of becoming homeless than anyone understood.  Affordable housing is increasingly beyond the reach of working families, of people subsisting on fixed incomes, of families living through crisis. The need is beyond the scope of government, beyond the reach of all of the exceptional organizations attempting to meet it.  The need is so great that we can only approach it by organizing ourselves as a stronger community, one that insists that anyone trying to live with stability and dignity can live in housing they can afford, and be assisted in gaining the skills that allow that dignity and stability.  Associated Ministries is asking you to begin organizing that stronger community now, by finding ways to create more affordable housing and engage in volunteerism to support people in need of that housing. 

This is not a new mission for faith communities.  In various ways, we have always done this work.  For much of our history, rising to address the needs of the poor, building hospitals and educational institutions, providing creative solutions to housing have been the call of people of faith in congregations around the world.  And while government remains a welcome and meaningful partner, its role is becoming more modest even as the scope of need grows greater.  Congregations and the tapestry of interfaith communion remain as the great reservoir for compassionate, uplifting community. 

In affirmation of that historical role, we want to explore your interests in developing an infrastructure of privately funded affordable housing, with the supports that families need to be generationally successful - strong enough that children in these households have the skills and assets and confidence in self-advocacy to not be at risk of homelessness in their adult lives.  This will be Community-Based Affordable Housing.

Over the next few months, our Executive Director Rev. Chris Morton, Chief Mission Officer Rev. Heidi Calhoun and Chief Program Officer Greg Claycamp will be reaching out to you.  We hope to facilitate this conversation, but not direct it.  We want to assist in the creation of the housing and volunteerism that express your passions and compassion, and address the needs you see very locally.  We can offer information about community needs, describe options for affordable housing, and help you to connect to others who want to collaborate. There is a real range of possibility, from an individual landlord deciding to make housing available to a challenged family, to partnerships to lease or purchase foreclosed properties.  Any size fits.

Before beginning this outreach, allow me to describe one effort in which Associated Ministries is already partnering.  We invite the participation of interested landlords and property owners in this effort. 

Associated Ministries is currently partnering with MDC (formerly Metropolitan Development Council), Pierce County Housing Authority and Pierce County Community Connections in the Landlord Liaison Project.  This project hopes to accomplish two goals. The first is to develop a web-based search engine that any landlord or potential tenant can access, listing all of the affordable housing available throughout Pierce County.  The second is to engage landlords in making affordable housing available to families and individuals who encounter common barriers. These barriers include incomes at or below 60% of Average Median Income (AMI); lack of resources for customary move-in costs; eviction histories; and misdemeanor and non-violent felony histories.  Potential tenants are required to successfully complete Pierce County Housing Authority’s sixteen hour Ready-To-Rent course, and landlords can access a Pooled Risk Fund that guarantees against costs normally covered by a tenant’s move-in deposit.

All accepted tenants will receive limited Case Management for twelve months through MDC.  Landlords recruited through Associated Ministries will receive additional support for their tenants, including the engagement of volunteers to assist families in the strength and asset building necessary to be stable and independent in permanent affordable housing.  We encourage interested landlords and potential landlords to contact our Chief Program Officer Greg Claycamp, at (253) 383-3056 x119, or gregc@associatedministries.org

The Landlord Liaison Project is a first step, and one option.  We look forward to engaging with you in the larger conversation and mission, to build stronger community and families as an expression of compassion, and the passion of our faith.

SEEKing Common Ground: A Dialogue about Art, Faith, and Sexuality. Saturday, May 19

Our mission at Associated Ministries is uniting people of faith to build stronger communities.  The unity that we strive to participate in is a God-given gift that sometimes happens naturally, and other times it takes more intentionality and deliberation.  Put a paint brush in the hands of a group of volunteers and they are united by the service that they are offering, and by the relationship that they develop with the homeowner whose house is being brightened.  When a family is homeless, volunteers from a variety of faith communities come together to help get the family relocated temporarily into a hotel while a different volunteer from another faith community visits the family in the hotel to help them develop a plan to secure more stable housing.  And while being of service, people of faith come to know one another, sometimes rather intimately.

Sometimes, though, an issue arises in our society that requires us to be even more intentional and more deliberative.  SEEKing Common Ground: A Dialogue About Art, Faith, and Sexuality will be held on Saturday, May 19^th from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at Tacoma ART Museum.  Participants will engage one another directly as they respond to questions from the facilitator and from one another, and seek to better understand one another’s views on a “thorny” topic such as human sexuality.

Leaders of the faith community will not present positions, or debate one another, but instead will engage in a more traditional sense of dialogue, facilitated by Associated Ministries’ executive director, Rev. Chris Morton.  The five participating dialogue members include:  Rev. Gregory Christopher – Shiloh Baptist Church; Pastor Dean Curry – Life Center; Rabbi Bruce Kadden – Temple Beth El; Rev. Sharon Moe – United Methodist Church District Superintendent; and Rev. Sarah Wiles – Bethany Presbyterian Church. 

Please join us for the dialogue and hear how people of faith, with very different perspectives on the topics of art, faith, and human sexuality can engage one another with respect and dignity, while holding to their different views.  But before you come to the dialogue, please take the time to view HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture exhibit --- it may take an hour, or even two, and offer your observations or questions for the dialogue.

Meet Tausha: Strength and determination to be united with her children despite hardships.

Tausha was expecting to dramatically change her money habits but she was thrown for a loop when her counselor pulled up the shredder and asked if she was ready to cut up her credit cards. “WHAT?” she exclaimed. Her credit cards had become an unsustainable means of survival. Tausha was determined to throw away that crutch, take charge of her life, and get on the right track for the sake of her two young children.


She had already come so very far. In late 2006, Tausha was abusing drugs and her parents had taken over the care of her four-year old son, Zachary. She was living in a tent on the side of the road when she learned that she was pregnant with her daughter. “That was a gift that was given to me to stay clean. I knew in my heart that nobody could take care of my daughter as well as me.” A public health nurse helped her sign up for health care and get into transitional housing along with her son.


But shortly after her daughter Jayden’s birth it became evident that something was terribly wrong with the infant’s health. “The doctors kept giving different diagnoses. I would read every book there was about one and then they would come up with another.” Finally, it was determined that Jayden had osteogenesis imperfecta--“brittle bone disease”--a hereditary genetic bone disorder that meant the child’s bones could fracture even from being carried. Through all her daughter’s hospitalizations and the ordinary stresses of parenthood, Tausha kept herself and her family together. “She’s my miracle. I wouldn’t know where I would be today if I didn’t have her to take care of.”


In 2009, Tausha enrolled in the Housing Authority’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, completed a bookkeeping certificate at Clover Park Technical College and started working. She signed up for an Individual Development Account (IDA) with Associated Ministries and began saving to buy a home for her family. “The IDA gave me a structure for saving. It was the first time I had put my tax refund into savings as a working parent. I had always been chasing my tail with saving, because the temptation to take it out and spend it was greater, so the match money for my deposits was an incentive that kept me in the mode of saving.”


Tausha took the leap, shredded her credit cards, and managed just fine without them. “My debt is completely paid off and I’m keeping two cards with a zero balance, just to keep my credit score up. In fact, my credit limit has been increasing every year even though I only use the cards a few times and pay them off right away.”


Tausha participates in a “Success Team”—regular meetings with other women who are working on similar challenges and goals. “They’re people who want what’s best for you. I surround myself by people who have what I want, with goals I want to achieve, too. We encourage each other’s goals and check in monthly—that helps to push forward. I want to show the doubters that I can push past what I was like six years ago.”
She’s working full time as a parent advocate at A Common Voice, helping parents who have children with mental and behavioral issues. “A friend encouraged me to get a job doing this kind of work because I’ve done it so well for myself and my own children. It’s my passion.”


Tausha achieved her goal of homeownership this past February and the family is excited to live in their new three-bedroom home. “When I tell my story it’s still so surreal. I picture myself six years ago, dreaming of all the things I could only hope to accomplish someday. Now looking at my beautiful home and the admiration for me reflected in my children’s eyes and smiles, I know that all this hard work was worth it!”

Compassion Weekend

by Kathy Saunders

Ephesians 4:3 says; “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

As Christians, we know that not only are we one body within our own churches, but we are also one body combined, as brother’s and sister’s in Christ. Sadly, the world sometimes views Christians as divided, and oftentimes this creates mistrust. Maybe they’ve been hurt by the church, or by a Christian who betrayed them in some way. We long to share the message of Christ but our words fall on deaf ears in a world that has become increasingly cynical.  There are times when we have to do the practical to get to the spiritual.                   

A blanket, a hug, a listening ear; this might be the first glimpse of Jesus that person has ever seen. And when we serve in unity, the world sees that not only do we care for them, but also for each other. God moves through us when we open our doors, step outside and simply “be” the church in the world. And those we serve ask questions when they have no experience with the nature of unconditional love. “Why did you come here?” “I have nothing to give you, why would you do this for me?” What an amazing opportunity then for us to tell a hurting soul that God loves them beyond measure, and so do we!

On Saturday April 28^th we would like to encourage churches to step out into the world and serve in your communities for a unified day of serving. This is a great opportunity for small groups, and individuals to reach out to their own neighbors in order to form relationships. It can be as simple as raking leaves, baking cookies, or throwing a birthday party for a child living in a domestic violence shelter. If you need information, serving ideas, or resources, or if you are a smaller church and would like to join up with projects at a larger church, you can contact Kathy Saunders at 253-863-352 ext. 227.  We hope to see you Compassion Weekend!

What does the future hold around ecumenical advocacy?

By Michael Trice, Ph.D.

The season of Advent seems especially poignant, pressed by a contemplative silence as eyes turn to Bethlehem.  We might all have a special place for this season in our hearts this year.  The hopeful anticipation of the birth of new promise, of the message of redemption, stands in stark contrast to a form of hopeless sorrow that has been creeping up like cold air in significant quarters of public and private life today.  For others who advocate for social justice in its variegated forms, the in-breaking of the Advent promise is a signal of resiliency and determination in the face of institutional callousness and trespass of our fundamental human dignity.

Neighbor to Neighbor

Associated Ministries’ Neighbor to Neighbor Program is a community-based support group that works with individuals and families who have a set of goals they are working towards. Our support group provides encouragement, friendship, and guidance, so that individuals will be empowered to achieve their goals in the present, as well as in the future. While sharing advice, ideas, and resources, members will be exposed to diverse perspectives and experiences, thus becoming inspired through awareness.

The program seeks volunteer mentor teams of 2-5 people to offer advice, resources, and support to help families in need to achieve their goals. Volunteer teams, alternate weekly contact with the family to which they are matched, either by phone or in person. The time commitment is for one year (with a six month check in), and averages an hour every other week per person. Volunteers receive initial training and ongoing monthly support. The training provided includes: strength based assessments, active listening skills, healthy and unhealthy boundaries, and conflict resolution.

Form a mentor team from your church members, with friends, family or neighbors, or help coordinate the recruitment of a team. Invite Associated Ministries staff to speak at your church or organization, circulate information in your newsletter, make an announcement during service, post a flyer on the bulletin board, and speak to your friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors about becoming a mentor for a family in need. Volunteers are welcome to apply as individuals or in teams.

For further information, please contact:

Associated Ministries Volunteer Coordinator, Camilia Bennett-Fuller at:

(253) 383-3056 ext. 122 or camiliab@associatedministries.org.

Up to $10,000 will be awarded to 4 Pierce County Faith Communities

Seattle University, founded in 1891, is dedicated to its mission: To educate the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world. One of the University’s foundational values, at the core of its Jesuit identity, is a faith that does justice. Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry (STM) represents over 17 religious traditions, including partnerships with Reformed, Protestant, Anglican, Unitarian, Roman Catholic and Evangelical faith communities, as well as Jewish and Muslim. Out of these partnerships and a trusted reputation as educator and leader in interreligious conversations, STM is committed to developing and administering leadership in social justice advocacy and collaborations, including that of the Faith & Family Homelessness Project.

The Faith & Family Homelessness Project of Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry (STM) is a concentrated two-year effort to inspire increased advocacy and care around the issue of family homelessness in the greater Puget Sound faith community.

Over a 16 month period, twelve faith communities in the King, Snohomish and Pierce counties commit to use their social and political will as a force for changing cultural and societal attitudes, behaviors and policies that surround the crisis of family homelessness. Selected communities will receive tailored support to increase their understanding of the issue, while learning to effectively advocate for public policy changes needed to reduce family homelessness in the region. STM will provide trainings and events about the causes of family homelessness and effective measures to address the issue.

STM will work with Associated Ministries to identify 4 faith communities in Pierce County. Selected applicants will receive financial resources and tailored support to increase their response to family homelessness while learning to effectively advocate for the public policy changes needed to reduce family homelessness in the region. STM will award up to $10,000 per faith community to pay for trainings and events designed to educate their membership about the causes of family homelessness and effective measures to address the issue.

Upon selection, faith communities will work with Associated Ministries and FFH Project staff to create a project plan and related budget. Project plans will reflect and build upon the shared spiritual beliefs and values of the faith community. Each plan will cover a one-year period, with clearly defined activities and outcomes.

Ideal communities will exhibit the desire to use their social and political will as a force for changing cultural and societal attitudes, behaviors and policies around family homelessness.

Application materials can be accessed at http://faithandfamilyhomelessness.com/ Applications must be received no later than February 29, 2012. Questions can be directed to Chris Morton, Executive Director at chrism@associatedministries.org or 253-426-1502.

Lisa Gustaveson - Project Manager, Faith and Family Homelessness Project at Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry email: gustavel@seattleu.edu or 206.296.2657.