Solid Ground Washington
Building Community to End Poverty
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Between 2006 and 2016, the number of Washingtonians living in deep poverty—less than $10,080 for a family of three—rose by 17% or 55,000 people. Poverty disproportionately affects people of color. 27% of American Indian/Alaska Natives, 23% of Blacks, 20% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, and 19% of Latinos live in poverty, compared to an 11.3% statewide poverty rate.
In King County, deep poverty reveals itself most visibly in the homelessness crisis. As of January 2017, there were 11,643 people experiencing homelessness with 5,485 people without any form of shelter. The ways that people experience poverty, homelessness, and racism are varied and complex, resulting from barriers to education, employment, financial planning, and personal stability. Solid Ground focuses our efforts in stabilizing individuals and families with housing programs, as well as resources to thrive such as food, nutrition education, transportation, financial planning, and opportunities for advocacy.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Stabilization Services
Rapid rehousing, housing navigation, individualized case management, diversion, tenant counseling, landlord engagement services, rental assistance, flexible client assistance, and referrals to other community resources to prevent and end experiences of homelessness and housing instability. Across an array of Stabilization programs, we supported more than 1,000 individuals toward housing stability.
Hunger & Food Resources
Increasing access to and knowledge around food and nutritional resources for low-income students, adults, and families through our Community Food Education program. We also provide the backbone for Seattle's emergency food system through our Food System Support, coordinating 1,000+ food deliveries each year and providing training and other support for 29 Seattle Food Committee members, including 27 food banks.
Transportation
Curb-to-curb, door-to-door, and hand-to-hand specialized transportation services for older adults and people with disabilites who are unable to access fixed-route transit a lifeline for older adults and those with disabilities to access food banks, medical appointments, and other key stabilizing resources. Additionally, free accessible transportation is available to residents of Center Park, an ADA accessible low-income housing program located in Seattles Rainier Valley. Collectively, Solid Ground Transportation provides 145,000+ rides each year.
Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing
Comprehensive case management, specialized children's programming, and other wraparound services embedded in shelter and transitional housing to help domestic violence survivors and their families heal from the traumas of abuse and homelessness. Over the years, Broadview has provided safety and supportive services to more than 13,000 survivors - in 2023 alone, Broadview was home to nearly 300 adults and children.
Sand Point Housing Campus
Permanent affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and onsite support services for families and individuals formerly experiencing homelessness. Since 1999, more than 3,000 people have stayed at Sand Point Housing in their journey from homelessness to stability. Today, 400+ residents of all ages live in this thriving community with access to onsite case management, referrals, children's programming, behavioral health services, and more.
Family Shelter
Long-term (average 3 to 6 months) emergency housing for families experiencing homelessness in scattered site units rented throughout Seattle, alongside individualized case management and other supportive services. In 2023, we supported 11 families comprised of 50+ adults and children to find safe shelter and stabilize from homelessness.
Statewide Poverty Action Network
The Statewide Poverty Action Network builds grassroots power to end causes of poverty and to create opportunities for everyone to prosper. Together with our members, Poverty Action:
• Develops and advocates for innovative public policy solutions that address the root causes of poverty;
• Registers, educates, and mobilizes voters from low-income communities and communities of color;
• Engages community members in advocating for the issues that impact their lives;
• Organizes community members through a racial equity lens; and
• Develops leaders in low-income communities.
In addition, the advocacy department works to increase the link between policy makers and the staff and clients of Solid Ground’s service programs.
Benefits Legal Assistance
Providing legal counsel to individuals to restore access to public benefits for hosuing and essential needs, cash, food, childcare, healthcare, and more, while advocating for more equitable policy and improved access to benefits with State agencies. In 2023, we supported 29 households to access or restore their public benefits.
Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA)
SHIBA volunteers help people understand Medicare rights and options. Our well-trained volunteers counsel people of all ages including people under age 65 living with disabilities, people getting ready to turn 65, and those already enrolled about their Medicare choices and options.
Where we work
Awards
Ron Chisom Anti-Racism Award 2007
Seattle Human Services Coalition
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2023, approximately 1,245 volunteers donated 38,000+ hours valued at $1.4 million, making it possible to meet basic needs, nurture success, catalyze change, and cultivate health in our community.
Number of clients assisted with legal needs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Benefits Legal Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2023, our Benefits Legal Assistance provided 225 people with legal support, creating better access to public benefits for housing and essential needs, cash, food, childcare, healthcare, and more.
Number of children and youth who have received access to stable housing
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Victims of crime and abuse
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2023, Solid Ground's Residential Services housed 640 people - including 421 children and youth - in shelter, transitional, and permanent housing on their pathway to housing stability.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2023, more than 65,000 people accessed Solid Ground services.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Established in 1974, Solid Ground has become a vital part of King County's fight against poverty. We currently provide 20+ services that address basic needs, educate residents, and advocate for structural reform for 76,000 people annually who face homelessness, hunger, and other barriers. Our program goals include:
Advocacy: Our Statewide Poverty Action Network builds grassroots power to end causes of poverty and create opportunities for everyone to prosper. With a membership of 14,000 people, we give advocates a platform to create change in their communities through direct contact with legislators. Benefits Legal Assistance provides direct legal representation, advice, and counsel for benefits of State aid programs, with the goal of 250 cases each year with favorable outcomes.
Residential Services works to provide a continuum of housing services from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing for up to 900 individuals and families annually through Broadview Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing, Sand Point Housing Campus, and Family Shelter. These residential services include case management and onsite services that support long-term housing stability and greater self-sufficiency.
Stabilization Services aims to support over 2,100 individuals and families each as they secure and sustain housing. Through four distinct programs (Housing Stability, Journey Home Rabid Rehousing, Tenant Counseling, and the North Regional Access Point) we offer personalized services that prevent homelessness and facilitate secure housing.
Hunger and Food Resources combats hunger and malnutrition by increasing access to food and teaching people about nutrition and eating healthy on a budget. Our Community Food Education aim to work with over 2,000 students and families each year. Food System Support organizes and improves Seattle's emergency food network.
Solid Ground Transportation facilitates door-to-door transportation for people with limited mobility who are unable to ride the regular King County Metro bus system. Our goal is to provide 310,000 rides each year.
Volunteer Services: Our volunteer services work to create opportunities for people to make a real difference in their communities. Our Retired and Senior Volunteer Program creates a network of elders engaged in serving their communities, delivering nearly 160,000 service hours to local nonprofits. Other volunteer positions tap into community support for one-time or ongoing opportunities that result in nearly 153,000 hours of volunteering annually.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
With the understanding that a stable home is foundational to ending poverty, Solid Ground provides housing and homeless prevention in combination with services that meet basic needs to allow individuals and families to rebuild and thrive. We work with our participants to nurture success by providing tools, training, and counseling for long-term stability through a multigenerational approach. Embedded in our mission is an Anti-Racism Initiative, recognizing we exist within a flawed system and supporting our staff to remain on a growing edge. Our key strategy areas are to Meet Basic Needs, Nurture Success, and Catalyze Change.
Meeting Basic Needs:
• Supporting 365 survivors of domestic violence (DV) with safe housing, therapeutic children’s services, and an individualized combination of DV legal advocacy, long-term stability planning, and culturally relevant community connections for clinical and therapeutic care.
• Providing three levels of housing and supportive services for 225 households, including 224 children and 109 New Americans, recent immigrants, and refugees, escaping homelessness through seven residential buildings on our Sand Point campus located in the beautiful greenspace of Magnuson Park.
• Diverting 334 individuals away from the at-capacity homeless response system to more permanent housing by granting one-time financial assistance, facilitating transportation through bus tickets and rideshare programs, offering mediation support for roommate challenges, and more. 80% of the participants assisted through Diversion in 2019 were people of color.
• Supporting the network of the Seattle-area emergency food system through our coordination of the Seattle Food Committee’s (SFC) 25 food bank members, in addition to delivering thousands of pounds of food and goods to local food banks.
• Providing over 280,000 rides for King County residents who cannot access Metro’s fixed-route service, connecting our community members living with disabilities to critical health and human services.
Nurturing Success:
• Facilitating Financial Fitness Boot Camp (FFBC) hosted 953 participants in peer-supported workshops in partnerships with affordable housing providers.
• Leading coordinated and comprehensive steps to prevent eviction through a tenant counseling services that supports 1,167 renters and people experiencing homelessness through our 77 RentSmart workshops and 413 calls to the Bilingual Tenant Hotline.
• Assisting people accessing Medicaid, Home and Community Based Care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food Assistance, and Aged Blind and Disabled benefits. In total, our Benefits Legal Assistance team closed 193 cases in 2019.
Catalyzing Change:
Our Statewide Poverty Action Network joins with community members to advocate for the rights and equitable treatment we all deserve.
• We conduct listening sessions in communities experiencing poverty throughout the state to create an annual advocacy agenda for the State Legislature.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Solid Ground's capacity and relevant organizational experience is that of more than 46 years serving people living on very low incomes, including 35 years of delivering residential services. In 1982 we opened our Family Shelter program, and the following year, opened our Broadview residence to deliver emergency domestic violence shelter services; our Sand Point campus broke ground in 1993 and now serves nearly 400 people every year.
We have been recognized as a leader at the forefront of housing and human services during our 43-year history, pioneering innovative models years before others and advocating for dozens of stabilizing laws that protect people living on low incomes, including the Housing Levy in 1986 and the Washington State Housing Trust Fund in 1992. We have created innovative programs that now operate independently or were taken over by other agencies, such as Fremont's curbside recycling, Seattle Workers Center, Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), Home Care services, Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, and Family Works. We pioneered our Journey Home rapid-rehousing program in 1997 and founded the Non-Profit Anti-Racism Coalition (NPARC) in 2001.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Despite the changing local economic landscape, Solid Ground has remained steadfast in approach to serving people experiencing homelessness or living on low incomes. Solid Ground began as a clothing bank and handyman service, grew to include recycling services, at-home care for seniors and people with disabilities, and transitioned to serve those most at risk of instability in our community with more than 20 services, including homelessness prevention, housing for formerly homeless people, nutrition education, food system support, transportation for people with disabilities, state and local advocacy for people to have a platform for their voices to make lasting legislative change, and community volunteer opportunities. Our staff and volunteers embrace anti-racist/anti-oppressive values and actively work to integrate these values into their daily duties. This has been most prevalent through the development of an Anti-Racism Initiative, which includes a dedicated leader to guide the initiative and protected time for ARI training, identity-based caucusing, and program-based implementation of anti-racist principles and values. Furthermore, our recent strategic plan has allowed us to re-center our values at the forefront of our path forward.
From 2016-2020, Solid Ground will strengthen our people-centered approach and use social justice strategies to better align how we work to our mission and increase the well-being of the people we serve. Our community is stronger when all people can realize their potential.
We will be more ACCOUNTABLE to communities impacted by poverty
People know best what they need and should be involved in decisions that affect their lives. We will:▶▶ implement new ways to meaningfully engage people to inform our decisions
▶▶ seek and utilize input from people we serve and others living in poverty to ensure our services increasingly align with their needs
▶▶ develop and support collaborative relationships with participants, partners and funders
We will take an INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH to addressing needs
People face unique barriers to stability, and those barriers are increasing. One size does not fit all. We will:
▶▶ tailor our service approach to meet people's individual needs
▶▶ deepen external partnerships and internal coordination to deliver better outcomes for people we serve
▶▶ develop and implement comprehensive services for children and youth in our residences
We will successfully ADVOCATE to achieve equitable laws and policies
To end poverty and achieve social justice existing systems and institutions must change. The people we work with bring important voices to this work. We will:
▶▶ empower people to bring their lived experience to the political process to promote systemic change
▶▶ identify and change systems and policies that create and maintain barriers to opportunity
▶▶ mobilize people to increase our impact on anti-poverty and anti-racism issues.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Solid Ground Washington
Board of directorsas of 02/06/2024
Mary Ruffin
Foster Garvey PC
Term: 2023 - 2024
Hannah Won
Universal Basic Income Community Advocate
Val Pate
Rtd., WA State Housing Finance Commission
Katie Maloney
King Co., Business & Finance Officer II
Heidi Eisenstein
Illumina
Chrissy Glaister
Medical Devices & Healthcare Research
Vince Iaci
Rtd., Microsoft Financing
Andrew Miller
Nitant Singh
Microsoft
Joe Villegas
Rtd., US Foods
Lauren Vlas
WA State Attorney General's Office
Stanford Williams
Retail Management
Wayne Wyatt
Seattle Pacific University student/US Army Reserve Civil Affairs Specialist
Lindsay Zhou
Seattle-based Software Engineer
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/21/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.