PARTNERING WITH THE COMMUNITY

East Central Ministries Supports The Whole Person

“Rents are up about 25% over the last few years,” says Judy Wolf, co-director of East Central Ministries. Judy has a front-row seat to the developing housing crisis in the International District: Right outside the ECM’s offices on Vermont and Central, she has seen a definite “increase in the number of unsheltered people.”

“With ERAP now being gone, it is difficult.” Since the government rental assistance program stopped taking applications on January 1, a focus on community solutions for families is even more important, and East Central Ministries has a rainbow of approaches. “The goal is holistic,” Judy says. “How do we support the whole person?”

One Hope Health Center, a community clinic offering affordable health care; dental, behavioral health, and medical clinics; and diabetes prevention, nutrition, women’s health, and cancer prevention classes, is one important facet. ECM also features a unique food cooperative, an urban farm, and community programs. The most important thing is “community–to get people together and moving.”

ECM also works to help people stay housed, negotiating with landlords and equipping clients with the tools to find better jobs, develop skills, and advocate for themselves. Its family stability program focuses on helping kids in APS to stay housed and in the same school, avoiding the upheaval that can harm their health and school success.

“Everything we do, it’s from the community itself,” Judy Wolf says. “How can we partner together to do this?”