The Spokane Alliance, alongside City Councilmembers Paul Dillon and Zack Zappone, are backing the "Public Dollars for Public Benefit Ordinance" to ensure city funds allocated for public infrastructure benefit the local workforce and community.
For more info - see the article at KHQ here.
Community members met with Spokane Alliance outside city hall on June 23.
Several clergy in Spokane spoke at the event, explaining how their spiritual roles led them to advocate for economic reform.
“As a campus pastor, I was prepared to lead Bible study and provide pastoral care. The reality is, I spend more time than I ever expected coordinating housing assistance, working with food banks and providing referrals,” she said. “Faced with these economic challenges, our young adults need opportunities that create financial stability.” - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pastor, the Rev. Emily Kuenker
For more info, see this article at FaVS news
We had a chance to connect leaders from all over, right here in Spokane, as several world-class leaders shared their organizing knowledge. There are a great group of growing leaders making change happen. For more details, read the full article here
Last fall, Katia Jasmin (Creole Resources), Laurel Fish (Spokane Alliance) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters worked with Peirone Produce to get Martino Augustil and Dieuvert Novembre employed here in Spokane. Augustil and Novembre are here from Haiti under a special migrant program that was recently cancelled by the Trump Administration. Their presence in the US is now in limbo. Full article here on Range Media
The Fig Tree recently published an article about Katia Jasmin, who wears many hats in our community. She is an organizer with Spokane Alliance, director at Parkview Early Learning Center, and founder of Creole Resources (a member organization of Spokane Alliance) here in Spokane.
Her journey has been one of making a difference through hard work, care, and broad experience. Her own story has ranged over several countries. Read more at the Fig Tree article. For more information about Creole Resources, email [email protected].
The Spokane Alliance invites you to participate in an open letter in solidarity with the Haitian community of Spokane. Spokane Alliance leaders from across the faith, labor, and nonprofit sectors are dismayed and angered by the national language of fear and dehumanization directed at Haitian immigrants.
The letter is here if you wish to sign: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScU-vMD_Oh8phs1Sj2rEIn_n14jMsLmMZ6oWsqAu6O0gY936g/viewform
Latest news on Spokane's efforts to create affordable housing units.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/aug/26/city-of-spokane-to-spend-9-million-to-create-or-re/
Adithya Vegaraju organized with the Spokane Alliance (through the Health Equity Circle) for his first two years of medical school in the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine from 2020-2022.
Adithya is now in his fourth year of medical school in the Seattle area. His recent research on senior mental health was featured in the Spokesman Review.
After studying older adults in urban Washington ZIP codes, the research showed that seniors rated their mental health as better when they were closer to trees and green spaces or water. His research was published in the journal Health and Place.
