Groups to address poverty on multiple levels

EVERETT — A high-level conversation will start next week with the goal of tackling a complex subject: poverty in Snohomish County.

Representatives from dozens of organizations have been invited to “Working Better Together: Summit on Poverty in Our Community,” to be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday at Everett’s Xfinity Arena. United Way of Snohomish County and the Snohomish County Human Services Department are among key organizers of the effort that will bring nonprofit and civic groups together to explore issues related to poverty in our midst.

“It’s a starting point for looking at how we can take our work to the next level,” said Mary Jane “MJ” Brell Vujovic, the county’s human services director. “We all want to come together to work together,” she said, adding that as many as 200 people are expected to attend.

Tuesday’s summit will be the first of a number of meetings on the topic. The next one is scheduled for Nov. 18, said Jacqui Campbell, the local United Way’s director of marketing and communications.

“We cast a wide net,” Campbell said. Invitations were sent to county and city officials and most area nonprofits. “It wasn’t limited to agencies working on poverty.” she said. “It ranges from early childhood agencies to senior centers.”

For the first conversation, organizations were asked to consider sending senior-level staff — “decision-makers,” Campbell said. “We wanted it to be people working on the issues, and somebody who could make a difference with their policies.” She said other voices will be part of later meetings.

Campbell and Brell Vujovic described Tuesday’s event as a collective impact summit. The process, Brell Vujovic said, is based on “Collective Impact,” a 2011 article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Its premise is that major social change can’t happen without multiple organizations working together.

There are many ways of measuring poverty locally. One eye-opening example of hidden poverty is this: As of May 2015, 40.4 percent of the Everett School District’s 19,606 students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals, according to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

According to U.S. Census estimates, 10.4 percent of the county’s more than 750,000 people were living below federal poverty guidelines in 2013.

The January 2015 Point in Time homeless count in Snohomish County found 966 people either homeless or in precarious housing, at risk of losing homes, according to Robin Hood, a county human services program manager.

Campbell said summit organizers hope to address both the symptoms of poverty and its roots.

“The focus is on breaking the cycle — making sure an infant born into poverty has a better chance to be set up for success, rather than repeating history,” she said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.