Seattle, WA. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, YouthCare has continued to work toward its mission to end youth homelessness by providing shelter, safety, and stability to young people. “In times such as these, YouthCare cannot close our doors,” writes YouthCare CEO, Melinda Giovengo, in a news release. YouthCare’s emergency shelter, community living, and independent living programs have remained open throughout the crisis. To accomplish this, YouthCare temporarily suspended its education, employment, and prevention programs, and instead directed the brunt of its people-power toward keeping essential food, shelter, and housing programs open. “We know that every young person deserves more than just survival. Yet, for now, we must do all that we can to protect young people and the broader community,” says Giovengo.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, YouthCare’s Orion Center served over one hundred young people per day. YouthCare is now serving a fixed number of young people, approximately 200 youth and young adults across their Seattle area shelter and housing programs. To follow Governor Inslee’s stay-at-home order, these young people are no longer allowed to have visitors, or leave and come back without pre-approval. To flatten the curve, “YouthCare must navigate the complicated balance of keeping our doors open and shut at the same time,” says Giovengo.
Gourmondo joined forces with 16 Seattle businesses to provide over 1,000 meals to youth experiencing homelessness
Providing young people with food and safety as they shelter in place has required additional resources. YouthCare is keeping its facilities staffed 24 hours a day so that clients can shelter in place 24/7. The young people served by YouthCare are also now sharing three communal meals per day, which means increased food costs. Responding to YouthCare’s increased need for food, many restaurants, businesses, and non-profits have donated food and meals to YouthCare.
A student working hard at virtual school
In addition to food donations, YouthCare is also now collecting donations to its Back-to-School drive as schools begin to reopen online. With most schools holding classes exclusively online this Fall, the students served by YouthCare must have access to the supplies they need to stay connected to and engaged with their classes. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, YouthCare is not currently accepting in-person donations. Instead, those hoping to donate can do so through YouthCare’s Amazon wishlist, or ship supplies directly to YouthCare’s main office.
From YouthCare:
YouthCare envisions a community where no young person experiences homelessness, all young people have the opportunity to thrive, and the systems that oppress them are dismantled.
Seattle, WA. DO-IT Summer Study, the foundational event of the DO-IT Scholars program, was held online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During pre-covid times, DO-IT Scholars were able to learn on campus at the University of Washington. Despite the challenges of adapting a traditionally hands-on program to the virtual landscape, Sheryl Burgstahler, DO-IT’s founder and director, declares that the event “went really, really well.”
The goal of the DO-IT Scholars program is to prepare high school students with disabilities for success in college, careers, and leadership. In a typical year, participants, who are referred to as “Scholars” throughout the program, attend Summer Study at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. During the ten-day program, participants live on campus, attend labs, and lectures with UW faculty, work on projects together, and explore Seattle-area resources and careers. This Summer session has taken place every year since 1993 and served more than 400 Scholars.
According to Burgstahler, when the DO-IT team realized that Summer Study could not be held in person this year, they considered not running it at all. “It was a challenge because the Summer Program is really about networking,” said Burgstahler.
To move the program online, the DO-IT team looked at the program’s typical in-person activities and tried to find substitutions that aligned with their goals, and made sense in the virtual format. “We ended up with a lot of things on the cutting room floor,” said Burgstahler. Some things, like a time-honored activity where participants help each other build kites, could not be run remotely.
According to Kayla Brown, a counselor and coordinator at DO-IT, the team prioritized activities that they thought best aligned with the program’s goals and values. This year, they invested a lot of time in a web design workshop. During the workshop, participants worked together in small teams to develop a DO-IT Summer Study 2020 website.
DO-IT students conducting an oceanography experiment during a previous summer study program.
According to Brown, although some activities could not be run remotely, the DO-IT team was able to make a virtual version of “pretty much everything” they typically do. Summer Study normally allows participants to network and build relationships with each other. This year, although students could not meet face to face, they were still able to bond through various optional social activities, including game nights, group lunches, a talent show, and a Zoom meeting where everyone, Burgstahler included, shared their pets. “We tried to do our best to make it fun,” said Brown.
During pre-covid times, DO-IT Scholars were able to network on campus at the University of Washington.
On the academic, career-focused side of the program, participants were still able to meet with, and have one-on-one conversations with faculty via Zoom. In fact, according to Burgstahler, one of the advantages of having the program online was that participants were able to meet with faculty from outside of Seattle. Instead of taking a field trip to the Microsoft campus as they would in a typical year, a panel of Microsoft employees with various disabilities joined the DO-IT Scholars in Zoom for a conversation about how work, school, and entertainment can be inclusive through innovative technology.
DO-IT used Zoom video conferencing software as their primary mode of communication this year; this presented its own challenges. “Logistics were, I wouldn’t say more complicated, just different,” said Burgstahler. Since participants in the program have a variety of disabilities, any software, websites, videos, or other technology resources used in the program need to be fully accessible. Fortunately, DO-IT staff includes some of the world’s leading experts in technology accessibility, so this was an easy transition.
A group of students enjoying Summer Study
Another challenge DO-IT faced when transitioning Summer Study online was keeping students engaged. According to Brown, the first thing the DO-IT team had to consider after deciding to run Summer Study virtually was how many hours a day they could keep students behind a screen. The program is usually very intensive, with the Scholars engaged in activities throughout the day, but that type of engagement can be more difficult to cultivate in the virtual format. “Now they’re at home,” said Brown, “they’re with family, and they have other things they’re doing.” Ultimately, the DO-IT team agreed to reduce the program to a few hours of academic programming per day, with social activities at night. To meet their goals while working with students for less time each day, the team ran the program over three weeks rather than the usual ten days.
Summer study 2013 phase 1 scholar Nicole Madsen and instructor Jeff Stewart participate in EXO Labs.
“Ultimately, even though it wasn’t perfect, what we learned was that things can be done online,” said Brown. At the end of the program, students reported back on their experiences. According to Burgstahler, a lot of them talked about making friends, which shows that Scholars can make the connections DO-IT aims to foster online. Although Burgstahler hopes that the program can be held in-person next year, some of the Scholars have disabilities that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, so DO-IT must be cautious when deciding whether Summer Study will be held in-person or remotely in 2021.
For more information on the DO-It Scholars Program:
From DO-IT:
The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. It promotes awareness and accessibility—in both the classroom and the workplace—to maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities and make our communities more vibrant, diverse, and inclusive.
Seattle, WA. Despite the challenges involved with social distancing requirements and remote learning, Page Ahead, a program dedicated to closing the literacy achievement gap experienced by at-risk children, was able to provide over 145 thousand books to kids in Washington this summer. “It was super important and extra challenging,” says Rebecca Brinbury, Page Ahead’s Development Manager.
Students receiving books
Book Up Summer, Page Ahead’s flagship program helps prevent summer reading loss, the decline in reading development that occurs when children are away from school. Research shows that summer reading loss has a more significant impact on lower-income students, largely because they have limited access to reading material. In a typical year, Book Up Summer allows students to choose twelve books each to bring home from school book fairs in the spring. This year, with schools and libraries closed, it was more important than ever that kids have books at home, but there were barriers at every step of the process.
With book fairs no longer running in schools, Page Ahead provided web portals and paper packets for children to select books from during remote learning. According to Page Ahead, the trick to “making” kids read is allowing them to choose books that they are interested in, so it was important that kids were still able to select their own books during the COVID-19 crisis.
After the books were selected, Page Ahead staff worked to coordinate the book shipments and deliveries. With many retailers closed, Page Ahead staff had to find substitutions for books that were out of stock.
In the end, Page Ahead was able to deliver over 145 thousand books. Brinbury emphasizes that Page Ahead is a four-person organization and that they would not have been able to deliver the books, were it not for the help of “some really amazing volunteers who wore masks and gloves, socially distanced, and were able to get thirty thousand books packed.” “With everything going on people really wanted to help,” says Brinbury. Many volunteers delivered books to Page Ahead’s partner schools themselves, and when students couldn’t make it to school to pick up their books, volunteers brought the books directly to them.
Now that Page Ahead has a model for providing Book Up Summer remotely, Brinbury says they are prepared for the possibility of running the program remotely again next Spring.
From Page Ahead:
Literacy can make the difference between the poverty of one generation and the promise of the next. Page Ahead helps children realize their potential by providing them with the inspiration to read.
Seattle WA. Orca Conservancy is calling for legislative action in the wake of an incident in mid-July in which thirty boaters surrounded and harassed a pod of orcas in the Tacoma Narrows. “This level of this harassment is unacceptable and is why Orca Conservancy believes more actions need to be taken around vessel enforcement/regulations, and most importantly, education,” explained Orca Conservancy leaders. They’re urging the that when people are registering their boats they’re given more information on the marine life and what the be-whale-wise guidelines. Orca Conservancy urges its supporters, “reach out to your local representatives to demand more funding be put into place — not only to educate new boaters but to give our enforcement agencies additional manpower on the water.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Be Whale Wise webpage advises boaters and paddlers on marine laws and best practices for protecting marine wildlife. According to be-whale-wise guidelines, and Washington state law, boats must stay 300 yards from orcas on either side and 400 yards in front of and behind the whales. Boaters involved in last week’s incident were well within 300 meters of the pod.
Both Canada and the United States have Southern Resident orcas listed as endangered. As of June 2020, only 73 orcas remain. According to Orca Conservancy, the most critical threats facing the Southern Resident orcas of Pudget Sound are lack of food, toxins, and vessel noise, which hinders the orcas’ ability to use echolocation to forage for food.
Transient whale approaches vessel. All images via Tamara Kelley, Orca Conservancy Board Director
Tarantino also notes that the closure of whale-watching companies due to COVID-19 may contribute to increased pressure to view killer whales. According to Orca Conservancy, “the PWWA (Pacific Whale Watching Association) has been a leader in educating boaters and warning recreational vessels when to slow down for years. The PWWA is having a net positive effect when it comes to noise reduction, and are why go-slow zones are best when implemented properly.”
According to the PWWA’s webpage, the association’s local whale and wildlife viewing guidelines have become a model for international efforts to recover the orca whale population. “We’ve created no-boat foraging zones, minimized underwater noise with speed limits and sonar restrictions, and created clear corridors for Southern Resident orcas to travel,” says the PWWA.
From Orca Conservancy:
Orca Conservancy is committed to the recovery of the Southern Resident killer whale population and protecting the wild places on which it depends. Since 1996, we have worked tirelessly to recover the Southern Resident killer whale population throughout their habitat range using Science, Law, and Education.
Seattle, WA. Due to COVID-19, ChickTech has transitioned all of its programs online; this includes ChickTech’s K-8 and high school programs, and its ACT-W conferences and events. Although this transition has left ChickTech unable to do its signature in-person events, ChickTech program manager Ivette Cortez has found that “anything is virtually possible.”
“In the past, we needed the space and the finances,” says Cortez. Virtually, programs can be easier to coordinate.
High school students working in VR with ChickTech.
Students code with ChickTech in-person before the pandemic.
ChickTech’s new virtual mentorship program has reached over 150 high schoolers, a handful of which are returning students. According to Cortez, ChickTech’s online platform has created new mentorship opportunities. Before the pandemic, ChickTech struggled to coordinate mentorship opportunities in person, but staffers have found that mentorship is more manageable online.
ChickTech’s ACT-W (Advancing the Careers of Technical Womxn) conferences and events have also grown in the online format. ChickTech expects attendance to double at this year’s ACT-W (Advancing the Careers of Technical Womxn) conference (August 26th-28th). Previous ACT-W conferences have reached about 500 people, but Cortez believes that the virtual format will make the conference accessible many more.
This year’s ACT-W conference will focus on inclusion in the tech field and include speaking sessions, technical workshops, one-on-one career coaching, and a virtual career fair. People from all backgrounds and genders who are in the tech field, or interested in tech can register for the conference here. Proceeds will go toward ChickTech’s high school program
ChickTech is also making strides in the realm of inclusion and diversity. This last week, ChickTech’s board has been in the process of reviewing a DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) portfolio, which includes learning hours for staff to develop best practices for working with diverse populations. “We want to continue learning,” says Cortez, “We’re very dedicated to creating a more inclusive and diverse landscape.”
From ChickTech:
Founded in 2012, ChickTech is a Portland, Oregon-based national nonprofit dedicated to retaining womxn (including non-binary and transgender individuals) in the technology workforce and increasing the number of diverse youth pursuing technology-based careers. We currently have over 25 chapters across North America, engaging a community of over 20,000 women and girls.
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