
March 4, 2021 Dena Jensen
Dear Homeless Strategies Workgroup:
I really appreciate the questions and points raised in recent letters sent in by <a href="To: Cathy Halka <chalka@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Barry Buchanan <bbuchana@co.whatcom.wa.us>; mayorsoffice@cob.org <mayorsoffice@cob.org>; Michael W. Lilliquist <mlilliquist@cob.org>; Gene R. Knutson <gknutson@cob.org>; Mike Hilley <mhilley@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Ann Beck <abeck@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Anne Deacon <adeacon@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Michael Shepard <michaels@portofbellingham.com>; michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org <michael_parker@whatcomhsc.org>; Rud Browne <rbrowne@co.whatcom.wa.us> Cc: Hannah E. Stone <hestone@cob.org>; Hollie A. Huthman <hahuthman@cob.org>; Daniel C. Hammill <dchammill@cob.org>; Pinky T. Vargas <ptmvargas@cob.org>; Satpal Sidhu <ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Todd Donovan <tdonovan@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Tyler Byrd <tbyrd@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Carol Frazey <cfrazey@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Ben Elenbaas <belenbaa@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Kathy Kershner <kkershne@co.whatcom.wa.us>; Health Carmen Gilmore and Arrissia Owen Turner, and I hope the workgroup will use these to help cement focus and progress on primary goals.
I also call for one of the primary goals of this workgroup being that of addressing the needs of unsheltered community members in crisis, and feel it will become easier and quicker to make progress on this goal by staying grounded in an approach that views people falling through the cracks of existing solutions – or lack of them – as unacceptable.
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