Tiny homes video portrays lives being saved in Eugene, OR / Noisy Waters Northwest

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road trip tiny homes

Click the graphic to access the video “Tiny Homes For A Growing Epidemic,” posted on the Road Trip: Listen To America Facebook page

June 13, 2018  Dena Jensen

OpportUnity Village is one project of Square One Villages, an organization whose projects benefit people experiencing homelessness, and that believes, “that everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home.” Based in Eugene, Oregon, the organization which hosts three separate tiny home projects, says on their website About Us page, “SquareOne seeks to bridge the often insurmountable gap between the street and conventional housing with a variety of simple, cost-effective housing options.”

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Whatcom nonprofit forms to end homelessness and create homes — now! / Real Change, Jim Peterson

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homesnow real change op ed blurb

June 13th, 2018  Jim Peterson
Opinion

Whatcom County is nestled between the Salish Sea, Mount Baker and Canada, about 100 miles north of Seattle. By most accounts, it is an idyllic location: a university town (Bellingham), agriculture, outdoor recreation, a beautiful climate. But it has problems too, including ever-increasing homelessness.

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After the June 5, 2018 Port of Bellingham Commission meeting / Letter to the Port Commissioners, Dena Jensen

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june 5 2018 port commission meeting

Click on the graphic to listen to the section of the June 5, 2018 Port of Bellingham Commission meeting regarding Action Item #2

June 8, 2018  Dena Jensen

Dear Port of Bellingham Commissioners:

I have been able to listen to almost all of the June 5, 2018 Port Commission meeting.

I want to thank Port Commissioners for deferring until early fall of 2018, any vote on authorizing the Executive Director to enter into agreements with event organizers to close Port parks and hold private events for up to three uses per year.

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ACLU of Washington lawsuit: Whatcom County Jail violating ADA by refusing medication to people with opioid use disorder / News Release, ACLU of Washington

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aclu whatcom county courthouse

June 7, 2018  News Release, ACLU of Washington

The ACLU of Washington has filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit against Whatcom County and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office for denying people with opioid use disorder (OUD) in the County Jail medications necessary to treat their addiction.  The lawsuit challenges the Whatcom County Jail’s policy of refusing to provide people access to “Medication-Assisted Treatment” (MAT), including buprenorphine (Suboxone and Subutex) and methadone, even though it provides other clinically appropriate medications to inmates.  This policy is harmful, unwise, and illegal. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) forbids discrimination against people with OUD, who are just as entitled to medication as those suffering from any other ailment requiring medical treatment.

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Port Commission to vote 6/5/18 on letting Exec. Director shut down public Port parks 3 times per year for private events / Noisy Waters Northwest

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fix memorandum close up to action

June 1, 2018  Dena Jensen

Next week, on Wednesday, June 5, 2018, the Port of Bellingham Commission will be voting on whether to authorize, “the Executive Director to enter into agreements with event organizers to close Port parks and hold private events for up to three uses per year.”

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Overseeing the fight for civilian oversight to protect immigrants and people of color in Bellingham / Noisy Waters Northwest

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you don't have my vote postcard front cropped

postcards to mayor redacted aqua

Graphics show one postcard front side (top), and multiple reverse/message sides of postcards sent to Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville by community members in June of 2017

May 23, 2018  Dena Jensen

The following report offers information gained through a public records request I made of the City of Bellingham on January 18, 2018.

Protecting vulnerable members of our community is a shared responsibility that none of us should take lightly. As much as government agencies may strive for and purport transparency, it is generally human nature to not be able to recognize our own flaws and, if others point them out, to do our best to excuse them or deny that this flaw, which another person sees, is really there.

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