King County Journal  - April 18, 2004

The myths that hurt human services
by Pamela Mauk

When I moved from Seattle to the Eastside in the late 1980s, my friends rolled their eyes with urban sophistication. They mocked my move to what they considered to be the monotonously wealthy Eastside.

I quickly learned the falsity of this view. Sure, there was lots of evidence of money (``Who buys all these homes?'' I'd ask), but working and volunteering in health and human services made crystal clear the diversity of people, even in the '80s.

More than 15 years later, with even greater density and variety of people (the Eastside has grown by 38 percent in the last two decades), that myth of a uniformly well-off Eastside is even less true, yet the myth still sticks. And, moreover, it hurts.

There are 20,000 people, conservatively, living in poverty on the Eastside. It hurts when our community assumes its needs are met. It hurts when funding moves elsewhere. Hunger feels as badly here as anywhere, as does homelessness or domestic violence.

A recent publication by Eastside Human Services Alliance (``The Real Eastside'') called this misconception The Eastside Myth. It got me to thinking about other hurtful misconceptions that are difficult to shake.

The Not My Problem Myth involves a belief that human services are primarily used by others; specifically, the poor. Consider this. People of all ages and incomes use mental health programs. Should your teenager need counseling for trauma, depression or alcohol abuse, your child will get in line with everyone else. If funding cutbacks have led to impaired services (and they have: Waits can be six weeks for such services) you and yours will suffer. Same for services for disabilities (think car accident), family violence, dental services, senior housing and on and on.

The Everyone Looks Like Us Myth suggests our community is made up of people that are just like us, and therefore, their needs are predictable and well met. Yet, both the Eastside and south King County demographics have changed significantly with the influx of immigrant and refugee populations. (A recent city of Bellevue report notes that 27 percent of its residents (over age 5) now speak a language other than English at home.)

The You Are Always Asking for Money, so Things Can't Really Have Changed Much Myth is perhaps the most bedeviling. Government cutbacks have been so significant (and the trends for future government funding so threatening) that this is a very different time for human services organizations. The population has grown steadily, and thus the demand on services has grown. Couple this with a nasty economy and many services for families are in real trouble.

So, what do we do?

* Be aware that government funding is the primary source of funding (by far!) for most human services. When governments are forced to cut budgets, people suffer.

* Volunteer. Be a board member, food distributor, mentor, driver, computer consultant, friend. For those on the Eastside, Family Resource Center hosts its seventh annual Eastside Volunteer at Redmond Town Center next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be 50 nonprofit organizations participating. For those in south King County and elsewhere, visit United Way's Volunteer Center at www.uwkc.org/volunteer to find the right fit.

* Be a donor. Contribute to United Way's safety net. Consider supporting 18 Eastside health, housing and human services agencies at Family Resource Center by buying a $100 brick at www.familyresourcecenter.org. (Your purchase will help complete payment on the center, providing new funds to our 18 agencies for the next 15 years.)

* Speak up. Tell eye-rollers that indeed we have the same service needs as any other area. Share the message that, yes, even in ``this well-off community'' we need to support human services. Join with us to help create and maintain the kind of vital, caring and healthy community important to all of us.

Pamela Mauk is executive director of Family Resource Center, the Eastside's human services campus, and treasurer of the Eastside Human Services Alliance. Readers can contract her via e-mail at pamm@family resourcecenter.org or 425-869-1174.
 

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