en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanja Japanesept Portugueseru Russianes Spanish

North Sound ACH

North Sound Accountable Community of Health

Blog

Dreaming Out Loud

by Leave a Comment

This phrase has been on my mind for several months. Just about every week I get to spend time with partners who are doing creative and important work that is fueled by passion and commitment, but not always supported financially to be sustainable. We try to imagine what it would take to make those efforts become the norm, to be part of the mainstream strategies that are supported by policy and revenue. Some examples follow from my last couple of weeks –  

I watched a film called Daughters, about a program in Washington DC that connects daughters with their fathers through a dance that occurs inside of the carceral facility where they are held. It is a moving story about the children and parents, but also an incredibly powerful portrayal of how dehumanizing the system can be – limits to in-person visits (called ‘touch visits’) and even facilities that do not allow any visitation at all. We can’t criticize others for inhumane conditions when we also do that here. The backstory behind the dance was gut wrenching to absorb. Yet, the filmmakers stated that 95% of the men who take part in the dance do not re-offend when they are released – the impact of one day of reconnection and being treated as full and important human beings.

For example, people who are incarcerated depend on for-profit systems in order to call family members; the average cost can be as high as $50 to $100 per month. And when their families don’t have those funds, that means there is no contact. Here is the average cost of calls for each state. So dreaming out loud – being treated as a human is healing, and our carceral facilities are not geared in that way, but imagine the power of abolishing what we do today, replacing it with something that is focused on healing people who make their way through jails and prisons. In the framework of targeted universalism – what could be our universal goal?

Washington is one of several states implementing a Jail Reentry benefit through its Medicaid program. It reopens their Medicaid benefit 90 days before release, allowing payment for clinical services to bridge from incarceration to community upon their release. Alongside this, North Sound ACH began a Community of Practice with community organizations who work with people while they are incarcerated, and walk alongside them after their release. (The participants named itself Re-Integration Community of Practice, rather than Reentry). One of those partners (Underground Ministries) shared their set of principles that underpin their work, and one of those is ‘dreaming in decades:’ recognizing that many people who have lived experience with incarceration see dreaming as a privilege that they don’t have – survival is overwhelming just by itself; dreaming is too far to reach. They aim to change that.

The North Sound ACH Partner Convening was on August 15, and each time we come together it is a slightly different combination of people, and growing more diverse each time. The Collaborative Action Network is growing and changing, aiming to find ways for partners to meet, learn about and collaborate with each other.  We have intentionally tried to keep our gatherings to about 200 participants, but as the network grows we have to decide about future gatherings – make them larger or hold more focused smaller convenings. (There are currently 170 organizations in the Collaborative Action Network, and more on the horizon.) We’ll be reaching out to you in the near future to help the thinking for that strategy.

North Sound gets invited to meetings across the country because of our guiding frameworks (honoring tribal sovereignty, equity, targeted universalism, belonging, the vital conditions for well-being, and leading with love.) But it is also because of you. In August we were invited to the Inland Empire for a conference with 600 attendees, and it was amazing because instead of me, we sent Cynthia Andrews from our team, Jason McGill (CEO for Northwest Youth Services and North Sound board member) and Kevin Riley (also a board member, and pastor at Mount Baker Presbyterian Church). I wanted the Inland Empire to hear from them about what we’re aiming for, and I can’t wait to invite you to share your stories as well. They got a standing ovation for speaking as themselves – and so would you!

My dream – that my children and grandchildren will want to live here, rather than looking for another place to live solely because that other place feels more welcoming, or makes them feel like they will be a better fit there. North Sound can be that place too, but we cannot do this alone, and it isn’t an easy journey. We must work together to make this region a place where all community members feel like they belong; where we all see each other as whole human beings; where we are loved.  

Thanks for joining us in this work!

Be well – 

Equity: Important Now More Than Ever

by 1 Comment

Last summer we were getting ready to launch our first communities of practice, and had several conversations that retrenchment was just around the corner for investments in equity-focused work. A lot of organizations added DEI staff after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. By early 2023, many of those organizations were already walking back some of those commitments, either eliminating positions or asking DEI leads to add other responsibilities like strategic planning, HR, and other business practices to their roles. 

I carry a lot of curiosity about whether organizations who committed to equity, actually knew what they were committing to in the first place. Equity is much more than a trendy term to use in communications, a banner to wave to show that one is responding to a crisis, or a current event. Rather, it is (or should be) a body of work that will strengthen organizations and our communities if we put the required investments of time and dollars in. There is nothing easy about this, and there is no single strategy that will ‘achieve’ equity. There are too many long held beliefs, barriers and roadblocks in the way. That said, it is also possible to make visible and lasting progress. 

A close friend, Diana Bianco, introduced me to a term almost 20 years ago – “to what end?” I can’t count the number of times that I say that out loud. If you don’t know what you’re after, how will you know if you ever get there? 

I read an article this week about several large companies who are reducing or eliminating their commitments to DEI, including companies whose products we use every day. My intention is not to call them out here; they are not alone in making decisions to remove references to equity. They are simply examples of why the work we do is so important – equity is more than a word. 

  • “We’re going to lead with inclusion, because we need a world where inclusion is front and center. And that means inclusion for all, not some people. Everyone has a right to feel that they belong in the workplace and that they are included.”  They further stated “By putting inclusion first, we aim to address the existing flaws in DE&I programs, which have caused societal backlash and increased polarization,” then emphasizing its continued commitment to promoting equity within its “inclusion” strategy. (SHRM)
  • “True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020”, while in another spot they said “our commitments to DEI remain the same.” (Microsoft)

How can your commitments remain the same when you cannot say the word out loud? 

This is beyond disheartening or disappointing. I understand that companies don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable. Inequities are present every day – not just in the past, but perpetuated today and will continue into the future if we don’t name what needs to be changed. That’s why they need diverse leaders, who are tasked with leading those initiatives and deep systems change. But having a group of diverse leaders is a visual representation of hiring practices; having teams who are tasked with advancing equity is a whole other matter. It means that you value the work itself.  

Large companies have the power to change minds, and when they are faced with discomfort they should use that opportunity to educate, not backpedal; leaning into discomfort instead of stepping away. (Well, they could be using it as an opportunity for education if not for two things – they’re reducing their DEI staff, and the IRS tax laws make it illegal for a for-profit company to take any action that could reduce their market share or return to shareholders.) 

Equity is about everyone – and if there are people who feel left out, it is a lack of understanding about what an equitable approach can accomplish to better the lives of all community members. We have to know where we are headed (the ‘to what end’) and then we can lay out the steps we’ll take along the way. We cannot just begin taking steps and think they’ll get us to some  unstated goal. The word ‘equity’ is not the reason people are uncomfortable; the notion of change that will somehow leave them out or give them less is scary. So let’s address that. 

I’ll end with something my oldest said to me when he held his first job after graduate school. He was lamenting how much technology he had access to in his graduate program that was not accessible in the firm where he was working. As a young architect he didn’t have 3D printers or a device that he could take into the field as he was managing a project. “Mom, they only have desktops!” After he described the scenario I asked why that was and his response stayed with me, “the principals of my firm were taught by professors who were born at the turn of the last century.” I had to sit down and do the math to catch up. That is how structural racism stays in place – it is not about the long ago history (that some want to bury), all that history is sitting with the leaders we have today, including me.

If we want a future that embraces us all, we must be brave enough to build new structures, not continue to rebuild what made sense in the early 1900s. 

I’m glad to be with you on this journey and look forward to seeing you in August. Registration for the Partner Convening is open! 

Be well –

Embracing Our Multifaceted Identities

by Leave a Comment

There are more than a few voices whose words I turn back to time and time again, especially when things feel harder than on other days:

  • “We need to practice – which is different than something being ‘a practice’, or thinking of ‘best practices’; we need to practice each day.” – Clarice Bailey
  • “Practice does not make us better; it makes us different.” – Ruth Wilson Gilmore 
  • “I lead with my vulnerability.” – Alex Sanchez

Our team is definitely being called upon to practice. Like many of you, we are learning into anti-racism, anti-blackness, antisemitism, Asian hate, islamophobia, homophobia, xenophobia, and more. And trying to bring in our principles of leading with love into that mix. Some days are uplifting and joyful, but often mixed with sadness, disappointment, and anger with the hateful things happening around us in communities. 

We have a policy of ‘no politics in the workplace’ and we’re struggling with how that manifests itself when my workplace is also my home. Ironically, we often offer more trainings to partners than we do to our team, so we’re doing some internal focused work too. That makes us feel vulnerable, but we are practicing so that we can be different. We’re on the journey from here to there. 

June is a great example of the multiple and intertwined identities we hold. In addition to celebrating graduations, end of the school year, and Father’s Day, did you know that June also brings:

  • Immigrant Heritage Month
  • Black Music Month
  • LGBTQIA+ Pride Month 
  • Men’s Health Month
  • Caribbean-American Heritage Month
  • National PTSD Awareness Month
  • National Loving Day
  • Juneteenth
  • Summer Solstice
  • National HIV Testing Day 
  • And many, many more 

We all carry a varied mix of identities, making us amazing and interesting people. I identify as female, am a daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother; descended from slaves purchased by the Danes to work on sugar plantations in the Caribbean and from French settlers in the Caribbean. My maternal grandfather was one generation removed from slavery and was a composer and musician. Both of my parents were born on islands in the Caribbean. My parents were married, but if not for the Loving v. Virginia case, their marriage could have been illegal when they moved to the mainland. I’ve raised three children into adulthood with my partner Nancy, and was previously in a traditional marriage before divorcing. I have mixed race children by birth and adoption, a daughter-in-law from Busan, Korea, and a grandson who I often describe as being half Korean and half everything else. Yet we are connected by love and care for each other in ways that cannot be measured.

It is only from the outside that I’m asked to name myself with one identity, a desire to label me as one thing or another, incapable of seeing the multiplicity that exists within each of us. It is within my personal circle that this multiplicity is unearthed and treasured.

The June events listed above are significant to me and my family. We love each other because we cannot imagine choosing a different way to approach our lives. We see what makes us different, yet we are tied together by the richness of our own experiences, our connections, and our love. It is not naive to believe that love is powerful. It is what allows me (and us) to see the humanity in another person, no matter what assets they have or struggles they bear. 

We tell partners that we want to lead with love, and sometimes we realize we haven’t yet incorporated it at all levels of our work. We can get stuck in self-criticism and looking for others to blame. I hope we can also see these moments as an opportunity to lift new ideas and try new ways to be different.

Having once tried to teach myself to play the guitar, I know that I can only practice in a space where I don’t feel I will be judged if I’m imperfect. I hope we can provide that kind of space to each other, where we can be imperfect while we practice and learn, individually and together. That, too, is pretty powerful: the space to grow and become different.

We look forward to seeing in six short weeks at the August convening. Details coming soon!

Be well –

Network Dispatch: Cultural Alimentos Project

by Leave a Comment

Community-Centered Solutions: Cultural Alimentos Project

About to launch phase two of this project, the collaborating organizations – Bellingham Food Bank, Northwest Agricultural Business Center, and Refugee and Immigrant Services NW – have made great strides to increase food security for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) populations!

Approved for funding by the North Sound ACH Review Committee last year, the Cultural Alimentos Project focuses on expanding knowledge about food security needs and simultaneously building strategies for longer term investment in food systems that support BIPOC/RIM community members.

North Sound ACH team members visited the Bellingham Food Bank site in May 2024, meeting with Mike Cohen and Stephanie Sisson (Bellingham Food Bank), Steve Bader of Agape Food Bank, Alex Perez (Northwest Agricultural Business Center), and Van Kuno (Refugee & Immigrant Services NW).

Steve Bader of Agape Food Bank, and Stephanie Sisson and Mike Cohen of Bellingham Food Bank.
A sample of food available at the Bellingham Food Bank
Seen at the Bellingham Food Bank
Bellingham Food Bank Executive Directory Mike Cohen shows the warehouse.

Bellingham Food Bank surveyed their clients in 2022, asking about cultural food preferences, ease of locations, and to find out which populations were missing from utilizing their services. This project builds upon those survey results, and led to creating advisory groups composed of community members from the BIPOC communities they intend to serve.

Project leads said they’ve learned the importance of not rushing the process when it comes to building trust within the community. They recently hired a consultant to help them hear and learn from BIPOC communities. As a result, they’ve noticed a rise in the number of people joining the advisory groups, including members from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Pacific Islands, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and various Latino and indigenous communities.

They’ve recently learned of key transportation barriers, residual fear of federal immigration policies that were never passed or have been rescinded (that threatened to penalize immigrants for accessing benefits), and continued lack of services tailored to BIPOC and RIM communities.

One significant finding was that people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Pacific Islander communities consistently reported a lack of services tailored to them. Often, they received written information and were then turned away. This issue was a common theme during advisory group meetings with these communities.

Stay tuned for more updates!

CORRECTION: Agape Service Project Food Bank is not a part of the Cultural Alimentos Project. They are a food bank that works closely with Bellingham Food Bank, especially around sourcing culturally relevant foods. They were also not a part of the 2022 Bellingham Food Bank client survey mentioned in the previous version of this post. The writer apologizes for the error.

––––––––

We’ll be sharing more Network Dispatches in the coming months, about the projects created by Collaborative Action Network members.

May 2024 CEO Update

by Leave a Comment

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as we see the month end, you don’t need a reminder that the need to transform our care and service systems is not limited to any one month – it is ongoing. Kevin Riley, pastor of Mount Baker Presbyterian Church (and a North Sound ACH Board member) offered us words from his heart, allowed us to post it on our site, and share them with you. Kevin, thank you for trusting us with your words and story. You can read Kevin’s words here. 

Review Committee Decisions

In 2023 we beta-tested an inaugural partner-based Review Committee. An amazing group came together to review and make decisions about funding 20 collaborative proposals from other partners, awarding close to $4 million last year. Our goal was to create a space where partners could decide where the next dollars should be invested. We talk about sharing power, but could we really do it? You can hear/watch reflections from last year’s committee link. 

It was a lot of work, and we learned so much from the participants that jumped from a beta version to Committee 1.0 in the fall. Last year’s Review Committee helped select the V1.0 Committee members, and that group just finalized their decisions for 2024. The challenge for them – this year there were close to 60 proposals, and $3.5 million to distribute – in other words, harder decisions to make.  We’re working on finalizing contracts right now, and as soon as we’re done we’ll announce them out. The committee chose projects that deepen impact on equitable access to care and services, work with community organizations that have historically been marginalized, and focus on the next generation. We know you’ll be as excited as we are! 

From Committee members we heard:

“It is such a privilege to be surrounded by the very best humans, and to be a key player in facilitating the magic that happens when projects slowly take shape and then life.  It’s not simply standing by and nodding in approval, rather it is taking active steps – being an active participant in real change.  This is the dream of anyone who is called to do this type of progressive work.”

“There are so many communities that need help and being a part of the ACH review committee has helped me to fill that gap and learn more about the communities in which we live and serve.”

“I felt my eyes and ears being opened to the possibilities and initiatives that might still be possible when service organizations work together.” 

Lots of gratitude to all of the ACH team members who helped the Review Committee all along the way!

Community Hub Expansion

Straight ahead on our horizon is an expansion of the North Sound Community Hub. We’ll be hosting an information session about the Hub expansion on July 11, from 1-2:30 p.m. – click here to register and add to your calendar! Also, a section of our August convening will be focused on the Hub. We currently have nine partner organizations in the Hub, and we have room to triple that or even more. If you enter in agreement with us, it provides a revenue stream to support community based workers, such as community health workers, promotoras and others who help folks navigate the complexities of clinical and community services.

Imagine what it would be like to have a dedicated revenue stream for community based care coordinators, and to grow the capacity of that workforce. That is the opportunity that the new Medicaid Waiver bring our way. The Community Hub can provide the connective tissue, but we don’t have a hub without community partners having care coordinators on the ground in community. We’re excited to be building that capacity with you! Please join us on July 11 to learn more!

Summer temperatures feel so close, with more daylight and sunshine teasing us that it’s coming. We’re looking forward to seeing you out and about, and definitely in August.

You’re Not Alone: A Message of Support and Hope

by Leave a Comment

Guest Post written by Kevin Riley, of Mount Baker Presbyterian Church

Trigger warning – This post will be vulnerable and long, so I have broken it up so it’s easier to read through. 

May 2, 2024

Tonight like most nights I opened my Facebook app to just kinda see what everyone was up to. The first post that popped up was one of our local community pages. 

I instantly read that there was a female in a mental health crisis and law enforcement was requesting help from every agency possible – helicopters, boats, firefighters, and more. 

The individual in crisis was on the Deception Pass Bridge. A place of extreme beauty and wonder and, on the other hand, a morbid darkness as well. Many people have taken their lives jumping from that bridge. I’ve even, when I was younger, stood there and thought about it a time or two. 

The person in crisis did jump. Her lifeless body was picked up by a boater who happened to be there and rushed to land, where they tried CPR and other life-saving measures. Unfortunately, she did not survive the fall. 

When I hear of someone who has taken their own life it sends a visceral feeling through my body, followed by a wave of emotion and gut wrenching empathy for the person that succumbed to the moment of desperation, finally losing the fight they fought for so long. 

Some of these fights are public; some are private and unexpected – think Robin Williams. 

I myself am a suicide survivor and I know that darkness all too well. The embarrassment and emotional toll, along with the stigma of having a mental health diagnosis is imprisoning and debilitating at times. 

And no matter how hard and far you run from it, it is inescapable. And, without proper treatment and support, can be life ending as we see at the beginning of this post. When you step into the darkness and find yourself in that place it never truly goes away. 

From about the age of 13 to 35 I tried to control my mental health through the use of illicit substances, and after nearly 10 years of not addressing my mental health in sobriety and having my CPTSD and complex trauma, triggered in debilitating ways that led to daily panic attacks, I finally trusted the people around me that were speaking life into me and sought after some providers that could help me with my issues. 

For the first time since my suicide attempt in 2009, I am currently working with prescribing providers and a trauma therapist in pursuing the healing that I have been afraid of for so long. 

Will this work fix everything? No, I don’t believe that it will. But I do truly believe that if I trust those who love me and lean into what the providers are doing to try to help me, life can be enjoyable. 

So I put this all out there, in a forward step of vulnerability. Along with the admission that sometimes I struggle, but now I know that I do not have to struggle in silence alone. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And mental health-related concerns are a whole lot more common than you would think. I am here to say that if you are somebody who struggles, you do not have to do it alone. 

May 2 is also the National Day of Prayer, and my prayer today is for those who struggle with mental health, that they could overcome the stigma that is in the world and open their hearts to reaching out for help, and invite people in to help them in the healing process.

If I can find hope, health, and healing you can also.

Call me – I’d love to do life with you –

Kevin Riley