Building Changes

“The Executive Committee is comprised of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Committee Chair and Immediate Past President. The Executive Committee makes decisions on behalf of the Board when there are urgent issues that need to be resolved or acted upon.”

“Annual Form 990 is presented to the Finance Committee, then to the Board for approval prior to submission to the IRS.”

“All Board members and key staff are required to review and sign conflict of interest policy annually. Through this process, Board members and key staff are reminded of the requirement to disclose all material facts of every actual or potential conflict of interest to the Executive Director or Board Chair. Building Changes Management and the Board Executive Committee have the responsibility to identify related party transactions and real or potential conflicts of interests. All identified related party transactions and real or potential conflicts of interest are presented and discussed by the appropriate committee or full Board and are recorded in the minutes of that meeting.”

“CEO salary is determined by the Board. All Building Changes compensation are based on published salary surveys from Washington Employers and Council on Foundation.”

“These documents are not publicly available.”

“Building Changes is a nonprofit organization conducting activities in Washington State. Building Changes believes that everyone in Washington can be stably housed and strengthens the leaders, organizations, and systems that make it possible. Building Changes' focus is on young people and families and its reach is statewide. Building Changes' goals are to make youth and family homelessness: (1) Rare - fewer parents, children, or young adults ever become homeless, (2) Brief - the number of days anyone is homeless is few, and (3) Non recurring - those who once were homeless never become homeless again. Building Changes' values are integrity, equity, collaboration, and results. Building Changes' Approach Building Changes strengthens the homeless crisis response system so all people are treated fairly and all services are delivered effectively. Building Changes believes that, by improving the systems that serve the homeless, communities can make more efficient use of their resources and ultimately transform lives. Building Changes helps make important shifts now, changes that help people immediately, while tackling fundamental change over the longer term. Building Changes is: (1) A driver for innovative strategies that help people maintain stable housing. (2) A partner of nonprofits, private sectors, philanthropy, and the government to make homelessness rare, brief, and non recurring. (3) A promoter of best practice through capacity building, grantmaking, technical assistance, and evaluation. (4) An advocate for policy and funding changes to garner the best use of scarce resources. (5) An agent for building a fair and effective system that serves people who are homeless or struggling to remain housed. (6) A facilitator of cross systems alignment so that crisis does not collapse into homelessness. (7) A learning organization for improving practice and effectiveness in the homelessness field. Building Changes' vision: Everyone has a home and the opportunity for a healthy, fulfilling life.”

“Notable Accomplishments in 2016: Schoolhouse Washington: In 2016, Building Changes took over management of Schoolhouse Washington, a partnership that helps improve housing stability and advance educational success for nearly 40,000 students in Washington State who find themselves homeless. The goals of Schoolhouse Washington are to improve the educational achievement of students experiencing homelessness by increasing their housing stability and supporting them in their academic efforts. The partnership will test, evaluate, showcase, and advance practices that help homeless students succeed, while cultivating a network of informed champions. Armed with data and stories of success, Schoolhouse Washington will convince local and state policymakers to direct funding and policy towards the most promising practices across the state (www.schoolhousewa.org). Schoolhouse Washington's population level goals are: (1) Students experiencing homelessness under the McKinney Vento definition will become stably housed and increase their academic success. (2) All students experiencing homelessness, regardless of race or ethnicity, will achieve housing and educational outcomes on par with their peers. Youth and Young Adult Homelessness: Through the Washington Youth & Families Fund, Building Changes is providing funding and technical support to six nonprofit organizations across Washington State working to help youth and young adults maintain housing stability by providing better access to and engagement with employment and education services. This cohort includes homeless providers, workforce development contractors, a workforce development council, and a nonprofit organization focused on immigrants and refugees, and encompasses rural and urban communities. This diversity among the grantees is creating rich opportunities for Building Changes to learn about the best ways to help youth and youth adults secure jobs, continue their education, and ultimately maintain stable housing. These agencies are Career Path Services (Spokane County), Janus Youth Program (Clark County), Multi Service Center and Somali Youth & Family Club (King County), Workforce Snohomish (Snohomish County), and Yakima Neighborhood Health Services (Yakima County). Data Driven Culture Initiative: In 2016, Building Changes took on expanded work to build a "data driven culture" in three partner counties. The Data Driven Culture Initiative will help ensure that data will be used not just by data technicians, but also by county leaders, to ask and answer questions, manage performance, and drive program and system improvements. Robust data provides a better understanding of the various strategies being employed to combat homelessness and their impacts. Data also helps clarify the needs of families and youth experiencing homelessness, allowing for effective advocacy on their behalf. Building Changes is committed to instilling a culture where data informs and influences every practice, policy, and funding decision related to family and youth homelessness. Diversion: Diversion is a cost effective, "first response" strategy that engages families early in their housing crisis so they can move quickly to stable housing. Diversion helps parents identify realistic and immediate housing options for their families and provides a small amount of flexible financial assistance to help a family immediately. Building Changes is engaged in a three year project to provide funding and technical assistance to bolster communities around the state to provide diversion services including crisis counseling and support, mediation, dispute resolution, and resource navigation. These agencies are Catholic Charities/St. Margaret's Shelter (Spokane County), Council for the Homeless (Clark County), HopeSource (Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Okanogan Counties), and Opportunity Council (Whatcom County). In addition, Building Changes supported diversion pilots in King and Pierce Counties. Cross Systems Par”

“Technical Assistance for the Data Driven Culture Initiative: Program service expenses 1,012,485. Management and general expenses 89,978. Fundraising expenses 47,609. Total expenses 1,150,072.”

“Cancelled grants and other grant expense adjustments 242,141.”